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John cackled. I arched an eyebrow.
He shrugged. “Some folks come to Sedona for the scenery. But lots come for the vortexes, the energy… You know.” He flipped a hand. “The spiritual vibes.”
Yeah, I’d picked up on that on my first drive through the town center two days earlier. Every second shop was packed with crystals, gems, dream catchers, and ads for spiritual retreats. But hearing those women talk was like overhearing a foreign language.
“Do you believe in that stuff?” I asked.
“Ha. Not me. What about you, boss?” John asked.
Erin pulled back onto the road. Her eyes, as always, darted between the asphalt and the sky.
“I believe there’s something special about Sedona,” she murmured.
Ha. A diplomatic answer. Was it an honest answer, though?
Maybe she knows,my dragon mused.
The world was full of things humans were ignorant of — and not just shifters like me, but witches, vampires, and demons. Beyond those were far greater forces that mystified even supernaturals at times. Fate… Destiny…
With a warlock for a father, Erin had to know about some of that. Or had he somehow kept it all a secret from her? But she seemed too down-to-earth and no-nonsense for the more spiritual stuff humans loved to speculate about.
She was quiet too. I swear, she uttered more words to herself than she did to me over the course of the next half hour. Which suited me, because I wasn’t here to chat. I was here for a job — an easy job — and to tune out for a while.
Which I didn’t exactly succeed in, because my senses — and my dragon — refused to snooze. My nose kept sniffing, hoping to catch a whiff of Erin’s scent. Which was a lottery, given all the competing odors out there. But every time her sunny, wild flower scent filtered through, my dragon side sighed. My mindreplayed little movements she’d made, from her easy slide into the van’s high cab to the sway of her hair in the wind. And her eyes…were they green or blue?
I frowned. What did it matter? I wasn’t interested.
Not even a little?my dragon teased.
Not even a little. Some serious shit hitting the fan over the past year had turned me into a sulky, self-absorbed bastard, and that was that.
Plus, she hated me.
Well, I’ll enjoy while you sulk,my dragon murmured.
I folded my arms and watched scrub blur past the side window of the van.
Eventually, Erin exited the state highway for a dirt road. After one bouncy mile, she pulled over on the crest of a hill. Chico and John yawned and stretched, slowly gearing up for action.
“Landing point will be Angel Valley pullout,” Henry announced over the open comms.
“Copy that,” Madden echoed from the second balloon. “Angel Valley.”
Chico looked at Erin.
She shook her head and murmured, “Lime Kiln Road.”
I glanced in the direction she indicated, then back at the balloons. If Angel Valley pullout was the hollow just below our vantage point, it was a no-brainer — the balloons were heading directly for it.
But they’re moving a little too quickly,my dragon observed.And the airstream down here is more westerly than up there.
I sniffed the air. As a dragon shifter, I couldn’t see the wind any more than a human could, but I could sense different layers threading, weaving, and colliding when I really tuned in. And when I did that…
Huh. Erin was right. The wind would accelerate the balloons right over that hollow and carry them closer to the road.
Just then, Henry’s curse came over the radio.
“Correction,” he muttered. “Another wind shift. Plan B — Lime Kiln Road.”
