Chapter 7
Verrian watched Lisa scrolling through Raven’s phone, still finding it hard to take in the fact she was his mate.
He had no doubt she’d find a way to get them home. Look how many great ideas she’d come up with so far. He had complete confidence in her.
She would be an asset to his family. They were all going to love her.
He couldn’t help smiling in anticipation.
Of course, first they had to get there.
“There do seem to still be some back ways in and out of the city,” Lisa said slowly, “but I’m not sure we can risk it. People are complaining about being turned back on the highway, but if Verrian and I are seen, they’re not just going to turn us back. They’re going to take us in for questioning at the very least.”
All Verrian’s happiness drained away. This was more serious than he’d realised. “What are we going to do?” he asked. “Can we fly?”
Ultrima had already done it, what did it matter if the humans saw another dragon flying away?
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Lisa said, shaking her head. “Did you hear that jet before? Seems like the air force is here too. They’ll have planes and helicopters patrolling. Probably trying to stop a dragon getting into the city, not out, but I don’t think we should risk it.”
“What are we going to do then?” Verrian demanded, struggling to keep panic out of his voice.
He’d enjoyed being in the city so much at first. It had seemed so exciting, so full of life. But now that he was potentially trapped here, it suddenly seemed dangerous and threatening. He wanted out. Now.
Lisa handed the phone back to Raven. She paced back and forth, her lips pursed in thought.
Verrian waited, almost holding his breath. She’d think of something, wouldn’t she?
When Lisa paused, a slow smile spreading across her face and said, “I’ve got it,” Verrian sighed in relief, and listened.
Before explaining, Lisa turned and looked squarely at Raven and Olivia. “Are you both sure you want to come with us? It’s going to be a long night, and quite possibly an uncomfortable one. If you want to back out, best do it now, because after you’ve heard our plan it’ll be too late. It’s too risky to let you back out once you know what we’re going to do.”
Verrian couldn’t help a smile of pride. She didn’t pull any punches or take any risks with his clan’s safety. He couldn’t have hoped for a better mate.
Olivia’s eyes widened. She swallowed, then nodded. “I’m in. There’s no way I want to stay here and be questioned.”
Lisa turned to Raven. “And you?”
Raven didn’t hesitate. “I’m already involved,” he said. “Even if I did have reservations, I don’t want to hang around here and wait for another dragon to show up and ask where you’ve both gone.”
Lisa gave a short laugh. “Yeah, that’s how I ended up in all this. I warn you though, they hook you in.” She paused for a minute, her face serious. “This isn’t just about tonight. Once you’ve seen the dragon’s lair, you’re in this until…” She shrugged. “I guess until this manhu… dragon hunt is over. One way or another.”
Raven nodded. However, Olivia paused.
Had they made a mistake in including her? Did she already know too much?
Then she took a deep breath and nodded her head. “I’m probably insane, but this is way too exciting for me to just walk away now. I’m in.”
Lisa nodded, then got down to business. “Right. They’re blocking all the major roads, and maybe some random backroads as well, but there’s no way they’ll have enough manpower to block them all. I bet they haven’t even considered where there aren’t roads.”
“The water?” Raven guessed.
Lisa shook her head. “That’ll be next. No, we need to stay away from anywhere that there might be traffic of any kind. We’re going to have to go across country. Through the bush.”
Olivia looked doubtful. “I’m not so sure about that.”
Lisa gave a short laugh. “Well, luckily you won’t be going that way. You and Raven can go by one of the backroads, your names don’t seem to be on their lists yet. If they pull you over they’re hopefully just going to send you home. If you make it through, you can pick us up outside the city. It’s not like we can walk all the way to Mungaloo.”
She’d thought of everything, Verrian thought admiringly. He really admired her take charge attitude.
“You don’t have to walk,” Raven offered. “Take my bike.”
Lisa’s face brightened. “Can it go off-road?”
Raven shrugged. “Sure, so long as it’s not too rough.”
