Page 89 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
“That slayer is certainly something,” Morgan muttered. He’d inched to the other side of me, nearly hiding, when Galadon ramped up his power. “More like crazy and suicidal.”
I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.
Aidan ran a hand through his dark hair with trembling fingers—no one was immune to the lone shifter’s power. “Those two have a complicated alliance, but Rayna is among the few willing to work closely with him, and Galadon is among the few who don’t fear her.”
The lone shifter carefully extracted Rayna’s arm from him. “I fear I won’t be able to resist killing her before the war begins.”
“Ignore him. That’s his way of showing how much he cares,” she replied, leaning on him with a dramatic sigh. “If he’d just get laid, he wouldn’t always act so uptight.”
The colonel blanched.
Galadon let out a growl, took her by the arms, and deposited her a few feet from him. Despite his anger, he gently performed the entire maneuver. He didn’t even let go of her until he was certain she was steady on her feet. Perhaps Rayna was right.
Aidan muttered a prayer to Zorya before addressing the pair again. “Please let Syrus know that Bailey and I will meet them at the lake after we finish here. You two should go. They’re almost here, and I imagine they’d prefer to get settled sooner rather than later after their long journey.”
Everyone turned their gazes toward the sky, where the formation of red dragons grew larger with their approach. They were only a few miles away now.
“Of course,” Galadon said, giving him a nod.
He and Rayna walked toward the place designated for shifting, neither of them speaking further. It was an open field near the runway. I could only hope she eased up and stopped baiting him for a while.
Aidan continued talking to the colonel, and Morgan opened the shield bubble to allow his executive officer to join them. They explained how their convoy only brought about five hundred soldiers with weapons, equipment, and supplies. Designated officers were already inspecting the runway to ensure it was operational. Planes were on standby at Pope Field in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to begin bringing another seventeen hundred troops and more supplies via C-17s and C-130s. It would take a couple of days to complete the transfer. After that, they’d bring five A-10 Warthogs that would be stationed at the base for close air support, and helicopters would go to the Norman airport for various other uses.
I left their discussion when I saw Captain Taylor wave at me with a group of familiar slayers behind him. With a wide grin, I ran up and hugged Brody—my former fighting partner—and then Jana. She’d had my back many times, too. Taking in the bunch, I counted thirty of them.
“Not a bad turnout,” I said, surprised the coalition brought that many.
The captain shrugged. “It would have been more, but these are the only ones who’ve developed a sufficient tolerance of dragons. Throughout the trip, we used the Straegud to keep up regular exposure. A few of them still need a little work, though.”
“You can pair them with me and my two slayer friends. We’ll watch them during joint training because it can be chaotic, and they might lose their grip,” I suggested.
I avoided saying anything too specific since Morgan could only raise one shield at a time, but we didn’t have the luxury of dancing around the subject altogether. The war would begin in six days. There was so much to discuss and do before then.
“Did they show you where you’ll be bunking yet?” I asked.
Captain Taylor shook his head. “They did for the soldiers but not us.”
I’d fought hard to get the slayers decent accommodations and hoped they’d be pleased. “Follow me. There is electricity and hot showers are available.”
Jana put an arm around my shoulders as we walked. “I was mad when you left, but I suppose you can be my friend again if the quarters are as good as you say.”
“All it took was the offer of a hot shower?” I asked, glancing up at her. She was taller than me by five inches, but her scent made it clear they hadn’t showered during their trip.
“I’m easy to please.”
Brody laughed. “That’s what he said.”
Jana rolled her eyes. “It was all I could do to resist gutting him on this trip.”
“You didn’t? Not once?” Whenever a lot of slayers gathered, we tended to get violent, even among our own kind. The coalition leadership gave up long ago with forbidding us from fighting as long as we didn’t cause grave wounds. It helped blow off steam between battles.
“Okay, I did stab him in the gut once, but it was really just a gash,” she admitted.
Brody caught up to walk on the other side of me from Jana. “Don’t let her fool you. She was aiming lower and missed.”
“I never miss,” she scoffed.
The building where they would be staying came into view. “This one is all yours. They’re former Air Force dorms I got some people to clean up last week.”
