Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

KIARA

Cal deserved answers after everything he'd gone through tonight. He impressed me by fighting his way out of that tiny room on his own, outsmarting three shifters intent on kidnapping him. But he was already in shock and reeling from the information I'd given him about shifters. I was not going to tell him that dragons existed. I'd save that one for when he was a little less panicked. I ignored his question, using the buttons on the steering wheel to call Aiden.

The only reason I had his number was because Talia was living in his compound. I never intended to use it. But I didn't have any other options right now. Unless I wanted to chase down every single one of Jasper's cronies to make sure Cal stayed safe, then I needed more information on what I was up against. The phone rang twice before the familiar smoky voice answered.

"Callisto."

"Aiden. I need your help. I've got a human being chased by a shifter criminal and I can't get any information on what I'm up against."

His growl rattled the line, but he wasn't pissed at me. His mate was human, and he took issue with shifters threatening humans. It was an unfair fight.

"Tell me what you know."

"His name is Jasper Marino. He ditched out on a 500,000 dollar bond a week ago. I–"

"Stop. Say that name again."

My hackles went up and Cal looked worried. That didn't sound good.

"Jasper Marino."

Aiden hissed, and I could hear him moving on the other end of the line. "If Marino is involved, you're not safe unless you're in my mountains. Where are you? I can have a jet sent for you."

"Aiden, what's going on? The information I have on this guy is extremely limited. He's like a freaking ghost, and he's fixated on a human right now. Who is he?"

"He's on the Dragon Council, and he's one of the most dangerous amongst my kind. If he's on a hunt, he's not going to stop until he gets what he wants. You need to get here. Now."

Through the limited light from the dashboard, I saw Cal go pale. He made a choked sound, his eyes enormous as he turned to face me.

"Did he say dragon?"

Shit.

I didn't have time to talk Cal through what was happening, and I didn't think waiting around at the airport was going to work, either. Not if a dragon was looking for Cal.

"Look, I can't pull over right now. They chased us for a while, but stopped following after we got on the highway. They're probably looking for us. It's eighteen hours between here and Blackridge. If we only stop for gas, I can get us there by tomorrow afternoon."

"That's not good enough. It's dark now. He can follow you from the sky. You need to hide until I can come get you."

Cal actually whimpered and sank lower in his seat, eyes glued to the sky outside his window like he was waiting for Jasper to come out of nowhere. I didn't have any experience with dragons outside my limited discussions with Aiden, so it was entirely possible he could.

"What do you want us to do?"

"Get off the main highway. Dragon's senses are considerably better than a regular shifter. You need to hide it. You'll need to switch cars if they've seen yours. Get another car and get as far from the city as possible before pulling off and finding a motel. I'm coming for you. It will only take me a couple of hours. Stay out of sight."

He hung up without waiting for a reply, but I didn't take offense. If he was coming for us, he had to fly here to do it. He was probably already out the door.

I took the next exit off the highway and went straight to the airport. Switching cars was easier here, since there were a lot of rental companies. It made it harder to track us. A lot of criminals came here to get a car to avoid me. The biggest mistake they all make is not dealing with their scent before getting the new car.

Once we were parked in long-term parking, I dragged Cal outside. We were in the desert, so it wasn't hard to find a patch of dirt. It wasn't as good when we had no clothes to switch into, but it'd do the trick in a pinch to make it harder to follow us.

"Cover yourself in dirt. It'll do the basics."

"You had a prime opportunity to tell me to get dirty, and you skipped it," he said with a pained grin. He was trying hard to be brave, even though his world was turned upside down. I admired his gumption.

"Tell you what. You get through tonight without panicking and running, I'll consider getting dirty with you later. Just hurry up."

He perked up, a little of his goofy smile coming back. "Hold on. Are you using sex to motivate me? Because it'd totally work."

If we hadn't been interrupted earlier, I probably would've jumped him already. And if he liked me enough that sex could keep his head on straight, then I wasn't going to dismiss the idea. He was cute, and after days of him flirting with me, I was tired of fighting my attraction to him. It wasn't like we were getting married, no matter how much my lioness wanted to keep him. There was nothing wrong with scratching an itch.

"Just get to work, Cal. The longer we stand around, the more likely Jasper's going to figure out which direction we went."

That made him flinch, and he looked up automatically. Since he wasn't going to start on his own, I reached down, grabbed a handful of dirt, and smeared it on his face. He coughed, wrinkling his nose, before narrowing his eyes at me.

"Oh, you're gonna get it for that."

We didn't have time to play games, but that didn't stop him from tossing handfuls of dirt at me between rubbing it on himself. It kept him from panicking, so I didn't admonish him for wasting time. Once he was thoroughly covered and dirty, we headed inside to rent a car. The rental guy behind the desk looked wary, eyeing us both from head to toe.

"There's a cleaning fee–"

"I figured. We'll pay for it. We're in kind of a hurry, so can we move things along?"

Cal shook his head with a sigh, putting his arm around my waist. "Ignore my girlfriend. She's in a hurry to get me into bed, you know? We spent all day getting dirty together and now she wants us in the shower." He winked at the guy, and I was going to shove him away, but Cal had a way with people and the clerk smirked at him, shaking his head.

"No funny business in the car. We charge extra for bodily fluids."

"Good to know," Cal replied smoothly. "But I don't screw around in such close quarters. My queen deserves to be worshiped and I need plenty of space for that."

He was being gross, and I hated that his words had any kind of effect on me. But the clerk got a move on because of him, so I couldn't even complain. I just stood there, ignoring the two idiots in favor of texting Walker. He agreed with my plan and told me he'd keep his ear to the ground until I got back from getting Cal to a safe place.

The rental was a nondescript sedan, which was nice. Easier to blend in if the car wasn't fancy. I got us on the road, heading north for maybe twenty minutes before we found a motel in a little pass through town. It was late enough that the front desk clerk didn't even bat an eye at a couple getting a room, and barely looked at us. We parked closer to the back and once we were in our room, I locked the door and closed the windows, peeking out of the gap to make sure no one was following us.

"So, how will he know where we are? Can dragons use cell phones?" Cal asked offhandedly. He was hovering behind me, the anxiety finally wearing off and curiosity taking its place.

"I'm assuming he'll find me by scent. He knows me well enough to track me if he needs to. I'm not sure. Aiden is the only dragon I know."

Cal huffed out a laugh, shaking his head as he took a seat at the table tucked into the corner by the window. "I'm still grappling with the idea of dragons being real. My friends are going to freak out."

"No," I said sharply. "No one can know. Not about any of this."

He looked like he might argue, and I needed him to know how serious this was, so I sat in the only other chair, close enough that our knees brushed, and put my hand on his forearm.

"Cal, I need you to listen to me. There's a reason people don't know about us. We might have animals inside us, but it's humans who are dangerous. If they found out about us, people would die. Our only chance at survival is keeping that part of ourselves a secret. Aiden, especially. Can you imagine what human governments would do if they realized a dragon was alive?"

He winced at the implication and nodded. "Alright, yeah. It'd be like every alien invasion movie ever made."

"Exactly. Experimenting, segregation, imprisonment. Humans don't like the idea of something being higher than them on the food chain. So you can't tell anyone. Not even your friends. The only humans who get to know are special circumstances like you or mates."