“Right.” Lisa nodded. “That’ll make it easier. I’ll just call Karla and let her know we’re coming.”
For the first time, she looked a little uncertain.
“Is everything okay?” Verrian asked her privately.
“Yeah,” Lisa’s mental voice was hesitant though. “I’m just hoping Karla isn’t going to have an issue with our plan. She seemed to think we should wait here until they came to get us. But I’m not sure we can wait that long.”
It actually made Verrian feel a little better that she wasn’t so certain of everything. And it gave him a chance to help. “Let me do that,” he said out loud. “I think it’s best if I talk to my brother and explain the situation.”
Lisa threw him a grateful look. “Here,” she said, dialling the number then handing him the phone.
Verrian held it up to his ear, waiting as it rang.
“Yes?” Karla answered, her voice cautious.
“It’s me, Verrian. I need to speak to Taurian.”
“Of course,” Karla said immediately. “Are you okay?” There was a note of something else in her voice, not just concern for his safety. She knew he and Lisa were mated. Not that it mattered right now.
“Yes, we’re safe for now, but it’s not looking good here,” Verrian said. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to wait for you to come and get us. Can I talk to Taurian?”
He didn’t want to upset his brother’s mate. He was sure she was as excellent at organising as Lisa was. He just needed to talk to his brother.
Karla didn’t seem upset. “Sure.”
There was a pause, then Taurian’s voice came over the phone. “Are you all right, brother?”
Verrian had to take a deep breath to try to control the emotion welling up in him. He hadn’t realised, until he heard his voice, how much he missed his brother. “Yes, I am fully healed now. But we have problems here.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “How are you feeling about that?” Taurian asked quietly. It was clear he knew too.
“I’m fine,” Verrian said quickly. “But that is a conversation for another time. Once we are all safely back in the lair.”
Taurian got it, thankfully. “Of course. I look forward to having a chance to catch up. What is the situation there?”
“Not good,” Verrian told him. “They’re calling it a terrorist attack, but they must at least suspect. Either way, our faces are in all the news reports, and we’ll be recognised if we stay here.”
“Sounds like it’s time for you to come home, brother,” Taurian said immediately.
That was exactly what Verrian wanted to hear. “Yes, that is the plan,” he agreed. “The only problem is, they’re closing off roads in and out of the city, and there are planes and helicopters patrolling the air.”
Taurian saw the issue immediately. “You can’t let them find you.”
“No,” Verrian agreed. “Lisa thinks she can find a way out of the city if we avoid the roads, and go through the bush. We have friends who can help us once we’re out of the city limits. I think it’s our best chance, but we need to go now.”
“Well what are you waiting for?” Taurian demanded.
Verrian couldn’t help grinning. Taurian was always the impatient one. The act first, think later type. Verrian wondered if his new mate tempered his brother’s recklessness any. In this case, though the urgency was warranted, there was so much at stake that they needed to be careful.
Luckily, they had a plan. “You heard about Ultrima flying over the city?” Verrian asked.
Taurian gave a low chuckle. “Sure, it’s all over the internet. He certainly knows how to create a diversion, doesn’t he?”
“Perhaps,” Verrian conceded. “But we have an idea for a better one.”
“I’m listening.”
“Lisa suggested that we tell the media where they can find Ultrima.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. Verrian wondered if Taurian was thinking it through, or sharing his idea with Karla. He tried to curb his impatience as he waited.
“That’s an interesting idea,” Taurian said eventually, “but how do you plan to accomplish it?”
It was Verrian’s turn to converse privately with his mate. “How are we going to get the news out to the media?” he said. “Taurian’s asking.”
“Rita,” Lisa said quickly. “I know she’s the one who wrote the article that started all this, but she only put the information she came by fairly, not any of the extra stuff I told her. Anyway, we don’t need to trust her for this. I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to print anything we give her.”
“We tell the reporter who started all this,” Verrian told Taurian.
