Page 6 of Klaus

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Klaus

Ileaned over in my seat, raising my voice to be understood over the jet’s engines as we began taxiing down the runway. “I suppose flying is nothing new for you.”

Dallas laughed. He always seemed to be in a good mood, which was likely why I gravitated toward him when given the chance. The easiest one of the lot to talk to, though they had all relaxed and allowed themselves to open up once the shock of what they’d been through had passed.

And once we’d managed to flush the drugs from their systems.

Not all of them were drugged, it seemed. Only a handful. Any electronic files which had been maintained during the course of testing were destroyed prior to the liberation of the dragons. My assumption was that someone had wiped the network clean after hearing the shouts and destruction as Gate and Miles shifted and began killing all those obstructing their efforts to save the dragon shifters.

Not a bad last-minute move on their part, I had to ruefully admit.

Without those files, we had no way of telling what had been done to each of them. The dragons weren’t aware, either; they’d been told nothing of the injections they’d received or the effects of them. It wouldn’t do for anyone to know what to expect, as a placebo effect might have sullied the results.

Tell dragon shifters they’re receiving a drug which will make them rot from the inside out and they might begin feeling as though they’re doing that very thing.

It turned my stomach to imagine what went through the minds of those bastards as they conducted tests on living, breathing, sentient creatures. An extreme amount of disconnect had to have been present, the ability to pretend as though the creatures they were testing on weren’t people.

How could those bastards live with themselves otherwise?

Dallas leaned back in his leather-covered seat, a smile stretched across his face. “Aye, it’ll be a treat to be able to fly free again.”

“You weren’t able to back at the resort?”

“Mary didn’t take to the idea,” he explained with a good-natured shrug. “We explained to her that humans cannot see us once we’ve taken to the air, but she didn’t wish for us to press our luck. I can’t say that I blame her. She had already taken many risks for our sake.”

“She was glad to do it. I’m certain of that.”

“You know her well, then?”

“Indeed. We’ve worked together for many years.” Decades, in fact, though I had hardly seemed to have aged a day. What must that have been like for her? Growing older while those she worked hard to protect stayed did not age?

“She must be a good boss, for you to have stayed with her for this long.”

“It’s more than that, after all, she protects more than shifters. She protects those under her command, as well.”

He seemed to accept this, at least, he didn’t ask further questions, which was a blessing. I wasn’t in the mood to share, not with a long flight ahead of me and a complete lack of knowledge with regard to where I was going.

I supposed there wasn’t much to know. A chain of mountains into which a series of caves had long since been carved. I’d already asked around to find whether anyone knew just how old those caves were or who had created them. No one answered.

Perhaps they’d always been there.

What hadn’t always been there was the advanced network the clan had put in place. From what they’d reported, every room of the underground compound was fully connected to every other room as well as the internet. TV, music, even electronic books. Anything a person or dragon or lion could ever need to keep themselves amused.

When we left the ground—that moment of hovering in the air, somewhere in between rolling over the tarmac and taking flight—the rest of the plane broke out in applause and more than a few laughs. It was, indeed, ironic that two dozen dragons were a jet plane.

I did not cheer. I did not laugh. I sat stock-still, hands on my knees, staring straight ahead. It wasn’t until the plane began climbing that I was able to take a single breath—a shallow one, at that.

There was nothing wrong with hating to fly. Nothing at all. Plenty of people didn’t enjoy it.

“Scared?”

I turned my head to the right and found a certain reddish-blonde-haired woman grinning at me, her green eyes cutting very deliberately to the hands which clasped my knees. I loosened my grip, flexing my fingers for show.

“Not at all,” I lied, forcing a grin.

“It’s all right,” Ainsley stage-whispered. “Just because we’re all accustomed to flight, and you’re merely a four-legged animal…”

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