I glanced out of the car, and realized we'd left the town at some point. I'd never been this far out of town, and I wondered where exactly we were going. Another town, maybe?
"I should've probably asked this before, but how are you with heights?" Nolan asked as the car started to slow down in the middle of nowhere, and I turned to eye him.
"Heights? I don't mind them. The world looks more fascinating the higher you go," I said, remembering the time I'd hiked up a mountain, back when I'd lived on my own, before the headmaster found me.
"I feel the same," Nolan said, beaming at me. Then he turned off the car, got out, and hurried to my side, opening my door as I cradled Dots to my chest.
"Oh, wait a minute. I might have something," he said, opening the trunk of the car with his key fob. He dug around for a moment, then made a sound of victory. "Here we go."
In his hand was a black baby carrier, or something similar to it. The type with belts and shoulder straps to brace your baby against your chest while you worked or walked around. Except this one was clearly meant for something much smaller than a baby. Like a cat.
"You want me to wear that?" I demanded, and he smiled.
"It would be safest for him. I don't want him falling out of the sky."
Out of the sky? What the hell did he mea—oh!
Nolan smiled as he saw the dawning realization on my face. "Yeah. I thought I'd take you flying, if you're up for it."
Instead of replying, I handed Dots to him and took the carrier from his hand, quickly putting it on. He helped me slide Dots in, who was perfectly at ease as he was strapped in. I'd never met a chiller cat.
"Iloveyou," I gushed as Nolan was tightening the last strap, and everyone froze, even the cat. "Dots!" I practically shouted. "I was talking to Dots."
Nolan stared at me for a moment, then laughed, scratching his fingers over Dots's head. "Lucky you."
He turned around before I could make sense of that, calling back over his shoulder. "Come on."
I followed after him, as Dots meowed to inform me I was making a right fool of myself. Praying this would be the last time I did that, I trailed after him.
I'd been right. His assdidlook amazing in those pants.
Nolan
Once we were in the middle of the clearing and out of sight of the last security camera I'd spotted, I stopped and turned to Zamir. He looked adorable with Dots strapped to his chest, and I couldn't help smiling at the sight they made. I'd have to remember to take a picture of them later.
"Okay, this should be far enough. You ready?"
Zamir nodded, his brown eyes sparkling with excitement, and I grinned, then let my human form fall away to reveal my true form.
"Wow," Zamir breathed, and I turned to look at him. He looked so much smaller now, and a wave of protectiveness surged through me. I wanted to hide him beneath my wings, shield him from anything that could cause him harm. I could see his aura better now, and while he'd appeared healthier to me in my human form, I could see now that wasn't true at all.
He wasn't starving anymore, but the hunger was still there. The scars on his aura, the depths of his injuries told me thiswasn't a new thing. He hadn't been full in years, decades even. Why? Why wasn't Zamir feeding properly? He'd told me he fed from his friends at the Sanctuary. Did they limit how much he could take?
No, that wasn't it, was it? It was Zamir. He prohibited himself from eating his fill. Why? Because he thought he was a monster?
I lowered my body to the ground, nudging his shoulder with my head, then gestured toward my back.
"You want me to climb up?" he confirmed, and I nodded. Grinning, he did just that. "Tell me if I'm hurting you."
I snorted to let him know how impossible that was, and he chuckled as he straddled my back, his fingers digging into the softer scales at my neck. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Okay, I'm all set. Don't drop me, okay?"
I huffed, then got to my feet, and Zamir let out a whoop as I took off, my wings spread wide as we went higher and higher.
"Dots seems to be having fun too!" Zamir shouted over the wind, and I turned to shoot him a grin, which made him laugh. "You have a terrifyingly sweet smile in this form."
I shook my head, and he exclaimed in delight when I banked left and turned almost ninety degrees before straightening us. I wanted to tell Zamir I admired the strength of his thighs, but a) that sounded creepy for some reason, and b) I couldn't speak in this form. Some dragons figured out how, while others—like me—never did. I supposed part of it was because I'd spent much of my life in my human form. It was only recently that I'd started shifting more, since I'd decided to keep my distance from people.
My dragon hadn't appreciated being locked up, of course, and a few centuries ago, it'd decided enough was enough. If I didn't shift often, my dragon's fire filled my insides and tried its best to burst through my human illusion. Now, I shifted at least oncea month, and flew to the closest volcano to expel the excess fire that built up in that time.
