Chapter 10 #3
Good. He deserves to be worshipped.
Raj waves to get my attention from the opposite side of the table. ‘We’re ready to get started if you are.’
I’m definitely going to be more able to focus on what we’re here for, now that I’m confident that a nighttime visit from Skye isn’t code for something. ‘Sure, treasure. Go ahead.’
Just outside the loading bay, several vampires secure a harness to a shipping container.
All my cargo flights so far have been uneventful, and the task force have been able to iron out a few problems with the tracker, camera, and microphone Kit and Ayo supplied me with.
The main issue was getting the equipment working after I shifted, considering it all has to be attached and magically hidden when I’m in biped form, but that’s all sorted now.
Lance sneers at me, his hand movements indifferent. ‘Change of plan. You’re flying to Poland this morning. Based on your flight times so far it’ll take around seven hours to get there. Stay the night, fly back tomorrow.’ He strides away, conversation over.
My fists clench. It’s Friday and my name isn’t down for weekend overtime. I was hoping to tempt Raj away from the investigation for a couple of hours either tonight or tomorrow to go on a date with me, but that’s impossible now.
I crane my neck, trying to spot my tiger.
He was at the far end of the warehouse a few minutes ago, although I can’t see him now.
He’ll find out about this later from the hidden camera feed, but I don’t want him worrying about me, and I definitely need to inform Milo.
Phones aren’t allowed on the warehouse floor, so I surreptitiously check no one is watching before I pull mine out, send a quick text to Raj and Milo, and put it away again.
I get away with it, and soon the vampires wave me over to where the massive harness is laid out on the ground outside.
I’m handed a tablet with a map of the exact location marked—something I would have liked longer to study—before it’s taken from me.
In reality, every destination so far has been a beacon of fae magic that’s left me in no doubt as to where to land, so I’m not too worried.
I expected my dragon to complain about being used this way, at least the first time, but it’s actually been the opposite. He’s started paying more attention when I’m in biped form in the hopes of additional flying time, and he likes showing off how much we can carry.
I shift and let them fit the harness, not thrilled that they’re zipping around me like annoying insects.
Nevertheless, although I was wary the first time because vampires and dragons have a fairly turbulent history, these vamps did their jobs better than I could have asked for.
I had no discomfort from the harness, and the cargo was completely secure.
I was concerned that my dragon side might put up a fuss about leaving Raj, and there was some reluctance at first, but once we got going we were distracted by the freedom of flying a long distance without Milo’s training plan to constrain us.
It probably helps that since the warehouse accident Raj and I have spent most nights together, and the only remaining evidence that anything happened to him is his hair, which is slowly regrowing.
I’d still prefer to remain close to him in case something else happens, but I’m reassured knowing he has highly capable backup nearby if he needs it.
My vamp ground crew blur back inside the warehouse, which is my signal that they’ve finished and it’s time to leave.
They’ve been cordoning off a section of the car park since I started this job so I’ve got enough space to take off.
I strain a little under the weight of the shipping container, the heaviest one to date, but once it’s off the ground it’s not so bad and I’m able to gain sufficient height.
The journey approximately south-east across England is uneventful, and within two hours I’m crossing the North Sea. As the day wears on, the flat landscape of the Netherlands gives way to the low mountains of central Germany.
So far the weather has been decent enough to not give me any trouble, but I’m beyond starving as the light starts to fade and the temperature rises.
I should be close to my destination now, but there’s a blanket of cloud cover that I don’t like the look of, and the cargo has been weighing me down so much that every flap of my wings is an effort.
With the way my muscles are screaming at me, I really hope I’ve crossed the border into Polish airspace, because I’m not sure I can keep going much longer.
So naturally that’s when the snow starts.
Visibility quickly becomes so poor I can barely see past the end of my snout.
I have absolutely no idea how far away my landing site is, or how I’m going to find it.
I reduce height in the hopes of spotting a glimmer of magic from somewhere, only for the snow to be even worse down here.
It’s so thick it stings my eyes, pelting my scales like tiny white bullets.
One minute it’s just a mass of disorientating white, the next a burst of flame breaks through, straight at my head. It’s almost a relief since fire can’t hurt me in any way and I’m no longer alone out here.
I regret that thought a moment later when five small emerald-green dragons appear out of nowhere and latch on to me, dragging me down.
I try to fight them off but have so little energy left that we’re rapidly losing height, their razor-sharp talons penetrating my scales, drawing blood.
When a sixth dragon emerges from the blizzard and lands on the shipping container, adding its weight to my payload, I drop like a stone.
We plummet together, none of them releasing their grip until the last minute.
The shipping container hits first, and I crash down on top of it.
It must be reinforced in some way, because instead of crushing it like I expect, I hit a hard edge that causes an agonising cracking sensation in several ribs.
I feel the quake of my dragon’s furious roar as the emerald dragons land just long enough to drag the shipping container out from under me and burn through the harness in multiple places.
Then they manage to grip it between them and fly off with it, leaving me lying fuck knows where, surrounded by nothing but white in every direction—except for the red stain spreading out beneath me.