Chapter 10
Kytrima patted the little dog absently. Nate’s point about her scaring Lyrian off was a reasonable one, but sitting in the car waiting for answers was unsatisfactory. She wanted to know what was happening.
She wanted to actually see Lyrian, if she were here. To know she was close.
Kytrima stared around the parking lot, but it was mostly empty, making it easy to see that Nate’s brother’s scorched ute wasn’t here.
Kytrima’s shoulders slumped. If the vehicle wasn’t here, they weren’t here.
She glanced back at the pub, but there was no sign of Nate yet. He’d said he wouldn’t be long, and he shouldn’t be, given that his brother obviously wasn’t here. She sighed, and stared out the front window.
She heard a car pull in next to her, and turned her head automatically.
Blackened paint caught her eye, and her heart gave a leap. She stared through the window—right into Nate’s brother’s eyes.
He looked so much like Nate, it took her breath away, and she stared for longer than she should have. She’d seen him before, she shouldn’t be this surprised. But apparently getting to know Nate better meant it threw her.
The man stared back for a long moment, not reacting. He wouldn’t recognise her in human form, but Lyrian, staring over his shoulder, did.
Her eyes widened, and her face twisted in panic. Her lips moved, though Kytrima couldn’t hear what was being said.
Her heart skipped a beat. She’d found them. It had all paid off. Sleeping with Nate, convincing him to help her, all the lies had been worth it.
She’d found the princess.
Except it was all wrong. She was supposed to be hiding. The princess wasn’t supposed to see her or know she was here. She wasn’t supposed to have a chance to run.
This was her moment, and she was going to lose them. The car moved, sliding past her, reversing out of the parking lot.
Kytrima stared back at the pub. Where was Nate when she needed him?
If Lyrian and Brad left, there was no way they’d come back. They’d have lost them again.
There was no sign of Nate, and the ute was pulling out of the carpark.
If Kytrima wanted to keep track of them, she needed to do something, now.
She lifted Lily over into the back seat, and climbed awkwardly into the driver’s seat. Thank heavens Nate had left the keys. Even so, she was in such a rush, she fumbled getting them into the lock.
“Come on.”
She glanced up, and the car was already out on the road.
The keys went in, finally, and she started the engine and pulled out. Brad’s car was a long way up the road by the time she reached it, but thankfully not out of sight. As she drove past the pub, Nate ran out, waving his arms.
Kytrima hesitated for a split second, but there wasn’t time to stop. Not if she wanted to keep track of Brad and Lyrian.
She’d come back for Nate.
He’d understand. He wanted to find his brother as much as she wanted to find Lyrian. He wouldn’t want to see them disappear any more than she did.
So she kept her foot on the accelerator, leaving Nate behind.
Ahead of her, the ute turned left. Kytrima pushed the car as fast as she could. Luckily, there weren’t many other cars around to slow her down. She turned the corner just in time to see Brad’s car turn right ahead of her.
The other car wasn’t exactly going slow either. She was going to lose them. Kytrima swore. This was not going well.
She sped up and swung around the corner, just catching the tail of the ute up ahead as it darted down another side street.
The two cars sped and wove through the quiet country streets. Kytrima was surprised she managed to keep up with them for as long as she did.
Eventually though, she followed them down a side street, only to find it empty.
Where had they gone? Her heart was thumping, as she drove down the street, staring down every side street she came to. They couldn’t have gone far.
There. She caught sight of the tail of the ute as it turned up ahead.
She’d found them. For now. But eventually they’d get lucky, and she’d lose them.
What could she do? She couldn’t use magic here in the middle of the human town. If they were out in the bush, she could throw a lightning bolt in front of them. That would slow them down.
Not that it had done much to slow Lyrian, when she’d been chasing her.
But she had to try.
She could disguise her dragon magic, just a little… Maybe it would be enough.
Kytrima concentrated, summoning up the rolling magic that created thunder clouds. They built up slowly overhead, forcing her to split her attention between the dragon magic, and her driving skill, which wasn’t that high to begin with.
She dropped back further.
To slow them a little, she sent a bolt of lightning at the car in front, not even trying to hit them. Even though it struck the road next to them, the car swerved.
Then the rain started.
The ute slowed then, the driver probably finding it hard to see.
Kytrima didn’t have that problem. She could control her own storm just enough to give her a clear path to the car in front.
Now she was catching them. She was close enough to see the Rian princess turn around in her seat and stare at her.
The determined stare of the other dragon was enough to give her pause.
She wasn’t the only dragon in this fight. Not the only one with dragon magic.
That gave her just enough warning to grip the wheel tightly seconds before Lyrian’s magical wind slammed into the side of the vehicle. Of course, her storm was giving the princess a cover for her own magic. Who’d be surprised at a bit of wind in the middle of a thunderstorm?
Kytrima fought to keep the car on the road as blast after blast of the Rian dragon’s magic hit her.
She was managing. Just.
Then a huge blast, bigger and stronger than all the others, hit her square on. This time, there was nothing she could do. The car swerved wildly, ripping the steering wheel out of her grasp, and sending her swerving off the road and into a ditch.
Kytrima tried to force it back to the road, but it was stuck.
The ute had no such problems, it continued driving.
Kytrima struggled out of her seatbelt and forced the door open.
But by the time she ran out onto the road behind them, they were almost out of sight. There was no way she could catch them on foot, and taking dragon form was too risky, even to chase the princess.
She’d lost them.