Page 64 of Lahaina Noon

Bridget used their signal system to tell the others, relieved when they all complied. Leaning down over their dragons’ necks to reduce their silhouette, they all remained silent. Ivan peeled away from the squad and flew left.

Bridget watched as he picked up speed to intercept whoever or whatever was coming at them. She was grateful for their extraordinary senses then, as she couldn’t hear anything other than the wind and the occasional flap of wings.

A few minutes later, Ivan took up position again and Drake signaled all clear. The others sat up in relief.

Apparently, a brown dragon was out for a night flight nearby and spotted the unknown squad. She was coming to say hello and didn’t mean to startle them. She knew a great place for them to land and would show them. Drake had agreed, and soon a petite brown dragon, the color of freshly turned earth, joined the squad, flying slightly ahead of Drake. They nodded to each other, and she angled right, flying down towards the island.

Bridget could smell the ocean and lush tropical flowers as they flew lower. She was relieved to be over the land again and was looking forward to standing on her own two feet. Flying with Drake was fun, but his scales weren’t exactly posh Italian leather. She wondered howhe’d feel about a saddle. She grinned to herself but decided against mentioning that idea to him.

The little dragon circled a large field with a few torches on the side to mark the boundaries. She made a hooting sound, indicating they could land. The squad glided towards the grass below and landed gently, although the draft from their wings blew out the light. The ones nearest the now extinguished torches blew gentle streams of fire to relight them. The passengers slid to the ground, stretching their legs and chattering in excitement about the amazing experience.

The dragons milled about while the humans gathered the bags and moved them to the side, getting out the clothes they needed when they changed back. The small brown dragon landed with a little hop and bounded over to the group. She must be very young, Bridget decided.

She hooted at the bigger male dragons, and they chuffed back at her. She gave another of her cute hops and shimmered into a young woman. The others took their cue and changed as well.

While they were dressing, the young lady had dashed off to grab her own clothes. She ran back over once she was properly attired and introduced herself as Emberly, but they could call her Em. Introductions went around, and they thanked her for the use of the field.

She was excited to meet them as she didn’t get a chance to mingle much with other dragons. Most of them stayed away due to the Council and her dad being kind of protective. She looked around as if she was half expecting him to pop out of a bush and scold her.

Jorrie nudged Bridget and motioned for her to look at Gabe. He was staring at the black-haired, brown-eyed girl as if she’d hung the moon.Bridget shook her head; she guessed the crush on Siobhan was officially over.

Vaughn asked Em if she knew how to get to the hotel; thankfully, she did. She gave them directions which was fortunately an easy walking distance. They gathered their belongings and were about to depart, thanking Em again for her kindness when she offered to walk with them. She was smiling shyly at Gabe.

Jack gave Bridget a conciliatory hug.

Chapter 36

Bridget was startled awakeby a loud bang. She looked around in confusion trying to remember where she was. It all came flooding back, and she relaxed. She sat up on her elbow, trying to figure out what the bang was and saw Vaughn standing at the door with a chagrined look.

“Sorry,” he said, “Didn’t mean to scare you. I was trying to bring you breakfast and the door slipped when I was tipping room service.” She noticed he had a tray of food, and he brought it over.

He helped her sit up, placing it over her lap. He was wearing loose white cotton pants and no shirt. Standing in front of the window with the light filtering through, they didn’t leave much room for imagination.

She glanced at the food and decided he looked much yummier. Then she remembered Gabe was sleeping in the next room and tried to keep her appetite focused appropriately.

Vaughn caught her thoughts and stretched out on the bed next to her, propping his head on one arm and striking a decidedly sexy pose.

She laughed and dabbed some whipped cream on his nose. He rolled on his back, laughing with her. She loved this playful side of him. They talked quietly for a while about their plans for the day. They were to meet the others at nine in the lobby. It was a quarter after eight now, so they decided to get dressed, but by the time they got out of the shower, they were late meeting the others. The cheers and wolf whistles they received when they appeared proved everyone knew exactly why they were late.

Gabe was too engrossed in the girl in front of him to even be a little embarrassed. Em was back again and was chattering excitedly to him about the island. They learned Em had recently turned eighteen and only gained her full form about three months earlier. She was the youngest dragon on the island and was excited to meet someone her age who knew about dragons so she didn’t have to hide that part of herself. The girl hopped around so much Bridget was contemplating nicknaming her Bunny.

As it turned out, Emberly thought the nickname was hilarious and adopted it. Now Bunny was telling them about her parents while the others ate breakfast. Already having eaten, Bridget and Vaughn listened intently, interested to learn that Bunny’s mother and father both worked for the Council in global communications.

She offered to show them where the council chambers were, but Ivan let her know he was already aware and would be taking just Vaughn and Bridget for this first meeting. Bunny looked disappointed at first but rebounded, offering to take the others on a tour of the island. They readily agreed, and everyone prepared for their respective plans.

“This is it?” Bridget asked Ivan as they stood in front of a nondescript-looking storefront backed up against a mountain. After seeing how grand her dragons lived, she expected something palatial from the Dragon Council building.

Ivan turned a bemused smile on her. “Well, what did you expect them to do? Hang a banner that says, ‘Here there be dragons’? This is just a cover, a shell.”

Bridget shrugged, turning to look at Vaughn who had been silent since they left the hotel.

He was glaring at the doors as if he wished them irreparable harm.

She knew he’d spent many years suffering under Council rule and was not looking forward to entering these halls again. She quietly took his hand, lending him her support. Although he didn’t look at her, she saw his face relax, and a small smile returned to his lips. She looked at Ivan, who simply said, “Let’s go.”

They stepped through the doors into a dimly lit store that seemed to sell a lot of nothing. Not much that anyone would want anyway. She guessed to keep people away, no need to come in here.

Ivan gave a nod to the proprietor, who seemed to be sleeping with his feet propped on the counter. He waved them on while looking out the window to ensure there were no spectators.

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