Page 96 of Raul
“I have hired the finest experts in saurology,” the amir said. “They assured me that the dragon would thrive once I brought her back to my country.”
“There,” Raul said. “You just admitted to stealing the dragon to take back to Symari. Are her eggs with her?”
All of a sudden, the amir seemed to deflate as he muttered in his own language. Erica suspected that whatever he said wasn’t flattering to any of them. “The eggs are in an incubator in the same room.”
Without another word to Raul, al-Buya swept out of the storage room.
Raul nodded to Dario to follow before he held out his hand to Erica, his face alight with satisfaction. “Let’s go get our dragon back.”
She put her hand in his, savoring the strength of his fingers wrapped around hers. He walked like a conquering king as they followed al-Buya through the corridors of the ship. A couple of the amir’s crew passed them, giving little bows. How many staff members did al-Buya have on his yacht? There must be dozens, among them his bodyguards. There were only four Calevans, so what would stop the amir from ordering his employees to toss his unwelcome guests in the ocean? A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of plunging into that inky black water.
No, Raul was a prince. Drowning him was probably against some code of royalty, not to mention bringing the wrath of King Luis down on al-Buya.
She shook away the terrifying thoughts as al-Buya stopped in front of a door with a keypad and a thumbprint reader. He typed in the numbers and pressed his thumb against the reader. The door swung open, and the earthy scent ofraíz dulce,the Calevan dragon’s favorite food, wafted out into the corridor.
“Take your dragon and get off my ship. You have fifteen minutes until I order the captain to full speed,” al-Buya said before he walked away.
Raul went first, then Dario and Pascal. Erica followed, coming up beside Raul at a glass half wall that cut across the spacious room. On the other side of the wall was an amazingly accurate replica of the clearing where Raul had sprained his ankle, complete with grass, flowers, and bushes. In the middle of it, sitting atop her recreated—but empty—nest was a magnificent teal-green Calevan dragon, her frill spread wide and her mouth open as she hissed at them to protect the eggs that had already been stolen.
“Wow! She’s a beauty!” Erica murmured, not wanting to distress the dragon any further.
“Estupenda!”Raul said quietly. “Wait! Is she wearing a harness?” Anger edged his voice.
Erica sidestepped to look at the dragon from a different angle. Sure enough, a leather harness that glittered with jewels was fastened around the dragon’s body.
“Well, that will make it easier to get her off the ship,” Pascal said with a pragmatic calmness.
“Thatgilipollas,” Raul muttered. “I should drag him through the mud of public opinion.”
Before leaving the airport, they had discussed obtaining some kind of tranquilizer for the dragon, but Raul had ruled it out. None of them was expert enough to administer an injection without fear of hurting her, especially since they didn’t know if al-Buya had already drugged her. That meant they would be herding a wide-awake mama dragon through al-Buya’s yacht while racing against the clock. The difficulty of it hit Erica like a truck.
But one step at a time.
“She must be five feet long and a couple of hundred pounds,” Erica said softly. “She’s definitely not going to fit on the helicopter.”
They had covered that issue too. If they found only the eggs, they would leave by helicopter. If they found the dragon, they assumed al-Buya would have plenty of boats to choose from. They would get her on one and call the Guardia Maritima to pick them up.
There were a lot of moving parts to this plan, but Erica trusted her three companions to pull it off. Having one commanding, pissed-off prince and two fit, highly trained bodyguards was very useful in a situation like this.
“Señor,the eggs are here.” Dario stood in front of a case with a glass top and a series of gauges. Erica joined him to see that the gauges measured humidity, temperature, and a couple of things she didn’t recognize. Looking into the incubator, she saw that about twenty beautiful blue-green eggs the size of grapefruits sat in a carrying case. That would make their life a lot easier.
“Dario and Pascal, stay here with the dragon,” Raul said. “I’ll take the eggs and roust up some crew to get a boat in the water. Erica—”
“I’ll come with you,” she said. “I know a lot about boats, thanks to my father. I can help.”
He hesitated but nodded.
“Just let me get these heels off,” she said. Raul held out his hand, and she took it, leaning on his strength as she unbuckled the straps of her sandals and stepped out of them.
Between them, Dario and Pascal carefully clamped the lid on the egg case and lifted it out of the incubator.
“Not as heavy as I expected,” Raul said, holding the case with great care. His face went softly luminous as he looked at his burden. “Now they will get to grow up in their native land.”
Erica’s heart did a little flip at seeing the joy in her prince’s expression.
“Thanks to you,” she said.
“And you,querida.” He lifted his gaze to her. “You brought us here with your skill and courage.”
