Page 33 of Fire in Stone

I slid my gaze past his shoulders, where his wings worked tirelessly.

“Were you serious when you said you can fly us all the way to the portal from here?”

“Absolutely,” he replied confidently.

“How long will it take you?”

“That depends on several things. One is, how many stops will we take?”

“What if we don’t stop at all?”

He shook his head. “That’s not realistic.”

I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing.

Realistic?

There was nothing realistic about this situation. All realism had gone out the window the moment a statue came to life and burst out of a wooden crate.

Elex remained serious, however. “You know that I will have to stop for the night.”

“That’s right.” We wouldn’t want the sunset to catch him mid-flight. I had no desire to tumble out of the sky trapped in the stone arms of a statue.

He continued, “Eventually, we’ll also need to get you some food and water.”

I shrugged that away.

“I don’t mind going without a meal or two. I can deal with hunger.” It wouldn’t be for the first time.

“No.” He sounded adamant. “Hunger is a torturous feeling. I don’t want you todealwith anything like that.”

“How about you? Don’tyouneed to eat, too?”

“Fae can last without food for a very long time. That doesn’t mean we like going hungry. Around midday, I’ll stop for food and water. We’ll just have to figure out the safest location to do so.”

I had some cash, both in dollars and euros. Since there was no need to worry about the plane tickets, I had more than enough for dinner and accommodation for the night.

“How far can you take us today before the sunset?” I asked.

“With a brief stop for lunch, past that large island after the strait.”

“The British Isles, you mean?”

“If you say so.” Of course, he had no way of knowing the names of the locations.

“Let’s not go past those big islands tonight. It’s best to stop in England or Scotland, then continue over the Atlantic Ocean tomorrow.”

I preferred to spend the night in a lovely country inn rather than on some uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean somewhere. I didn’t turn to stone at night. As a human, I appreciated the comfort of a bed to sleep in.

“Can you cross the entire Atlantic Ocean in one day tomorrow?”

“Why not?” He shrugged.

I thought about the map I’d seen on the airplane screen on my flight to Munich and the route I’d traveled from Atlanta to Europe.

“Also, please aim to pass the two large islands on the north side. Okay? It’s the shortest route.” I made a mental note to verify that when we stopped for lunch.

The air and clouds rushed by us, but the speed didn’tfeelthat fast. At least not as fast as it should be if we were to fly almost across the entire continent of Europe in less than a day, then across the entire Atlantic Ocean the day after. We were high enough from the ground for me to freeze or struggle for oxygen, but other than my cramping limbs from holding on to Elex so tightly, I felt warm and comfortable in his arms.

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