Chapter 6
To tell the truth, Lisa was a little glad to be interrupted. The emotions flooding her, the intense connection she felt with Verrian, not to mention being able to speak, mind to mind, well, it was all more than a little overwhelming.
Not that she didn’t like it, she just… needed a chance to process it.
Something that wasn’t going to happen right now. As she and Verrian pulled their clothes on as quickly as they could, and opened the door, Lisa felt a sense of foreboding at Olivia’s words.
What were they going to find?
Both Raven and Olivia stared at Verrian when he emerged behind Lisa. Lisa glanced back, trying to ignore her body heating as soon as she looked at him. He hadn’t bothered to put the shirt he’d worn earlier back on, it was covered in blood. His bare chest had a few bloodstains as well, but even they couldn’t hide the fact that his wound was completely healed, as though it had never been there.
“Wow,” Olivia said. “What were you guys doing in there? I can’t believe you’re completely healed, Verrian.”
Lisa couldn’t help blushing. How was she ever going to explain that to Olivia? And she certainly didn’t want to in front of the band’s singer. What was he doing there anyway? Everything had been so crazy, she hadn’t even thought to ask until now.
“That isn’t important now,” Verrian said smoothly. He reached for Lisa’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “You said we needed to see something?”
“Oh, yes. Here.”
Olivia pointed to Raven’s laptop.
“TERRORIST ATTACK IN CITY,” the headline read.
Lisa stared. A terrorist attack? As though they needed more problems right now.
Something about it seemed off, so Lisa read the article underneath.
Earlier this evening, an unidentified flying craft was seen above the city. Police are investigating. If anyone has any reports of this craft, please contact police. Everyone is requested to return to their homes or places of work and remain there until notified that it is safe to leave.
If you have seen either of the people in this photo, please contact authorities. They may have important information regarding the sighting.
The request was followed by Rita’s original photo of Lisa and Verrian.
Lisa’s heart constricted. This wasn’t a new problem, it was the same one.
Of course the police weren’t going to report a dragon flying over the city. No one would believe them. Even if they did, it would hardly make people stay inside.
Not that the news wasn’t going to get out there. A quick glance at social media showed it was all over there.
Only one thing was clear—the police were looking for them.
Verrian, they couldn’t identify.
She would be far too easy.
This was a mess.
Where were they going to hide? How were they going to get back to the other dragons? Lisa wouldn’t feel safe until then.
At least this time there was no way it was there fault. They’d just been minding their own business when Ultrima had shown up. And he’d chosen to fly, when he probably could have easily walked out of the building.
“Why?” she asked.
“Why what?” Olivia asked, wrinkling her nose. “I thought you’d want to see it, that’s all.”
“No,” Lisa said impatiently. “Why did Ultrima fly away? There wasn’t anyone chasing him. We certainly weren’t a threat. He could have just walked out of the building. So why didn’t he?”
Verrian’s hand stiffened. “He wanted to cause more trouble for us,” he said flatly. “That’s what this was all about. It has to be. That’s why he didn’t just kill me.”
Lisa patted his hand. “Well, I’m glad he didn’t,” she said softly. “But even so, he’s got to realise he’s causing as much trouble for himself as for us, isn’t he?”
“Not necessarily.” Verrian shrugged. “His lair is a little further out, he’s less likely to have trouble where he is. Given those pictures of us, it’s reasonably clear where people are going to start looking, and it’s closer to our lair than his.”
A brilliant idea hit Lisa square between the eyes. It was so simple, she was sure there must be something wrong with it. And yet…
“Then why don’t we give them a clue?” she suggested, her voice shaking.
“A clue to what?” Verrian asked, mystified.
Olivia and Raven were staring at her too. They had no more idea than Verrian did. Apparently it wasn’t as obvious as she thought.
“Why don’t we lead everyone to Ultrima’s lair? That would take the attention off us, and maybe give us a chance to get out of the city. Not to mention we might be able to wake the rest of the dragons while he’s distracted.”
