Dragon's Claim

Chapter 4-1

Chapter 4

The airport was filled with unfamiliar faces and overwhelming smells. Everything reeked, from trashcans to women’s overbearing perfume choices. Layla didn’t know how anyone could stand it. There were even people camped outside bathrooms just for the single outlet beneath the water fountain. The smell radiating from the restrooms was just too much for her.

Her lip curled at the scenes around her. Layla would have asked why the American dragons didn’t fly home if she hadn’t been reluctant to take on her own dragon form. Perhaps the stretch of ocean was too great to fly over. She didn’t imagine there would be many places to rest and riding the air for such long hours would be tiring indeed.

So, she sucked it up, kept her mouth shut, and went on with the plans as they were. Layla clutched her ticket as if it might be snatched from her grip at any moment.

The plane was just a slightly smaller, more cramped version of the same nightmare. She squeezed herself into the barely cushioned seat near the window. Her life was packed into a carry-on bag that had been shoved into a compartment above her head.

Drake was conveniently assigned the seat beside her, his arm pressing against hers. It was a comfort Layla hadn’t expected, one that she pulled away from. She would not become Maggie. She would not let herself like this man, no matter what effect he had on her.

“The Territory back home is as far removed from humanity as we can manage. It’s an expanse of wildlife reserve that is much like your Snowdonia. I promise, you will only have to put up with the smells of the twins,” Drake informed her.

Ahead of them, the three dragon men had managed to sandwich themselves into one, very uncomfortable looking, row. Isaac, the one with the mop of curly hair, was more concerned with the tablet in his lap than anything going on around him. One of the dark haired dragons had produced a book from somewhere. She couldn’t tell if it was Marc or Luc, yet.

The other dark-haired dragon managed to turn in his seat, probably standing on his knees, so that he could look over the back of his chair. Drake turned a very unimpressed eye up toward the dark-haired dragon.

Marc, maybe? Layla didn’t want to be wrong. All she knew was this dragon had been the one to put the air bag in her couch cushion. Of course, she hadn’t told Drake about it. She had a feeling the leader would have been very angry when, in truth, Layla had been fine. It’d been the most she’d laughed in months.

“How long is this flight going to take? I’m going to crawl out of my damned skin,” the dragon informed them.

Drake rolled his eyes. “If Isaac and Marc can handle the flight, you can, too. It’s only a seven hour flight.”

The dragon man half collapsed in mock despair, much like a spoiled child. It made Layla laugh. Drake leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“Do not encourage him. He’ll put on an even bigger show.”

Luc, if Marc was the one reading, this had to be Luc, pulled himself together only to pout. “Then we have another flight out to Nebraska.”

Drake nodded. “I don’t know what to tell you. Just be happy that I didn’t leave you there in exchange for Layla.”

She shook her head. “You think we’d keep him? We’d pack him in a crate and send him right back to you.”

Luc stuck his tongue out at her. She winked and bared her teeth, a look she had perfected in the mirror. It made her feel strong. It made others back down. And back down, Luc did. He sank back into his seat after she saw his face slightly drain of color.

“Very nicely done,” Drake commended. “He should be quiet for the next hour or so.”

The voice over the intercom instructed them to fasten their seatbelts and the attendant showed them the proper safety procedures before the plane began to rumble forward. They moved across the tarmac, turning here and there until they reached a long stretch of pavement. Layla nearly pressed her nose to the window as she watched the world outside.

The plane shuddered forward, picking up more and more speed. The wings trembled. The aircraft lifted. The wheels left the ground and she felt the whole cabin wobble from side to side.

The world outside the window grew smaller and smaller, until it all began to look like a child’s play mat. It was like a cartoon map of streets and toy cars until they hit the clouds. Then, they broke free and the world morphed into a sight she’d never seen before. There were soft pink and yellow stained clouds as far as the eyes could see.

Never before had she risen above the shelf of clouds that hung over the earth. The air was too thin for their great bodies to function at that height. She’d heard that some of the smaller dragons could handle the thinner air, but she’d never been too keen on trying it for fear of losing her dragon form and plummeting to the earth. Now that she thought about it, she wanted to try. She wanted to know if she was strong enough, if she could have that advantage.

