Finding the Dragon (Dásreach Council Book 1) (40 page)

There was a culvert just a few feet ahead next to a large maple tree. He could push the Harley up behind the tree and sit on the grass hidden with Alvena until she woke. It would get them off the road at least. It wouldn’t be as hidden as Kai would prefer, but better than being out in full sight.

Decision made he rolled the bike up to the culvert, but couldn’t get it positioned with Alvena in his arms. He put down the kickstand and got off the motorcycle. He cradled her tighter to him. Looking into her face, he realized once again that this woman was his life. The dragon spirit guardian inside him made his feelings for her so intense and instinctual.

When he had stalked her in the hotel room, the dragon had practically taken over. Every action was controlled by the more animalistic tendencies that his dragon guardian brought to his personality. His memories of the night were intense and glorious. Stalking her, controlling her, and being inside of her. Even now it did things to him and caused him to want things that he shouldn’t be thinking about while she was passed out in his arms. During their shower he had worried that he had hurt her, he had remembered biting her shoulder where it met her neck, but as she had walked around him he had noticed only a slight mark where he had thought he had bitten her hard enough to draw blood. He was relieved to know that he had not hurt her as he had thought. At least not that time, but now he looked down at his world in his arms and wondered if he had caused whatever was wrong with her.

Grabbing the duffel bag, Kai carried Alvena to the side of the tree facing away from the road. He scanned the ground looking for a place to lay her down. He used his dragon senses to verify that nothing was around that could cause her any danger before laying her by the tree. Cushioning her head with the duffel, he rushed to take care of the Harley.

Kai quickly hid the bike out of site of the road and positioned himself with Alvena in his arms and his back against the trunk of the maple tree. Her skin felt cool to him, so he cuddled her closer to his body. He held her with one strong arm while he touched her forehead, lips, and chest to reassure himself that she was indeed breathing and still with him. There was nothing to do but wait.

*

Earlier that morning.

Alvena’s safety had taken over every thought in Kai’s mind. After their passionate night together, his thoughts centered on finally having her safe and making her his mate, permanently. He loved how she had teased him in the hotel and now as they walked into the airport, Kai’s heart felt lighter than air from her teasing. Alvena didn’t seem to be able to keep her hands off of him, and he felt the same about her. He couldn’t help but grin as they walked down the connecting hallway to the terminal area.

Alvena seemed on edge, but claimed that there was nothing wrong when he questioned her. Kai could only assume that she was sorting through everything that had happened between them in the last two days, Kai kept walking but tightened his arm around her.

“So, lass, have you ever been to Col…” His voice clogged in his throat as he saw two men in fatigues up ahead. They appeared to be searching, walking on opposite sides of the room and scanning the people hurrying to their gates.

He froze for a matter of seconds, his whole world crashing down around him. Pulling Alvena further into him, he looked around and evaluated the situation they now found themselves in. They still had a half hour until their flight and he wouldn’t take a chance with his mate’s safety. What if the mercenaries were on the flight with them? No, he had to get Alvena out of the airport.

As his dragon spirit guardian began to stir, everything became crystal clear, send Alvena back outside to the Harley, distract the mercenaries, and then ride Alvena out of here as fast as he could. He remembered the hooded sweatshirt he had bought for her the night before, because it would be cold in Denver and he knew she would need it. The shirt would provide her some cover as she slipped back out of the airport.

As he steered Alvena back to the escalator, he unzipped the duffel and pulled out the dark green shirt, then stopped and faced her.

“Put this on and pull the hood up over your head.” He watched as she got the shirt on, the duffel still clenched in his fist. It would just get in his way, but they might need the clothes and other things he had in it. “Here, carry the duffel as well.”

He looped the duffel onto her shoulder and looked her over. He realized that she would stand out with a sweatshirt in this climate.

“Nod your head like you’re listening to music, that way no one will think it’s odd that you have the hood up.” His Valkyrie continued to handle emergency situations with a calm belying the mouse she described herself as and followed his instructions quickly. He tugged at the hood causing it to hide more of her face. His fingers grazed her skin and he prayed that it wasn’t the last time that he would feel her warmth.

“Now, I want you to head down the escalator. No matter what happens I want you to head out the doors and go for the Harley. I will be right behind you.”

He shoved her towards the escalator and then using his dragon he slid into the shadows and stalked his pray. He would create a distraction that would cause all of the men to rush to the farthest point in the airport. That would get them away from Alvena and hopefully allow him enough time to get back out to her and safely ride away on the Harley.

He slipped past a security check point, moving so fast that no one noticed he didn’t stop to run his items through the x-rays and metal detectors.
Sometimes, it’s good to be a dragon.

One of the mercenaries was speaking to an airport security officer as he passed. Kai hid behind a post and watched the two men talking. The mercenary was waving his hands around a lot, but eventually pulled something from one of his pockets. He handed what appeared to be a badge or ID over to the officer. After the man reviewed it, he motioned to another officer and handed the ID off to him. The new officer went to a phone and called someone. Soon he nodded his head at his partner while hanging up the phone and returned the ID. Kai watched the mercenary’s face. He couldn’t make out most of the words he was saying, but he did see him say ten, arrest, dangerous, and stay out. The man had motioned to his side under the jacket he was wearing, when he said dangerous.

Kai continued on to the gates where he saw a map of the airport on the wall. He stopped to look at it. He had to formulate a plan to get the men to the furthest point in the terminal. As he followed the lines on the map, he saw that there was a restaurant and two gates at the far end. United Airlines was half way down the walkway. He grimaced at the half-baked idea that came into his mind. He hoped that coming up with crazy ideas wasn’t going to become a habit. Crazy or not, it just might work though. At this point anything was worth a shot.

