“Fire dragons?” Timothy asked in a low voice.
“Seven or more of them. I don’t know where they came from.”
“Shit,” Timothy swore quietly, then stared at the sky again. “We should have a few minutes before they get here.”
“But if we just leave, what about your friends?” Liana asked worriedly.
“Damn it!” The griffin shifter had turned away from them and was now staring at the sky to their west.
Even before she’d followed his gaze, Liana knew what she’d see.
More tiny dots had appeared in the sky.
Swallowing, she turned.
To the north of them, clouds were covering the sky. Even as she watched, a handful of tiny, dark shapes broke through the clouds, rapidly flying towards them.
“I can outrace them,” Timothy said. “And so can my friends. I can fly higher than them, and I’m faster. And water will shield us from their fire breath.”
Even so, he sounded worried. Liana’s heart clenched when she remembered the jets of fire that had nearly burned them in the alley near her apartment.
That had only been a small group of dragons. This time, Timothy would have to deal with three or four times as many...
“We should go now,” Jared said. He still sounded breathless. “I’d love to give them a fight—but not with your mate here.”
“That’s why they wait to attack,” Timothy said grimly. “They want to kill her before we can mate.”
“Then let’s fly.” Liana’s heart was still pounding. “I trust you. I know you won’t let them harm me.”
“Jared, you’ll fly on my back as well,” Timothy said firmly. “I’m the fastest of us all. I have the power of my element to draw on—something those fire dragons can’t.”
“Unless their mysterious new master of the fire is among them,” Jared murmured. For a moment, he looked as if he wanted to argue. Then he stared at the sky again and changed his mind. “As you say. We’ll all ride on your back.”
Liana had been worriedly watching the sky together with the men. Now she suddenly remembered Braeden, who’d been leaning against the tree on top of the hill.
“Braeden?” she called out, frowning as she looked around.
She could no longer see him sitting by the tree. Where had he gone?
“What has that idiot of a fire dragon done now?” Timothy growled, hurriedly returning to where the solitary tree grew.
Liana watched as he circled it, then shook his head.
She swallowed, then circled around as well. Had Braeden gone off to explore the rocks and bushes that lined the steep incline?
“Braeden?” she called out again, more urgently. How much time was left?
“He’s gone.” Timothy was visibly upset. “I should have known it. He was in league with them after all. He must have led them here somehow. Now he’s run off to join them.”
“No,” Liana said, even though her blood was running cold with fear. “I can’t believe that.”
He’d been a prickly idiot most of the time she’d known him—but he’d also felt remarkably human. Not like a half-mad fire dragon out to kill everything in his way.
“Do you think... he might be trying to talk to them?” she asked hopefully.
Timothy clenched his jaw. “If that’s what he’s trying to do, he’s even more of an idiot than I thought. They’re not here for discussion. Shit, where can he be?”
He turned around again. Meanwhile, Liana peered at the sky.