That was, if she ever decided to try her dragon form again. There was a pick of ice in her chest every time she thought about it. What would she become? Would her dragon still be the wine colored beast with a streak of purple? Or, would it be something darker with sharp teeth and a lust for blood that she couldn’t control?

Glancing to the man in the seat beside her, Layla worried now more than ever. She was about to find herself in the middle of a whole new world, surrounded by new people. She worried that this new monster would be out of her control, that she would hurt someone and ruin everything her family wanted.

No, Layla would not let loose the monster beneath her skin. She would remain in her human form for as long as she could, ignoring the magical prickle that ran along her skin when she looked at the open sky. Ignoring the ache in her heart.

The safety of others was more important. The reputation of the embassy she was sent to create was more important than her own ache.

“Are you alright?” Drake’s voice broke her from the hold fear had on her.

She jerked back to the present, turning her gaze to him. Layla was able to give him a somewhat convincing smile before she looked back to the watercolor splashed clouds. A hand closed around hers. She should have pulled away. She should have told him where he could put that hand, her words including places like up his own rear. Instead, the warmth of his skin lingered over hers and she found herself wondering what magic the beast inside Drake had.

She’d never seen the American man’s dragon. The last time any of them had shifted, she had been unconscious and hanging from Malcom’s grasp. Layla quickly shut down the memory, like closing an open window and pulling the blinds.

Instead, Layla pondered the beasts inside the four dragons escorting her to the States. Unlike the red dragon family, who all sported some shade of red hair and bore a dragon with red scales, the American dragons didn’t seem to be defined by any kind of color or nationality. The twins had the kind of dark skin she associated with Southern America, the corners of their eyes sharpening to a tilted point that gave the tricksters an elegance she didn’t know if they deserved.

Between them sat Isaac, with his pale skin and curls with a mind of their own. To learn that there was any blood shared between him and the twins would have surprised her. The air around him was always charged, making the hair on her arms stand on end.

Then, there was Drake. He didn’t have the same darkened skin as the twins, although his skin was several shades darker than her pale Welsh flesh. Neither did he have Isaac’s wild curls nor the electric aura the other dragon carried. Instead, his hair was dark and sleek. Layla snuck a long look at him, studying the long lashes that lines his eyes or the faint scar that curved over his jaw bone, just beneath his ear.

She liked to imagine that whatever lived inside of him had scales the color of charcoal, dark at the base and fading to ash at the pointed tips. She didn’t think there was fire burning inside of him, like so many dragons across the world could lay claim to. There was another element that lived inside of him, one that she could not pinpoint without asking and she wouldn’t be caught dead trying.

She wouldn’t strike up a conversation with Drake. It was dangerous, especially considering the soft attraction that pulsed between them. A night with him might be extremely fun, but she feared the bond that might grow between them, the one that would make her weak. Love was a luxury, one that Layla didn’t want because the repercussions were too great.

“Argh,” Luc bemoaned ahead of them, writhing in his seat. “I’m bored!”

Layla leaned into Drake and whispered past her laughter. “He is like a child, isn’t he?”

“I promise he’s the worst of my family. The rest are welcoming and, all over, pretty good natured.”

“I can hear you talking about me!” Luc said between the seats.

“Then don’t give us anything to talk about,” Layla warned.

Luc’s eyes carried a gleam, one that said he was up to the challenge. What kind of trouble could the dragon man get into on such a small airplane?

“Do you want to fly home? I’ll throw you out the emergency door and you can struggle across the Atlantic on your own.” Drake’s voice was stern, but held a hint of humor.

“If it wouldn’t cause serious problems with the flight as a whole,” Marc said without looking up from his book, “I would be tempted to believe Drake.”

Luc weighed his options, putting on a dramatic face as he did so, and decided to heed his leader’s warning. Layla was still amazed by the level of humor that they all shared. Drystan had not been so nice. He’d been a solid figure head, immovable and harsh when he needed to be. Layla remembered being terrified of him as a young child.

It was what kept so many of the younger, parentless dragons in order. Gareth had been a force to be reckoned with when it came to butting heads with Drystan. While those two were fighting, Rhys and Layla often caused their own trouble. Drystan had his hands full for years.

Perhaps, only Maggie knew the real man behind his façade.

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