He could almost hear Taurian frowning as he said, “Are you sure you can trust her?”
“We don’t need to trust her,” Verrian pointed out. “All we need her to do is release the information, and that’s exactly what she’s going to want to do.”
There was another long pause. Taurian must be weighing up the pros and cons of the whole idea. Verrian found it hard not to tap his foot impatiently.
“That’s true,” Taurian said eventually. “But have you realised that the police may have already contacted her asking for information? Reaching out to her is risky.”
The suggestion sent a chill down Verrian’s spine. He turned to Lisa. “What if the police have already contacted Rita and are watching her?”
Lisa frowned. “That could be a problem, and it’s likely they have.” She thought for a moment, her brow wrinkled. “If they are, no matter where we call from, they’ll trace it.”
“How about we call from here right before we leave?” Raven suggested. “Then it won’t matter if they trace it, because we’ll be gone.”
“But they’ll know you’re involved then,” Lisa pointed out. “And it’s important to our plan that they don’t.”
“But they might not even be watching the reporter for all you know,” Olivia argued. “How else can we possibly contact her.”
Not for the first time, Verrian wished he could add something. But he’d only just learned how to dial a phone. He had no idea about how they could be traced and all the other things they were talking about.
“A payphone!” Lisa exclaimed. “They’ll still be able to trace it, but hopefully we’ll be long gone before they can get there. We might even be able to use it to convince them we’ve gone in a different direction to the one we went in.”
Olivia’s nose wrinkled. “Are there even any payphones still around? I thought they’d turned them all into wifi hotspots or something?”
“Not all of them,” Lisa corrected. “There are still some around. I’m sure I’ve seen them.”
“Actually, there’s one just down the street,” Raven said thoughtfully. “Near the corner store.”
“We probably don’t want to use that one,” Lisa said with a grin. “Where’s the computer, I’ll look up the locations.”
Verrian left them to sort it out. “It seems Lisa has a solution to informing Rita.”
“So it seems.” Taurian sounded amused. He must have been able to hear the conversation. “These human’s certainly make life interesting.”
“Definitely,” Verrian agreed. He couldn’t help watching Lisa, bent over the computer, excitedly pointing something out to Raven. Interesting didn’t even begin to describe it.
He pulled his mind away from his mate. There would be time to admire her later. Right now, he needed to keep her safe. And not just for tonight. A mate’s responsibility didn’t end when they were safely home.
“If everyone has rushed off looking for Ultrima,” Verrian said, “not only will it keep them busy, and hopefully give us a better chance of escaping the city, maybe it will help keep him away while we wake the rest of our brothers and sisters.”
“Yes, I was just thinking that it would help us with waking the others,” Taurian said thoughtfully. “It’s short notice, but Bruce is here and ready. We should at least be able to wake Lyrian tonight.” He hesitated. “I had planned on letting human’s wake all our other brothers and sisters, but we don’t have enough people yet, especially not with Chase going off and mating with Wayrian.”
Amusement coloured his voice, but Verrian could hear the strain under it.
“We do have two more volunteers here, though that might not help much right now,” he said. “Lisa’s friend Olivia, and a singer I met, Raven.”
Raven and Olivia both stared at him, a mixture of excitement and nerves written clearly on their faces.
“You trust them?” Taurian asked sharply.
“Yes,” Verrian said simply. “Both of them have helped us several times already, despite the risks to themselves. They have proved their loyalty without question. They will be instrumental in helping us get out of the city.”
“Right,” Taurian agreed. “Well, we can’t really wake more than one dragon tonight anyway. Even if Ultrima is distracted, I wouldn’t put it past him to have dragons waiting for us. We can’t afford to spread our firepower too thin. If we get Lyrian woken without any losses, that will be a win. Then we’ll wake the others as quickly as we can afterwards.”
Excitement and relief welled up in Verrian. Soon he would be home. With his family. “I’ll see you in the morning then.”
It was so hard to believe that by this time tomorrow, he’d be safe with his family.