Page 29 of Flirting with Death

"Together, Rai, that is the plan," Samantha replied. She reached out for my hand, touching me for the first time since finding out I had kept something from her again.

I blinked away the telltale moisture from my eyes and squared my shoulders. "If anything goes wrong, I need you all to promise you will get Samantha to safety."

The three men nodded their agreement while Brook watched me curiously.

Bellamy unfolded from the chair and headed for the bathroom. When no one followed, he turned back around. "We need a mirror for travel."

We all filed into the space in front of the sink, and he did some sort of gesture that made the glass shimmer and swirl before revealing a barren room on the other side. He looked at Alastor and nodded to the surface. Without a word, he climbed onto the counter and through to the other side. Cerberus hopped up onto the surface and chased after him. Then, one at a time, we all made our way to the realm I never thought I would return to.

Bellamy came through last, and the mirror closed off. He lifted his red gaze to the rest of us as he straightened.

"Welcome to my home," he said and headed toward the door.

He led the way through the massive palace that felt vaguely familiar and out into a garden with a sort of hedge maze. A fountain, or at least the shell of a fountain, was in the middle of the large courtyard. No water ran through it. I wondered if it was broken or if it had been shut off on purpose at some time and forgotten about. The mountains loomed in the distance, making my chest constrict as my breath got stuck in my throat. They were large and dusty red; if there were trees on them, they had red leaves. I could just see a gray castle nestled near the snow-covered top.

Home.

My full attention snagged on the flying dragons. They looked small from here. My dragon surged beneath my skin, and a puff of smoke pushed from my nose as fire burned up my throat. The fear from before evaporated, and all I felt now was as if I had been missing a part of myself, hiding it away all these years, and it had finally snapped back into place.

"It's beautiful," Sam whispered, coming up next to me. "The palace, the garden, the mountains, all of it is perfect."

"I don't know. If you add in flames, it would look exactly like I thought Hell would," Brook replied. Her vision of the place was critical and made something inside of me bristle. It didn't matter what she thought.

"There is a flaming forest of souls," Alastor replied. He stepped up next to me, his hands deep in his pockets and his beast on his other side.

"That sounds delightful," Brook replied, sarcasm dripped from her words. "It reminds me of a place I've been before, only red and not black."

"It is not meant to be delightful," Alastor said stiffly, completely missing the sarcasm.

Lex chuckled. "She means the opposite. You really haven't changed too much from the asshole you've always been, have you?"

I looked back at the demi-god. He didn't look as relaxed as Bellamy and Alastor appeared. I had a feeling that although this should be home for him, he was much more comfortable in the mortal world. I could understand that, because even though this instantly felt like a place I belonged, I wouldn't want to stay here forever.

"No, I'm exactly the same," Alastor said. Without a backward glance, he strode toward the exit of the garden. "We are wasting daylight."

"The dragon can fly us," Bellamy said. He faced me, his eyes ran down my body, making me feel naked to his attention. He was assessing me, like I could be a meal for him. "You should remove your clothes before you shift. I don't think I have anything that will fit you."

I hesitated. He wanted me to fly all of them on my back. How large did he think I was?

"I don't—" I started.

"I've seen it done. It can't be that hard. And you have your front claws if it is too much," Bellamy cut me off.

"It can't be that hard?" I scoffed with a laugh.

He gave me a droll stare, and I shook my head in disbelief.

"Bell, he doesn't have to. If he doesn't want to, we can walk," Sam said.

"No, I'll try," I said.

I held his gaze as I stripped out of my clothing and folded it up. I handed it to Samantha. Brook had squeaked and turned away as soon as she realized what I was doing, but the others watched. Being the center of attention, even if I wasn't attracted to the guys, was a heady feeling, because I knew they liked what they saw. They backed up as I shifted. It was seamless here. Something in the air made it easier.

Leaning down from my towering height above them, I gave them my wings to grip as they swung onto my back. When the weight of all of them, besides the three-headed dog, settled on me, I flexed my wings. Then I wrapped my clawed hand around the beast and pushed off the ground. It was strange flying with the added weight, but not impossible.

It was freeing, knowing no one would catch and trap me while flying here. What would it have been like to have lived here my whole life without the constant fear of being found out?

I landed on an outstretched cliff, and they all slipped down my scales to the rocky path. Cerberus shook out his fur and trotted over to his master. Letting out a puff of built up smoke, I swung my head up to the dragons that had spotted us and headed our way. I could sense them and knew they were guards, just as they could read me and knew who I was. The knowing differed from anything I had ever felt before, like we were each connected on a mental level. Still, I held my form and put myself between the group and them.

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