I took a careful breath. “You need to lie down,” I told her gently. She stumbled and fell against the side, and I winced as the van rattled. “Ember, look at me.” I reached out, catching one of her horns again, forcing her attention back to me. “You have to relax,” I said as she looked up, her eyes now bright with pain and fear. Her jaws parted as she panted, showing rows of deadly fangs, and I resisted the urge to yank my hand back. “We’re out in the open, and you can’t be seen right now. Please. Lie down.”

She stared at me a moment, and I forced myself to breathe calmly. This had to be one of the most surreal moments of my life: pleading with a near-delirious dragon to lie still so that we wouldn’t be discovered. With the exception of the flight from the base, I’d never been so close to a live dragon, not for this length of time. Never close enough to feel its breath, smelling of heat and smoke. Or the bony ridges of its horns under my palm. In the past, if a dragon had been near enough to touch, it was either dead or I was fighting for my life, trying to make it so.

A tremor went through the dragon in front of me and, to my relief, she sank down again, her head touching the floor with a muffled groan. Her wings fluttered once and her tail thumped the side of the van, before her eyes closed and she went limp, asleep once more. I let out a short breath, glancing out the side window, and froze.

A boy of maybe five stood a few feet from the van, clutching a fountain drink in both hands, his eyes huge as they stared at me. I gazed back, guessing that he’d seen everything, unsure of what to do, as his parents walked around the car, his mother reaching for his arm.

“Jason, come on. What are you looking at?”

The boy pointed. “The dragon.”

“A dragon?” Her gaze rose, a puzzled look crossing her face as she spotted me. Heart pounding, I offered a feeble smile and a helpless shrug, and the woman frowned.

“Okay, that’s nice, dear. Come on, Daddy’s waiting.” Taking the boy’s wrist, she quickly steered him toward the car, and I started breathing again. As they piled into the car, the little boy’s face peered through the window at me, eyes huge and staring, until the car pulled onto the highway and sped off toward the horizon.

Riley and Wes came out of the store, each carrying a couple plastic bags, and hurried toward the van. I pulled the canvas over Ember again, gently covering her head and body as much as I could, before slipping quietly into the front seat.