Page 78 of Her Lawless Prince

“Come on.” Roderic helped the Var guard to his feet. He supported the man’s weight. “This way, big guy.”

“Yevgen was not constructed to withstand incineration,” Nyle insisted.

They pushed through the underbrush. It scratched her exposed skin. When they came out the other side, Nyle tugged his hand from hers.

“Take my shirt.” Nyle pulled the clothing over his head.

“I’m fine.” Payton denied. If soldiers came for him, she would be fighting.

The soft sound of something falling drew her attention downward. An object had come from inside the shirt.

“What is that?” Payton asked.

Nyle picked it up, and his hand trembled. “An old recording disk. I haven’t seen these since…”

“Since?” Payton prompted.

“Yevgen must have put it inside my shirt.”

“So you can repair him with that?” Payton insisted.

“No.” Nyle shook his head. “It’s what we used on Cysgod in the labs for internal recordings. I’m not sure why he still has it. I figured he would have scavenged something better by now.”

“Payton!” Grier yelled.

Payton wanted to say more, but they were out of time. The hum of land crafts approached.

“Grier, I need you,” Payton answered as they came to the clearing. The dragon prince was there in seconds.

“Good, you found him.” Grier nodded at Nyle. “We need to get him out of here before they come back. I can hide him in dragon territory where they’ll never find him.”

“I’m not running, or hiding,” Nyle said. “Not when I can end this. Get Payton out of here. I’ll stay and face—”

“He’s confused,” Payton interrupted. “Don’t listen to him.”

“If they know about Nyle, they know about the newspaper chip article.” Roderic joined them. The palace guard remained inside the tree line leaning against a thick trunk. “They know where to look for the virus formula. Griggs said on record that they didn’t find it when they first looked right after evacuations, but now…”

“They signed away all rights to the planet,” Payton reasoned. “I’m betting Griggs will try to get someone there to look for it one last time before the Cysgodians can make arrangements to protect it. We can’t let that happen. If those people didn’t destroy the facility like they had planned, the virus could still be there. We can’t let it get out.”

All eyes turned to Nyle.

“Take Nyle to the west landing dock at the Var palace,” Payton said. “Don’t let him out of your sight until Roderic can join you.”

Payton snatched the recording disk from Nyle before tucking it into his waistband for safekeeping.

“No, I—” Nyle began.

Grier instantly shifted into dragon form. Nyle stumbled back as the dragon hovered.

“He won’t drop you. It’s a short trip. Try not to look down,” Payton advised as she pulled Nyle’s arm toward the dragon. “I love you.”

Grier wrapped his talons around Nyle’s biceps.

Nyle kicked his legs in protest. His shirt fell to the ground as he automatically reached to hold on to Grier. “I can’t…”

“Roderic, take Yevgen to safety. Hide him with Nyle on Rick’s ship. Then tell Rick I need him.” Payton gestured at her cousin to hurry.

Roderic half-shifted and gathered the metal pieces into his arms. He made a small noise of discomfort as he bounced them to indicate they were still hot before he ran into the forest.

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