Rogue Darkness by Dianne Duvall

Sean wondered if his face was as pale as hers. He felt pretty shaky himself. That had been close. Too close. If one of those bullets had hit her in the head…

If he hadn’t caught her in time to keep her from being sucked out the window…

If he hadn’t kicked off the wing to keep them from being sucked into the engine…

His hands trembled as he ran them up and down her back.

The dragon landed some distance away, its enormous wings brushing the trees on either side of the meadow.

Both children raced toward it.

“Baba!” Adira cried happily.

Making a chuffing noise, the dragon blew bubbles out of its nose.

Sean laughed, giddy with relief.

Giggling wildly, the toddlers danced around and climbed over the beast’s massive talons and tail.

After observing them for a moment, Nicole looked up at Sean. “Did we die?” she asked cautiously. “Is this like ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,’ and I only think we got away?”

Smiling, he hugged her tight. “No. We didn’t die. That’s Seth.”

The dragon looked over at Sheldon.

Sheldon jogged forward. “Okay, cuties. Step back and give Baba some room.” Expertly fielding their protests, he shepherded the children away from the dragon.

As soon as they were clear, the dragon shifted into Seth’s form, complete with clothing he teleported on so the little ones wouldn’t see him naked.

Seth took a moment to kneel and hug the children. When he rose, he eyed Sean balefully. “Seriously? You jumped out of a jet without a parachute?”

“Dude!” Sheldon exclaimed, gaping at them. “That is so—”

Seth shot him a glare.

“Unwise,” Sheldon said hastily. “That is so very unwise. Come on, kiddos. Let’s head inside.”

Seth waited until the three of them were alone, then focused a sharp gaze on Sean. “Well?”

Sean shrugged. “I didn’t have a choice.”

Shaking his head, Seth drew out his cell phone, dialed, and put it on speaker.

“Reordon.”

“I’m with Sean and Nicole,” Seth said without preamble. “Looks like the plan has gone balls-up.”

Chris loosed an epithet. “What happened?”

“I don’t know the details yet, but the two of them just bailed out of a jet mid-flight without parachutes.”

More swears on the other end.

“Sean called me. I had to shift into the form of a dragon to catch them, so…”

“I’ll have my guys watch for anything to show up on the internet,” Chris said with resignation. “What about the plane? Did it crash?”

“Not that I know of.” He looked at Sean. “Were the engines damaged?”

“No. They should be intact.” Everyone who was ejected from the plane had missed them. “Chris can use the tracker Melanie implanted in Nicole to locate the plane. The leader of the group that took her was a woman named Marge. I cut the tracker out of Nicole and made Marge swallow it. Then I buckled her into a seat and intended to call you to help me salvage things. I just didn’t have a chance.”

“Did you get that?” Seth asked.

“Yes,” Reordon said. “Anyone else still on the plane?”

“Just the pilots,” Sean replied. “The others were sucked out with us.”

“Seth, did the pilots see you shift?” Reordon asked.

“I doubt it. We were beneath the clouds, and they were above them, dealing with a catastrophic decompression.”

“Okay. Give me a few minutes to put my team on this, then come get me.”

“All right. See you in a few.” He pocketed his phone.

Nicole crossed to Seth and gave him a big hug. “Thank you.”

His face lighting with an affectionate smile, he hugged her back. “You’re welcome.”

As soon as she stepped back, Sean took her place and wrapped Seth in a bear hug. “Thank you. Is Nicole okay?”

Seth patted his back. “She’s fine. You generated enough heat to stave off frostbite.”

“But I couldn’t produce more oxygen for her.”

“I’m fine, Sean,” Nicole seconded.

Stepping back, he studied her carefully. Color was creeping back into her pretty face, and she no longer trembled. Sean drew her into his arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“It wasn’t your fault.” She hugged him back. “We made it out safely.”

“Thanks to Seth.”

Belatedly realizing that he probably shouldn’t hold Nicole too long in Seth’s presence, Sean released her.

Nicole turned a grin on Seth. “That was freaking awesome. A dragon? I thought I was hallucinating or something.”

One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “I needed a form large enough to carry you both.”

“As much as I loved the dragon,” Sean said, “why didn’t you just teleport us here in your usual form as soon as you caught up with us?” Chris probably already had his guys combing the internet for dragon-sighting posts and videos.

“Because we would’ve hit the ground here with the same momentum you would’ve hit it there had I not caught you and halted your descent first.”

“Oh.” That was disconcerting. “Thank you.”