Keith bobbed his head and then glanced to Freddie. The older dragon-shifter needed to go somewhere.
Freddie touched Daisy's shoulder. "One more good stroke or scratch and then Keith needs to leave."
For a second, disappointment flashed in her eyes, but then the human smiled again. She gave a few quick pats to Keith's snout. "Thank you, Keith. I'll never forget this, and I hope you're not too late for whatever you need to do."
Keith gently butted Daisy's side and then moved about ten feet away. Maybe Freddie should've guided her away then, but he wanted her to see Keith take off.
The blue dragon crouched, jumped into the air, and flapped his wings.
"Oh!" Daisy squeaked.
He smiled. Teasing her was fun, but impressing her was fun, too.
His dragon said,If we hurry, we might be able to sneak her into our house and show her the tattoo we'll have once we turn sixteen.
Why?
Why not? If Mr. MacLeod thinks we've been at home, it'll mean less trouble.
Even though Freddie knew his teacher would find out the truth, he didn't want to go back to the group just yet. Daisy had said they were supposed to learn from each other, so maybe showing her his house would be a good thing. Dragon-shifters and humans were alike in many ways. And Daisy would make sure everyone heard about her day, helping to spread the word.
His dragon snorted.I'm sure that's the reason.
Before he could change his mind, he took Daisy's hand and asked, "Do you want to see something else neat?"
"Really? I thought you didn't want to spend the day with me."
"Maybe, maybe not. But we've already broken the rules. We should have as much fun as possible."
She paused a second, and he wanted to scream for her to hurry up. But then she replied, "Okay, let's go. But if you try to do something mean, then I'll be mean back."
Before he could stop himself, he blurted, "I don't think you could be mean if you wanted."
She opened her mouth and closed it. After a grunt, she murmured, "Maybe. I don't want to be mean to anyone. So let's just be friends for today? That will be a lot easier."
Friends with a human. Freddie had never pictured that happening.
And yet, Daisy was fun to hang around. For a girl, anyway.
He nodded and put out his pinky. "Friends for the rest of the day, I promise."
She grinned as she hooked her pinky with his. "Good. Then what do you have planned?"
"It's a surprise. Come on."
They'd exited the landing area and ran a few paces down the path to his house. However, as soon as he turned the corner, they ran right into someone.
Looking up, he stopped breathing. The tall, blond-haired form of Stonefire's head Protector, Kai Sutherland, stared straight down at him. He spoke before even Daisy could get in a word. "Here you are."
Daisy spoke up. "Have you been looking for us?"
Freddie blinked and stared at the human like she was crazy.
Kai bobbed his head. "I have. Now, come on. We're going to see Bram."
For a second, Freddie froze in place. He'd expected to be scolded by Mr. MacLeod, not Bram.
Daisy didn't miss a beat. "Who's Bram?"