Page 37 of Cage Me

They all stared at the root and waited. The sunlight swirling around it flickered and faded. Cage took several deep breaths and called upon his dragon to keep him conscious. If he could hold out a little longer, he was sure her plan would work, and he’d be flying into the sun or the moon in no time.

He gritted his teeth and forced his eyes to stay open.

Jett shook his head. “Yeah, that didn't work. I don't think the elements respond to niceties.”

“Ha ha ha. Boy are you wrong, dragonling.” Fallyn crouched down as far as she could and covered her head with her arms.

A rumbling came from somewhere above them. Little drips of water rained down around the root and leaves. Then rocks and other debris fell in a slurry of mud.

Cage shoved his hand between the rock and Jett, grabbing Azy's arm.

Good thing he did too because in the next instant they were both dragged up into a crevasse that was growing by the second, pushed open by water, plant, and magic.

“Holy Mary, mother of ack –” as these words were cut off, but Cage knew exactly what she meant.

Rocks and boulders and debris showered down and around them. He blocked as many as he could from hitting Azy. The farther they traveled upward, the wider the space in the earth became. A huge chunk of earth tremored above them. There was no dodging that metric ton of rock.

“Look out. Go, go.” Behind them Jett shifted into his dragon form and had snagged Fallyn in his talons. He flapped his wings and overtook them.

Cage did the same and wrapped Azy in his claws. He twisted and turned, asking the wind to push his flight and keep the debris at bay until they were passed. A warm Zephyr of wind whooshed over them, pushing all four of them up like rockets, out of the earth and into the sky.

The sun was just rising over the horizon and Cage continued their assent, soaking up every last molecule of energy and vitamin D from the sun.

“Oh my God, oh my God. What are you doing? Take us down, right now. Unless, you want me to throw up all over you. Because I will.” Azy wrapped her arms around his foreleg and clung to him. Her body shivered, and it wasn't from the cool morning air.

She was fucking afraid of heights.

A fish and a bird could fall in love, but where would they live?

“Cage. You take me down right now.” There wasn’t a wobble in her voice. She knew exactly what she wanted.

“It's all right, babe. I got you.”

“You'd better.”

Below them, where the earth had opened up, he could see a little oasis, with a pool of water and if he wasn't mistaken a tree of Hesperides mixed in among the native trees and bushes. He headed for the oasis in a long circular descent. He figured that would scare Azy less than a divebomb.

He hated the way she shook and pulled warmth from the sun around her like a blanket.

“You love the sky, don't you?”

“Yes.” He wasn't sure what else to say. Was she expecting him to try and show her the beauty of writing crisp currents, being able to see the curve of the earth?

“I'll be okay, if you want to take your time.” The only thing that betrayed her lie was the death grip she had on his leg.

He wanted to kiss her for it. He hadn't ever kissed a woman while flying. His brain exploded with visions of a whole new kind of mile high club.

Not with her shaking and fearful.

Now that they had escaped hell, his first order of business was to properly claim his mate in every way that he could. Which meant getting to ground as soon as possible.

Cage folded in his wings and tucked Azy tight against his belly.

“What are you do oh oh oh oh –”

Cage streaked toward the ground and hummed a tune, a very old lullaby, just for his mate. He scanned the ground for any sign that the Black Dragon and his minions had followed them. So far, he saw nothing. This place, this little oasis had some powerful magic, and he let that power sink into him. Safety, respite, and a little bit of…lust, floated through his senses. This place was not merely a natural phenomenon. The elemental powers and magic of dragons was here. Good. Finally, something in this day was going right.

“Please don't crash, please don't crash, please don't crash.”

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