“It is.” His cheek rubbed against hers. Rough against smooth, and her nerve endings tingled at his touch.
Hannah never wanted this to end. She wanted them to fly on and on, an endless flight where her problems were left behind on the ground far below. But that would mean Karl would stay lost forever and she couldn’t let that happen.
So when the dragon banked to the right and began to descend, she was ready to face the next part of the adventure she’d started out on when she walked into the bar and met O’Malley. Unsure of where exactly that adventure would take her, or where it would end was yet to be seen.
But she was ready to face whatever life threw her way if her mate was by her side.
Hannah’s resolve temporarily dissolved as the dragon came in to land. A strong wind buffeted them as they dropped lower over the mountainous region where the village Karl had set off from was situated. The dragon coped well, but Hannah’s grip threatened to fail as her stiff hands refused to obey the commands sent by her brain.
O’Malley held on tight, his arms circling around her, keeping her from falling off as the wind whipped her hair around her face, temporarily blinding her. Hannah closed her eyes and focused on the things that were tangible, solid, and real. She didn’t want to look at the world below that seemed to be rushing toward them too fast.
Kelos would keep them safe. He wouldn’t let them fall. She repeated the words Amber had told her until at last, with a light thud, the dragon landed on two feet.
She let out a rush of air her lungs had kept prisoner and the wind immediately stole it away, leaving her breathless. Hannah sucked in another breath, breathing deep, filling her chest with air before letting it out slowly. She was back in control.
“Are you okay?” O’Malley asked as he loosened his hold on her.
“I think so.” She stared down at her hands, willing her fingers to uncurl from around the horn, but they refused to obey.
O’Malley shifted his weight and leaned over to one side. Covering her hands with his, he rubbed them until they warmed enough for the feeling to return. Stretching and flexing her fingers, she finally gained mobility and let go of the dragon horn that had been her constant security during the flight.
“We need to get off so that Kelos can fly home.”
Hannah nodded and rolled her stiff shoulders as O’Malley swung his leg behind him and slid down onto the dragon’s leg. She followed, practically falling into his outstretched arms as he caught her and stopped her from falling. When he was certain she could stand on her own, O’Malley jumped down to the ground and helped Hannah as she clumsily followed.
As soon as they were on the ground, the air popped and fizzed and the dragon disappeared to be replaced by Kelos in his human form once more. “Are you sure you are okay here? I can wait twenty-four hours just in case the trail is cold, and you need to go straight back to Cougar Ridge.”
“No, this is the right place,” O’Malley confirmed. “We have to take our time and search thoroughly.” He glanced sideways at Hannah. “Unless you would feel safer with Kelos here?”
“No, go home. This is the place. This is where he called me from the last time I spoke to him and this is the area where the search party tracked him to. They tracked him about five miles west before they lost his trail. Then they did a sweep of the area and asked in the other villages, but no one saw him.” Her mouth drooped at the corners. “Thank you for bringing us this far. And thank you for the offer of help.”
“As long as you are sure.” Kelos nodded, took a couple of steps backward, shifted into his dragon, and then leaped into the air, swooping low across the mountainside before beating his wings hard as he rose back up into the air. In minutes he was gone from view and she was alone on the mountain with O’Malley.
“We need to get moving,” he said to her as the wind buffeted them once more. “We’ll go to the village and see if they have somewhere for us to stay.”
“You don’t think it’s too late to go to the village?” Hannah realized she had no idea of what time it was. They had traveled across time zones to get here. Would the dragon flight give her jet lag?
“It’s a little before midnight. I’m sure someone will be awake. And we need shelter. It’s cold and I don’t want to wrestle with the tent in this wind.” His teeth flashed white as he grinned. “We could always find a cave. I could shift into my cougar and keep you warm. He’s extremely hotblooded.”
She opened her mouth to give some smart retort, but she had none. Curling up next to a large cat was not a bad idea. “Whatever you prefer.”
“Let’s get to the village. We need to ask around about your brother and it might be easier at night when the people aren’t busy working. They might also have had a little of the local drink they brew in these parts. It’ll loosen their tongues.” He took a compass out of his pocket and checked the direction before he set off in what she thought was a southwesterly direction. At least that’s what she figured by looking at the stars.
But the stars looked different here, there were more of them. With the lack of light pollution, as they walked toward the village and what she hoped might be a comfortable bed, Hannah looked up at the heavens above and saw stars she had never seen her whole life. Stars that were hidden from her even though they were always there.
Was Karl looking up at these same stars even now? Or was he up there, part of the great cosmos? After her mom died, Hannah found comfort in the idea that her mom was looking down on her, watching over her beloved family. Perhaps Karl had been reunited with his mom.
But Hannah’s gut instinct was that her brother was still alive, and she had to hang on to that thought, she had to hang on to hope until she knew for certain he was dead.
Chapter Nine – O’Malley
O’Malley helped Hannah as they hiked along a trail they had found that looked as if it led to the village. He’d been tempted to shift into his cougar since his feline night vision was much superior to his human’s. But Hannah needed the O’Malley she knew right now, not a large cat she had never met.
“The village should be over that next rise.” He had to practically shout over the wind to get her to hear him.
Perhaps we should have checked the weather forecast before we set out, his cougar said.
Perhaps we should have, but I doubt anything short of a hurricane or a whiteout would have stopped Hannah. She is determined to find Karl and now that she has set things in motion, I don’t think she can stop.
The need is like a constant nagging in her head. His cougar could certainly understand Hannah’s need to find her brother. She had spent weeks trying to get the authorities to do something. Weeks of frustration. Now that she was able to do something to start the search herself, she couldn’t let it go.
We just have to make sure she doesn’t do anything to put herself in danger. O’Malley’s concern for his mate stretched further than the present moment. He was worried that information they might gather about Karl might lead them deep into the mountains where the terrain was treacherous and the risk of death real.
“There. I see lights.” Hannah pointed to their left and sure enough, through the trees, there appeared a light that twinkled like the stars above their heads.