At the United Airlines gate, Kai stood hidden behind a pillar, and watched for one of the mercenaries to come within sight of the gate. He looked around and noticed that the traffic wasn’t heavy, but there was a continuous flow of people.
The Great Spirit must be with me
. He thought as he saw the black fatigues. He searched those heading towards the far gates until he found a woman with short dark hair. He stepped out like he had just gotten up out of one of the chairs and into the walkway glancing around like he was searching for someone, when his eyes landed on the dark haired woman he smiled and yelled, “Alvena, lass, grab me some mints if you can while you’re getting your food.” When the woman didn’t turn to him, he waved his hand at her and laughed. Walking back to a seat and sitting down like it was no matter.

After a few minutes, he could hear several men running down the walkway. He watched and counted as nine black fatigue clad men ran past without giving him a second thought. They appeared to only care about catching the woman. He waited. If what he had seen the man say meant there were ten of them, where was the tenth? From the safety of the pillar, he looked, searching for any more men in all black. Not seeing any one and not wanting to waste time, he rushed out of the gate sitting area and headed for the lower level and the door.

Right after the security check point, he had to slow down for an older couple that were taking up most of his path. He heard a yell from behind him. Without looking back, Kai used his dragon reflexes and maneuvered around the old couple without causing them any trouble. He was soon at the bottom of the escalator and heading for the exit. He had to force himself to hurry at human speed. He couldn’t take the chance that someone caught something on video that caused attention to his people. Alvena had already pointed out the problems he could have caused at the pub and he had already been pushing his luck here at the airport. Even with his fear and worry, he had to keep in control. Kai could only hope that the stealth, speed, and movements he had used upstairs hadn’t been caught by the airport security cameras.

Another shout sounded from the upper level as he went out the door.

Once outside, he broke into a run and crossed the road separating the parking area from the building. He went in a straight line and jumped some bushes. As he landed he looked at an empty spot where the Super Glide should have been. He slid to a stop and frantically glanced around. The relief that rushed through him when he saw Alvena waving from the seat of the motorcycle with her helmet already on, almost brought him to his knees. She had moved the bike between a van and car and had it facing out ready for them to take off – his mate always seemed to be thinking. He glanced behind as he headed towards her, a feeling of resolve coming over him as he slid on to the Harley. He would keep his mate safe. Starting the motorcycle, he revved the Harley and pushed out of the parking spot. Alvena reached around him and held tight as he swerved through the parking lot and onto the road. As he passed the front of the building, he felt Alvena tense as black fatigues came running out. Not bothering with the men, Kai didn’t stop for people or traffic as he raced away on deserted roadways.

*

Under a maple tree on the side of the road approaching noon.

A noise snapped him out of his memories. He looked around, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
It was probably just an animal.

Alvena was still lying quietly in his arms, he hadn’t even noticed her flutter an eyelash in the 30 minutes or so since she had fainted. Once again he wondered if he should try to ride the motorcycle with her in his arms. He knew it was a pointless thought, there was no way he would be able to handle the Harley one handed. It just wasn’t safe. Besides, he had no idea where they were, and what point would it be to ride blind when she was passed out. Kai started to think about where they could be, approximately, and how they could get to Tiranam Dásig.

He had driven mostly west when they had roared out of Shreveport. That would put them somewhere in Northern Texas. Kai hadn’t paid attention to any of the signs or the small town he had raced through. He had just kept going in the direction he had chosen. Kept heading slightly northwest of Shreveport.

Thoughts of the mercenaries had him fuming. There was no reason for them to have caught up to them. He had bought the tickets the day before, so it was possible they had used that information to find them.
Damn it.
He had been so wrapped up in Alvena that he hadn’t thought about the credit cards being traceable. He had worried about using their names, but knew that they wouldn’t make it through security with fake names – not without IDs. Kai should kick his own arse. He had put his mate in danger by his own stupid mistake. The credit cards had to be how they had found them, because every Dásreach that knew what they were doing would not have told anyone but those that were necessary. Kai had told Marcus, but he trusted him. Not only was the man someone on the current Council, but he was an old friend of Kai’s da. Marcus would have updated the Council and the Shaman, and most likely would have contacted Dar to discuss the situation from an Enforcer standpoint, but no one else would have been brought in on the information until the moment they needed to know. They had a traitor in the Dásreach, but Kai was pretty sure this was his own stupidity that had led the men to find them.

He would no longer take any chances. They were going to travel on the Harley all the way to Tiranam Dásig. He knew that the trip from New Orleans would take about 20 hours if he drove straight through. Based on where he thought they currently were, he was figuring they had another 15 hours of drive time. But, with Alvena passing out, there was no way they were going to drive straight through. No, they would stop for the night and take plenty of breaks to make sure she was doing alright. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. He would call Dar and have some cash wired, so he wouldn’t have to use his credit cards. Dar should be able to make sure the wire wasn’t traced.

Kai squeezed Alvena to his chest, hugging her to him. His fears so strong, he needed to reassure himself that she was still with him. He had never felt as helpless as he did in this moment as he looked down at the fragile yet strong women in his arms. He leaned forward and as he brushed his lips over her forehead, he felt Alvena cuddle into him.
Thank you Great Spirit.
Pulling back Kai looked into her face. Her eyes were moving under her eye lids as she fought to come back to consciousness.

“Alvena, wake up lass.” He struggled to not shake her as she came back to him. “Come on lass. I miss those gorgeous brown eyes of yours. Open them for me.”

Alvena moaned and she grimaced. Her eyelashes began to flutter until they opened. She squinted up at him.