The Dragon King Read Online Free PDF

to work with him to arrange a meet between Chattanooga law enforcement and the Atlanta brass, and perhaps even work it so they come to the compound down there for a party that afternoon. Not sure how much more I can do, but I’ll step up and try to ease you into town.”
    “We appreciate it,” the man I thought was Brain responded. “Tell me your set-up, here.”
    “We’ll be in a cave. Long ago I arranged for a generator down there, and made it habitable. There are vacation chalets above the cave, and I ran cabling up to them so we can piggyback into their internet streams. Nothing is wireless, everything’s wired. We won’t have cell service, but with internet we can handle Skype and such. My guy set up a laptop for me that runs through proxies, and I intend to plug it in from there to do the little bit I’ll need to do, but I won’t be checking my email or anything like that. I trust you’ll be able to stay hidden with that setup?”
    Aaron pulled off the road onto a graveled drive and stopped at a gate. He got out and pulled a set of keys from his pocket as he walked to the barrier. Duke stepped out as Aaron returned, saying, “I’ll close it behind you.”
    Once we were on our way again, Aaron made a few more turns before we drove into a cave and then made a sharp right into a dead-end tunnel. We exited the vehicle and he produced a large piece of black fabric he draped across the small opening, and it looked like just another large shadow.
    “We’re a half mile from the chalets, and as the crow flies only a few miles from your bikes. We have about a mile hike to the safe-house in the cave, and I’ll stop at the turns and point out the directions for all of you, so you can get in and out without me, if necessary.”
    He put his hand to the small of my back to turn me the direction we’d be walking, and every muscle in my body locked tight. No one ever touched me, unless it was my governess helping me with the final touches of my dress, and Aaron’s hand had felt so casual .
    “You’re good, Sassy. Walk and I’ll follow.”
    Sassy . My mind went back to our time together when I was a child. I’d talked back to him once, and he’d said, “Oh, I can see you have a little sassy side coming out. Give me another ten minutes of undivided attention and I’ll tell you a more interesting story. Focus for me.” Afterwards, he’d called me Sassy when I was in a silly mood, or when I gave him a smart aleck answer. It’d become a term of endearment, though he rarely used it. We both knew my keepers and minders would’ve had a major problem with it, if they’d heard.
    He didn’t remove his hand, and I took a breath and forced my voice not to shake as I told him, “Did you know, you’re the only person who ever called me anything other than my full first name, or my title? You called me Sassy, and the shortened form of my name. Only you.”
    “I’m going to stick with it when we’re in public, for now, but we’ll see what I land on in private.”
    He finally removed his hand, and I put my backpack on while noting Aaron had one as well. “How did you know to pack?” I asked him.
    “I always keep a go-bag with me, enough to last three days should I not be able to make it home.” He looked at everyone and asked, “We all have everything?”
    By the time we made it to what was literally a house built inside a huge room of the cave, I thought I could probably get back in if necessary, but wasn’t certain I could get out. I made a mental note to ask Aaron if there was a map I could look at later, to help me get the layout in my head.
    The house had been made from cinderblocks and looked rough on the outside, but when we went in, it wasn’t too bad. Not homey, but certainly livable.
    “The generator is in the next cavern over, situated so we don’t get any exhaust. Hang tight a minute.” Aaron left, and I stood in a very dark room with two werewolves, all of us aiming our flashlights around without