Valentine (The Dragon Kings Book 3) (19 page)

“We aren’t stopping for you to play in the water.”

“I’ve been trapped on the floor for hours while you two keep going inside stores. I’ll be able to actually look. Didn’t you say they were looking for a cave?”

“Yes. But the last time we let you out, you disappeared for a day, and you still won’t tell us where you were.”

Runa harrumphed.

They’d been searching for several hours, stopping the car and flashing the picture around gas stations and convenience stores. No one had seen them. Hazel was starting to get discouraged.

Val had his arm slung on the back of her seat, and she enjoyed having him close.

“Maybe Runa’s right. There’s a beach down there. Let’s get some food and go sit on the beach and eat. It’s basically deserted. Runa can go play in the water, and then she can search the cliffs over there. It’s faster if she flies by them and looks instead of having to hike down and search them.”

Hazel hesitated, then agreed. She didn’t know what else they’d do right now anyway. She was lost as to what to do next.

She and Val sat in the sand a little ways up the beach. Runa dive bombed into the water as soon as she took off. She came up crowing. Hazel scooted closer to Val. She wanted him to put his arm around her or hold her hand or something. But he was keeping his distance.

“I’m not going home until I find them,” she finally said.

“I know. I have no intention of leaving your side.” A splash out in the water drew his eyes away from Hazel. Runa had belly flopped in the water. “You have to admit having Runa around is useful.”

“Yeah. She’s kind of annoying though, isn’t she?”

As if on cue, she landed right in front of them, spraying sand everywhere.

“Not going home, ever. I want to be a beach dragon.”

“Well, for now, you’re in luck. We’ll be staying near the water until we find Rowan or discover he went somewhere else. You ready to go search those cliffs and see what’s in the caves?”

Runa nodded her now blue head and flew off to the cliffs.

As soon as she was out of sight, Hazel saw movement out of the corner of her eye. A surfer had come down to the beach, and he took the waves.

“Do you miss it?” Val asked.

“Of course. But the waves here are nothing like the ones in Hawaii. That poor guy has no idea what he’s missing.”

Val didn’t have a clue what he was doing. He was here with a beautiful girl on the beach. They had some time before Runa returned, and even though he really wanted to kiss her, he didn’t think it would be appropriate.

Val watched Hazel with interest. She was looking a little too appreciatively at the surfer, who was now far out in the water.

“Holy hell, what is that?” Hazel asked.

Val snapped his eyes back to the water. A large flying mass was heading straight for the surfer. Val jumped up.

It was a gold dragon. He knew that dragon. He was flying low and fast, and Val realized what he was about to do seconds before Hazel did. They had to get out of there before they were seen, but Hazel was running for the water waving her hands. Val grabbed her and put a hand over her mouth before she screamed. She struggled against him as they both watched the gold dragon snap the surfer up whole.

Val whispered in Hazel’s ear. “We have to stay silent. We don’t want him to see us, or we’ll be the next to die.”

She nodded against his shoulder, and he moved his hand off of her mouth. The gold dragon flew farther out to sea. Val waited until they couldn’t see him at all before he spoke.

“Let’s go,” he said to Hazel, grabbing her hand and pulling her back up the beach.

“I could’ve warned him,” Hazel said, jerking her hand out of his.

“No, you couldn’t have. You would’ve been too late. If you had shouted at him, the only thing that would’ve happened is we would both be dead too. We need to go.”

Hazel stomped her foot and glared at him, then crossed her arms and stalked back toward the car.

Val pulled his phone out and dialed Sid as he walked.

He and Hazel were the only witnesses. He needed to keep it that way. If the media thought the dragon was out here as well, there would be a bloodbath.

The phone went straight to voicemail. Dammit.

He caught up with Hazel as she started up the stairs.

“We need to get back to Montana.”

“No, we need to find Rowan.”

“We’ll come back. I promise. But we have to go talk to Sid. His phone went to voicemail. That was the human killer, and now I know who he is. This ends now.” Val couldn’t quite believe what he just saw. He trusted that dragon, learned from him. His insides churned as he thought of what this would mean for Sid.

“What do you mean you know who he is?”

“Did Aspen explain that we know the dragons very well?”

“Yeah, she has a black dragon that she likes a lot.”

Val didn’t know how to explain without spilling the beans. “Okay, listen, that gold dragon. The one that just ate the surfer. He’s the dragon that Sid is closest to. It’s his best friend. I know him quite well too. This is no longer just some random dragon eating people. This is personal. We have to go back and tell Sid. Then, when everything is taken care of, we’ll come back and search for Rowan. For now, we know he’s alive and safe. He’s with Skye.”

“But you said she was in danger.”

“She is. But so are all the rest of us. She’s managed to avoid detection so far. Rowan might be safer with her than you are with me. Come on.”

Runa landed on the ground next to the car. “Are we leaving already?”

Val nodded.

“Why?”

