Page 81 of Her Dragon Daddy Disaster
That was it! Therockwalls!
“Levi,” I said excitedly. “The wall. Between us. It’s just rock. It can’t be that thick. I could reach your hand.”
“Yes?” he sounded confused.
“I saw you shift your hand into a claw before. Could you not just dig through to us at least?”
Booted feet scrambled on rock as Levi got to his feet. “Yes, I can. Stand back!”
Taking Jakub, I retreated to the far side of the cell. “We’re good.”
“Mommy!” Jakub cried as loud scraping noises filled the dark. “What’s going on?”
“Daddy is digging through the wall to come to us,” I said, raising my voice over the sound of rock clattering to the floor.
Soon, a dark-red dragon claw punctured the wall. It was pulled back. Then three of them burst through, the wall collapsing into our cell as Levi broke through.
“Dad!”
“Hey, little dude!” Levi said, bending down to scoop Jakub up as he broke from my side and ran across the distance.
By the time he’d picked his son up, his hands and arms were human once more, wrapping tight around the blur of motion that had leaped at him with utter trust.
He held our son with one arm, the movement natural and easy looking, as if he’d done it a million times. “Did you stay out of trouble while I was over there?”
Jakub looked back at me. “I think so.”
I laughed, causing Levi to switch his gaze from our son to me. I trembled as I met his gaze, letting him see my face. I knew what he was looking for. What he wanted to see. To hear. But I wasn’t sure I could give it to him.
I cared about him—that much I knew and wasn’t afraid to admit to anyone. But love, love was way more than that. It was something bigger. More immovable. And something I just hadn’t thought about yet. Not until he’d uttered those words.
Didheeven mean them? It had come out so fast and casual, nothing like how I’d pictured it happening. Now that he could see me again, would that all come crumbling down?
“I meant what I said,” he rumbled before I could speak, reading my mind. “But right now, let’s focus on getting out of here.”
I nodded, hoping it wasn’t as jerky and unsteady as it felt. It probably was, but I couldn’t do anything about it.
“You’re the one with the training,” he said, all business. “I’m sure you’ve gamed out all sorts of different scenarios as part of your job. Time to start dredging all that information up and applying it to our current scenario. Including the fact I’m a dragon and can do things no human can.”
I stared at him. He sounded just like some of my bosses.
“Well? Come on, Agent Detfield. Think! I’m just the muscle. You’re the brains.”
My jaw worked slowly, the gears in my brain squeaking as they tried to shed some of the situation-imposed rust. Think. Right. What sorts of situations had I been in before that could apply? What about a dragon added to the mix?
“I’ll be honest. We didn’t do many prison-breakout drills in the Secret Service. We did the basics of picking cuffs, breaking ties, tape, rope, that sort of thing. But actual prison-cell escapes? Not sure I ever did one.”
“So, you’re telling me you don’t have any ideas?”
“Not unless you have the magic key to the door.”
“Tried that already. Nearly used up all the air in here. Not gonna work. Not at the rate it replenishes. Malakai thought of that.”
I kicked a chunk of rock in frustration. It clattered across the floor, bouncing off some of the larger chunks littering the area thanks to Levi’s digging.
“Did he think about you digging through the rock to get to us?” I asked abruptly, head snapping up. “Was that part of his plan?”
“Maybe? I don’t know,” Levi admitted. “That man isn’t the Malakai I thought I knew. I can’t read his mind anymore.”
