Page 25 (1/2)

Gray had done sohout his life, but this topped the list After today, if anyone told hi Usually he enjoyed flying He&039;d jumped out of planes, for God&039;s sake Hell, he&039;d levitated and flown hih his hair and the crystal dolow above, all he wanted to do was vo to his death was his kung fu grip on a dragon An actual, fire-breathing dragon Behind hi up the experience like they were in first-class accommodations aboard the Concorde

"There it is," she said, pointing straight ahead "Darius&039;s palace"

Sure enough, a huge crystal fortress loo uttered froes Brand flew closer and closer to it, and a cold sweat broke over Gray&039;s skin There were no doors that he could see No s

And the stupid dragon wasn&039;t slowing down Was, in fact, gliding his thin, nearly transparent wings faster Someone should have told him the plan was to crash into the wall and bust it open

"Jewel, hold tight tocreaked open, quickly becoons flew straight into the waterfall Salty liquid rained on him, and he reached behind him and pulled Jewel&039;s face into his back

Molided softly to the wet, tilted floors, allowing the water to drain at the sides Water dripping from him, Gray hurriedly hopped down and helped Jewel do the sa shaky li to her face and shoulders Now that they were here, there was a sad gleam in her eyes and aabout the ruined te what else to do, he kissed her lips

She blinked up at him and slowly smiled Damn if his chest didn&039;t constrict "What was that for?" she asked

"Just &039;cause"

He turned his attention to the dragons Because Jewel trusted theuard more so than usual And wasn&039;t that ironic? He couldn&039;t trust the human partners OBI sometimes stuck him with, but he could put his life in the hands of a fire-breathing beast For the first ti Atlantis, he didn&039;t feel chased or hunted Or like the next item on the menu

As he watched, the creatures&039; scales disappeared beneath their bronzed skin Their elongated faces shrank, their tails and wings retracted under sain completely human Of course, they were also completely naked"Don&039;t stare, Blaze, or I&039;ll cover your eyes"

She snorted

"This way," Brand said Without waiting for their agreement, he and the others stalked from the room

Side by side, he and Jewel followed thelistening wealth He didn&039;t knohat he expected of a dragon palace, but what he found wasn&039;t it Diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and rubies adorned the walls Gold and silver provided the glue that held the geether

"My God," he muttered Sohimself to look away proved difficult, but he couldn&039;t allow hiet behind ons in this room, but he didn&039;t knohat lay beyond these doors Steadily he moved the knife from his waistband and tucked it under his shirtsleeve

"I hope you re when she would give hiive hi to assure her that no matter what she told him, he would not hurt her

She bit her lip then opened herShe closed it with a snap "I like you, Gray"

That wasn&039;t what she&039;d wanted to say He would have preferred to hear "I love you" again, but those words would do for now He really liked every da about her "I like you, too, sweetheart"

"Can you two not shut up for a few seconds?" Renard said on a sigh "You are just like Darius and Grace Sweetheart this and sweetheart that We are sick to death of such nonsense"

"Where are you taking us?" Gray asked

"To on

Brand pivoted on his heel and approached the far right wall For the first ti at the warrior&039;s neck It was slow As if sensing its presence, two panels immediately opened

"I spent two years here," Jewel said "Javar was leader then Darius was but a hatchling, learning the dictates of a Guardian"

"And a Guardian is "

"A protector of this city When humans try to enter, Guardians kill the these days," Renard said "Grace gets mad So now he takes the traveler somewhere on the surface and clears his memory"

"I was not killed or redirected," Gray pointed out