Verrian stared at her, his eyes wide. “That’s a great idea. We should ring Karla and tell her.”
A warm glow filled Lisa. She wasn’t used to having ideas everyone said were great. “I will. I need to talk to her anyway. We need to get out of the city as soon as possible.”
“What about us?” Olivia asked quickly.
Lisa hesitated. The article didn’t mention Olivia’s name, but if they hadn’t already figured out she was involved, they would eventually. “You can always come with us. I’m sure we could find something you could do to help.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Verrian said into her mind.
“Well, if we’re going to wake the rest of the dragons, you’re going to need more humans, aren’t you?” Lisa reminded him privately.
“You think of everything, don’t you?” Verrian said admiringly.
Lisa really was on a roll.
“I wonder if Raven would like to help out too,” Verrian mussed. “Especially now that Chase is unavailable to help.”
“You should ask him.”
“I’d love that,” Olivia said quickly, looking from one to the other.
Verrian smiled at her.
“What about me?” Raven asked uncertainly. “I mean, the police might not realise I’m involved, but that dragon knows where I live. If you guys disappear, he might just come looking for you.”
“It is probably wise if you come with us as well,” Verrian offered. “We may have a job that you could help us with.”
Raven raised an eyebrow. “I would have thought that you were more than capable of doing any singing for your group,” he joked.
“They would probably love to learn some new songs,” Verrian said with a smile. “But that wasn’t what I was thinking of.”
Raven stared at him, and Olivia did too. “What then?” he asked.
“We probably shouldn’t say anything until we’ve checked with Karla and Taurian,” Lisa warned.
Verrian didn’t listen. “My brothers and sisters are still trapped in the Mesmer sleep, a sleep that heals. Like I was, they’ve been that way for three hundred years. We must wake them all if we are to have any chance of defeating Ultrima for good.”
Personally, Lisa suspected sicking the media and public on him had a good chance of achieving their aim, but she didn’t mention that right now. Either way, the dragon princes and princesses had to be woken.
Raven looked a little confused, but Olivia got it straight away. Her eyes rounded. “You mean, like Sleeping Beauty?”
Lisa gave a laugh. “That’s pretty much exactly what it’s like, yeah.”
Olivia was so excited, she actually clapped her hands together in glee. “I’m in.”
“There’s more to it than that,” Verrian warned. “Once woken, my brothers and sisters will be very weak. They will need close physical contact to complete the healing process.”
Lisa hadn’t thought Olivia’s eyes could stretch any wider, but she was wrong.
“You mean, we need to… sleep with them?” Olivia demanded, her voice shaking.
Lisa was pretty sure it was with excitement, but just in case, she said, “That’s the quickest option, which is what we need right now when we’re under attack. But you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
“Oh, I want to,” Olivia said quickly.
Apparently Kevin had completely slipped her mind. Lisa wasn’t really surprised. Who could live up to one of these dragons?
She looked at Raven. His face was excited too. “This is going to be quite a story,” he said. “Maybe I’ll even write a song about it.”
Lisa couldn’t help grinning. “That sounds like fun. It’s settled then, we’re all going. I’ll call Karla, then we’ll figure out how we’re going to get out of the city.”
“That’s not going to be that easy,” Raven warned.
Lisa looked over at him. “What do you mean?” A sense of foreboding filled her chest.
Raven held out his phone that he’d been flicking through. “Calling this a terrorist attack means the police have more powers than usual. A few people on social media are suggesting that they’re bringing in the army. Probably they’ve got the highway locked down too. They’re definitely going to be on the lookout for you and Verrian. I can’t imagine it’s going to be any different in your home town.”
Lisa frowned, and took the offered phone and flicked through some of the news articles, paying particular attention to the comments.
In the couple of hours she’d been holed up with Verrian, a buzz of excitement and speculation had built up, along with a healthy dose of scepticism as well. But what she was really looking for were the complaints of not being able to get home, or leave the city.
“This might be a little more difficult than I thought,” she said slowly.
As if to emphasise her comment, the whine of a jet engine could be heard blasting above them.