“I know who the human killer is.”

“Who?” Runa cocked her head. Val knew he had to be careful how he phrased this. He hoped Runa would be smart enough to not say anything that would give them away.

“It’s Prometheus.”

T
HE NEXT COUPLE of hours were a frenzy of getting ready and checking into the airport. Val didn’t know how he was going to tell Sid. He hadn’t known Theo long, but he was Sid’s best friend. Treachery like that could break even the strongest of individuals.

As the plane pushed away from the gate, Hazel turned to him.

“You’ll hold my hand again, right?”

Val smiled at her. “You know you don’t even have to ask.”

“You seem a little distant, so I wasn’t sure.”

“Sorry, I’m still not quite sure how to behave around you. I don’t want to be too forward.”

She took a deep breath and acted like she was going to say something, but then the plane shuddered, and she gripped his hand. She didn’t say anything as the plane took off, but she took deep breaths. Her eyes were closed. As the plane leveled off, she relaxed her hand but didn’t let go.

She smiled at him. “I’m not sure I can fly anywhere anymore without you.”

“I’m not complaining.”

“We should definitely make sure we’re together on the flight back to Hawaii.”

He nodded, but he wasn’t sure he would be going back to Hawaii. He wasn’t sure if she would either.

Hazel didn’t let go of his hand until the flight attendant brought them drinks and a snack. She chattered on for most of the flight. When the fasten seatbelt sign flashed back on, she gripped his hand again.

“Almost there.”

Hazel nodded.

“Is there anything I can do to help you relax?”

She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Yes.”

“What’s that?” he asked, leaning closer.

Her face flushed. “Kiss me again.”

She didn’t have to ask him twice, but at the last second he stopped. Her face was inches from his. He watched her brilliant green eyes as they blinked, and ran his thumb along her jaw. She shivered.

“You need to promise me something.”

“What?” she whispered.

“Promise me that you won’t tell me to get lost after this is over. If I kiss you, we’re in this for the long haul. I want to be yours and you to be mine. I don’t want to share you with anyone.”

She backed away a fraction of an inch and stared deep into his eyes. He was terrified she’d say no.

“Promise,” she finally said.

His lips met hers, and she returned the kiss eagerly. She let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling her close to him. He’d never felt so alive in his life.

A voice in the seat across the aisle from them yelled out. “This isn’t an effing hotel room.”

Hazel pulled away and giggled. She didn’t even acknowledge the man who shouted. Instead, she kept her gaze locked on Val’s as the plane touched down.

“I think kissing is a better distractor than hand holding,” Hazel said.

“We should definitely do more of it then.”

“Of course.”

H
AZEL DROPPED Val off at Sid’s house.

“Aspen sent me a message telling me she was home. I’m going to go say hi to my parents, and then we’ll come back.”

Val nodded and gave her a quick kiss. Truthfully, he was glad. He didn’t want the fact that he was a dragon to come out in the middle of his conversation with Sid. He wanted to support Sid, and he couldn’t do that if he was worried about what Hazel thought.

He found Sid was in the theater room watching the news.

A blonde newscaster stood bundled up with snow blowing all around her. “This is the latest in a string of deaths by a golden dragon. All national parks around the nation are being shut down. Government officials aren’t saying anything except that they are taking steps to remedy the problem and have assured the public that no one else will die. That hasn’t stopped protesters from all over the U.S. calling for the death of the dragons.”

Sid muted the television and hung his head.

“Where is it?” Val asked.

“Alaska.”

“Well, he makes good time then. Because he snatched a surfer up this afternoon.”

Sid stood. “What the hell?”

Val waved him over. “You need to sit down. I know who he is.”

Sid clenched his fists. “I will not sit down. Tell me. Who is it?”

Val took a step back. He didn’t want to be in hitting range when Sid found out.

“Sid, I saw him. It’s Theo.”

Sid’s face went ashen. He picked up a vase on the table next to the couch and threw it across the room. It shattered, sending shards everywhere. Then he clutched at his hair and sank down on the couch with his head hung.

“I’ve been so blind. Of course it’s Theo. Who else was in both Hawaii and Alaska?”

Val sat next to Sid and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Look, I know this is a lot for you to process. But we need to catch him.”

Sid sat up straighter, and his lips formed a tight line. “You know, this means he killed my father as well.” Sid stood and paced. He opened and closed his fists. His breath came in rapid bursts. Val couldn’t even begin to comprehend how he felt.

Pearl came into the room. “We’ve got to go to DC. The president is summoning you.”

Sid shook his head. “Get her on the phone. I don’t have time to go to DC. We know who it is. This ends as soon as we can find him. Fortunately, we have the advantage that he doesn’t know we know who he is.”

“Is it Kingston?” Pearl, asked with her eyes bugged. “He’s been spending a lot of time up north.”

Sid shook his head and let out hollow chuckle. “No. It’s Theo.”