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We were a team, if nothing else.
I was going to believe that until he specifically said otherwise.
“If you can convince Eli to carry you to Mate Mountain, I’ll put you in front of the guys making decisions for the thunder. I can’t get you in on my own,” Jasper finally said.
“Thank you. I’ll figure it out.”
“Good luck.” He hung up the phone, and I handed it to Eli.
He was already shaking his head. “August will kill me.”
“Not if I’m standing between you two. Please, Eli? You’re the one who said he won’t survive on his own in there. I need to see him, to make sure he’s okay, and try to talk him into coming up with another plan.”
Eli sighed heavily.
“Please?” I clasped my fingers together.
“Fine.” He ran a hand through his hair. “If anyone asks, I’m telling them you held a knife to my balls.”
“Deal.” I didn’t bat an eye at the crude visual. “I’ll bring a chef’s knife, just to sell it.”
He sighed again, but waved me toward the kitchen.
A few minutes later, I was on his back, and we were on our way to Mate Mountain.
Flying with Eli wasn’t anywhere near as peaceful as flying with August.
For one, Eli smelled bad.
For another, he didn’t try to glide, or to make the ride steady. The bastard was all over the place. Up and down, zigzagging, side to side… he never flew smoothly for more than a few seconds.
It was unnerving.
I dropped my chef’s knife after one particularly sharp motion, and wrapped both my arms around his stinky, scaly neck.
The last thing I needed was to plunge to my death on my way to find August.
The sun had set and I was utterly exhausted, when we finally reached the mountain. It towered over all the others around it, and from the outside, looked pretty much like everything else.
Eli landed on a smooth, well-disguised stretch of stone, and I looked past him as he set me down on my feet.
My bare feet, I realized.
I hadn’t dressed for the part. Not that I knew what part to dress for when surrounded by dragons—but I was pretty sure spandex shorts and a big t-shirt tied at my hip weren’t it.
Oh well.
I could see fine in the dark thanks to August’s magic, so I didn’t have a problem looking curiously at the mountain.
It seemed surprisingly normal.
“This is Mate Mountain?” I asked Eli, as he shifted back while I was looking away from him.
“Yep.”
I heard fabric rustling.
Hopefully he was putting pants on. I’d noticed a stone basket of something off to the side of the platform, and it seemed reasonable to assume it had clothes in it.
