He would have preferred to fly, but a boat sounded promising. In fact everything sounded promising, but then Mommy started saying things like, “You get to have fun with Aunt Eva and Uncle Hugh this morning.”
He tried to ignore her, because sometimes she changed her mind, but soon it became clear that Mommy and Daddy were leaving, while he had to stay. When they kissed him and left, he turned exceedingly cranky. But it was hard to stay mad for long, because Aunt Eva and Uncle Hugh were fun.
He was determined to stay awake until Mommy and Daddy got home, but despite his best efforts his eyes grew heavy. Hugh carried him to the bedroom and tucked him in the crib. He watched with sleepy interest while Hugh checked the room. Hugh tugged at the handle of the closed window as he looked outside, then he pulled the curtains shut and left.
Liam yawned, fell asleep and woke some time later.
Fresh air sounded nice—fresh air and wind, and flying.
Daddy had said No, but that had happened quite a while ago. Surely by now No had turned into a Yes.
In fact, he was all but certain of it.
He was a very helpful peanut. Mommy and Daddy were busy on a boat, so he would take himself out to practice flying.
He shapeshifted, crawled out of the crib and climbed the curtains to the closed window. He tugged at the handle.
Over his head, the latch clicked and the window slid open.
Pleased, he climbed onto the sill. Each day his balance got better. He looked out happily at the hot, sunny day. Aunt Eva walked by underneath. He watched her curiously, then she went around the corner of the house, and he forgot about her.
A flicker of movement caught his eye, and his head snapped around. A bright green lizard wandered down the road on the other side of the hedge.
Hm, hungry now. That lizard looked tasty.
He spread his wings and leaped into the air. Flapping as hard as he could, he half-flew, half-coasted to the other side of the hedge and landed in a tumble on the gravel shoulder beside the road. It startled the lizard into running alongside a row of parked cars.
Instinct kicked in. Liam rolled onto his feet and ran after the lizard. When he flapped his wings again, he rose into the air and flew several yards. Excited, he ran some more, jumped and flew several more yards. They ran down the road like that until, in a final lunge, he managed to grab the lizard’s tail.
The lizard struggled as he dragged it toward him. To his immense surprise, it pulled away from its tail and ran away again. Confused, he looked down at the tail he still held in one forepaw. Then he ate it. Um, delicious.
Now he really wanted the rest of that lizard. Where had it gone? He walked, looking around and peering under cars, but the lizard was nowhere in sight.
A car door opened a few feet away, and a man stepped out to walk toward him. He was a human with a long, dark ponytail, and he stank like cigarette smoke.
“Well, well, well,” said the man in a friendly voice. He shrugged out of a jean jacket and held it in front of him as he drew closer. “What have we got here? Why, you look just like a baby dragon.”
Liam sat back on his haunches and smiled at him.
The man recoiled. “Christos!”
The man threw the jacket at Liam. Darkness descended as it settled over his head. He struggled to get free of the heavy material, but the man scooped him up in his arms and held on tight. Then they were bouncing—the man was running.
Liam growled. He didn’t like this game.
“Shut up.” The man no longer sounded friendly.
A car door opened. The world shifted and swayed, and the man held him on his lap. The car door shut again. They were in a car. It accelerated.
“What have you got wrapped in your jacket?” It was another man’s voice.
“It looks like a small dragon,” said his captor. “I think it’s his kid.”
***
Pia and Dragos decided to take the boat out for a couple of hours, so they didn’t bother to pack any food, just plenty of drinking water. While Pia watched the changing landscape, Dragos piloted the boat skillfully between all the other traffic on the water. It didn’t take them long to leave land behind altogether.
The boat was a much slower method of transportation than Dragos in flight, but he knew where he was going so he could take them directly to the spot.
When they reached the area, Dragos killed the motor, and Pia turned in a circle, marveling in the sight of water all around her without any sight of land. He told her, “The anchor won’t do any good out here. You’re going to drift, but don’t worry about it. You won’t go far.”
“Okay.” She grinned at him. “Go on, don’t worry about me.”
He nodded. “See you soon.”
They had brought one of their emptied suitcases along. He tossed it into the water, leaped overboard and swam far enough away so that he could shapeshift without capsizing the boat. Then the dragon appeared and gave her a huge wink as it hooked the handle of the suitcase in one talon. With a great splash, he dove.