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The shadow crept in. Two weeks ago—scariest thing I’d ever seen. Now, not so much. It was the way he talked, I guess. He was casual. Somehow there were no signs of evil incarnate there. I was still trying to get my underwear on.
“Hey, I’m dressing!” I squeaked with annoyance.
“I guarantee you, you want to dress faster.” Suddenly the TV on the other side of the room turned on, and it showed pictures of people in dark hoods and completely black masks. At least I thought they were people; they looked more like walking black ghosts.
That was probably the scariest thing I ever saw.
Okay, now I was able to set the getting-dressed record of the century.
Caspian put his arm around me and then picked me up when it was very quickly apparent that I was not going to be able to keep up with their pace. “Let’s go. Go, go, go.”
“We’re going through tunnel one. It’s clear,” Caspian announced to Murtagh over his shoulder. “MILES! Move it!”
Miles ran out of the kitchen, throwing a backpack over his shoulder.
We all turned when we heard someone trying to push down the front door. For about two seconds, we were arrested by terror.
Then we turned and somehow moved even faster.
“Get goin’! Samael told me to make a diversion for you all. Get movin’!” the shadow demanded, moving in front of the door. I could see the manlike shape push against the door handle. “Don’t do anything stupid!” he shouted.
They took me down to the tunnels, only one of which was complete, but not complete like it was fancy. It was, at best, a mining tunnel, closed off by huge, iron gates.
It was impressive that they were able to create such an exit in two weeks. Honestly, I felt like I should have been more impressed.
“Where are we going?” I asked Caspian.
“Shush,” Caspian hissed at me. “I’m not going to stop and answer your questions.” He looked pissed. At me.
Now I knew how Steve Urkel felt when he’d created a mess. Maybe I had done that. How, I wasn’t sure, but the attack seemed suspiciously near my return to my brother’s house.
So I stayed quiet and let them take me to the tunnel.
I felt like I had gotten out of this pretty damn easy. Despite everything that had happened and everything that was going on, I felt like the luckiest girl on the planet.
Because if my dragons could do one thing, it was keep me safe.
CHAPTER 17
Caspian
“Where do we go from here?” Miles asked as we boarded the plane.
I was still quite upset. Sure, we’d planned for these sorts of contingencies. I’d barely slept in two weeks, and sleeping was my favorite thing to do. Instead, Murtagh and I had to play a very life-or-death game of ‘Capture the Flag’ with the same monster that Murtagh and I had feared when we were toddlers, and had been doing nothing but planning for this and fortifying for two weeks while our mate—the creature we were trying to protect—mostly just made fun of us.
And then she leaves for an outing. A few hours later, Seraphus tries to raid my mansion.
I certainly wouldn’t stand for ever again being called ‘paranoid’.
She was quiet now, realizing that we weren’t as paranoid as she thought we were. She just let me carry her without any fuss through a tunnel, into a getaway car, and to the airport. She seemed surprised, because she had stopped listening to our escape plans long ago, since she obviously thought it wouldn’t happen.
“Okay, I understand I’m in the shit with you. And I’m sorry,” Zazie finally sighed when we got onto the plane and I put her down and told her to buckle in. Maybe it was the crisp way I’d ordered it. “If it makes you feel any better, I was already punished.”
“It doesn’t make me feel any better, actually. Beating your ass would have felt very cathartic right about now,” I grumbled at her, even checking her buckle when she snapped it into place with a click.
My whole body still felt wired, I felt uncomfortable in my own skin.
“Where are we going?” she asked me.
