Daughter of Neptune, Book one

XXIII

Tori's pov

We spiraled through the dark in a free fall, still on the dragon's back, but Festus's hide was cold. His ruby eyes were dim.

"Not again!" Leo yelled. "You can't fall again!"

I could barely hold on. The wind stung my eyes, but I could still see Leo manage to pull open the panel on the dragon's neck. He toggled the switches. He tugged the wires. The dragon's wings flapped once, but I caught a whiff of burning bronze. The drive system was overloaded. Festus didn't have the strength to keep flying, and it looked like Leo couldn't get to the main control panel. I saw the lights of a city below us—just flashes in the dark as we plummeted in circles. We had seconds before we crashed.

"Jason!" Leo scream. "Take Tori and Piper and fly out of here!"

"What?"

"We need to lighten the load! I might be able to reboot Festus, but he's carrying too much weight!"

"What about you!" I cried. "If you can't reboot him—"

Leo looked at me, and did something very unexpected, he kissed me.

"I'll be fine," Leo yelled. "Just follow me to the ground. Go!"

Jason grabbed Piper and I by our waists. We unbuckled our harnesses, and in a flash we were gone—shooting into the air.

When we landed, I freaking ran to find Valdez. When I did he was unconscious and lying in the snow, covered in mud and grease. When he opened his chocolate brown eyes he spit a clump of dozen grass out of his mouth.

"Where—"

"Lie still." I said holding back my tears. "You rolled pretty hard when—when Festus—"

"Where is he?" Leo sat up.

"Seriously, Leo," Jason said. "You could be hurt. You shouldn't—"

Leo pushed himself to his feet. Then he saw the wreckage. Festus must have dropped the big canary cages as he came over the fence, because they'd rolled in different directions and landed on their sides, perfectly undamaged.

Festus hadn't been so lucky.

The dragon has disintegrated. His limbs were scattered across the lawn. His tail hung on the fence. The main section of his body had placed a trench twenty feet wide and fifty feet long across the mansions used before breaking apart. What remained of his hide was charred, smoking pile of scraps. Only his neck and head were somewhat intact, resting across a row of frozen rosebushes like a pillow.

"No," Leo sobbed. He ran to the dragon's head and stroked its snout. The dragon's eyes flicked weakly. Oil leaked out of his ear.

"You can't go," Leo pleaded. "You're the best thing I ever fixed.

The dragon's head whirred its gears, as if it were purring. I hugged him from the side and Jason and Piper stood next to him, but Leo kept his eyes fixed on the dragon.

"It's not fair," he said.

The dragon clicked. Long creak. Two short clicks. Creak. Creak. Almost like a pattern...triggering an old memory in my mind.

"Yeah," Leo said. "I understand. I will. I promise."

The dragon's eyes went dark. Festus was gone.

Leo cried. He wasn't even embarrassed. His friend stood on either side, patting his shoulder, we all were saying comfortable things.

Finally Jason said, "I'm so sorry, man. What did you promise Festus?"

Leo sniffled. He opened the dragon's head panel, just to be sure, but the control disk was cracked and burned beyond repair.

"Something my dad told me," Leo said. "Everything can be reused."

"Your dad talked to you?" I asked. "When was this?"

Leo didn't answer. He worked at the dragon's neck hinges until the head was detached. Leo looked up at the starry sky and said, "Take him back to the bunker, Dad. Please, until I can reuse him. I've never asked you for anything."

The wind picked up, and the dragon's head floated out of Leo's arms. It flew into the sky and disappeared.

I looked at him in amazement. "He answered you?"

"I had a dream," Leo managed. "Tell you later."

I looked around. The large white mansions glowed in the center of the grounds. Tall brick walls with lights and security cameras surrounded the perimeter.

"Where are we?" Leo asked. "I mean, what city?"

"Omaha, Nebraska," Piper said. "I saw a billboard as we flew in. But I don't know what mansion is. We came in right behind you, but as you were landing, Leo, I swear it looked like—I don't know—"

"Lasers," Leo said. He picked up a piece of dragon wreckage and threw it toward the top of the fence. Immediately a turret popped up from the brick wall and a beam of pure heat incinerated the bronze plating to ashes.

Jason whistled. "Some defense system. How are we even alive?"

"Festus," Leo said miserably. "He took the fire. The lasers sliced him to bits as he came in so they didn't focus on you. I led him into a death trap."

"You couldn't have known," I said. "He saved our lives again."

"But what now?" Jason said. "The main gates are locked, and I'm guessing I can't fly us out of here without getting shot down."

Leo looked up the walkway at the big white mansion. "Since we can't go out, we'll have to go in."