The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume III: Volume III

time they entered the clearing again. Kinnsell marched up to the shuttle hatch, resolved to be on his way within moments.
    He ran his fingers over the lock keypad. It did not respond to his usual codes. Eight, one, seven, two, seven, two, eight, one. He’d used the same code for years. Why didn’t the bloody hatch open? He drummed his fingers on the metal/ceramic alloy of the hull. What random numbers would Katie use to reset the lock? He tried her birthday, his code backward, the coordinates for Earth, the coordinates for Kardia Hodos—he had to try those twice before he got the numbers right—and a straightforward one, two, three, four, five, six. Nothing worked.
    “Dammit!” He kicked the hatch.
    “Perhaps I can decipher her spell,” Maia suggested, quietly. “A woman knows another woman’s mind.”
    “Go ahead and try. But Katie is devious in her logic. There are thousands of combinations she could have chosen.” He stepped aside while the dark-eyed woman stared at the numbered keys.
    She stared a long time. Finally, she looked away rubbing her eyes and shifting her feet up and down in the mud. “Piedro says he cannot channel magic through me unless there is a second Rover with me. Piedro has replaced Televarn as head of the clan. I do not like him as well as Televarn, but he is satisfactory as a lover and his voice is strong in my head.” She closed her eyes and looked off into the distance.
    Lover? Had Maia slept with every man on the planet? He frowned, wanting to push her aside and handle the lock himself. He also wanted to drag her down in the mud and prove that he was a better lover than the Rover trash who invaded her mind.
    “Tonight we will be together, King Kinnsell.” Maia caressed his face. Then she abruptly returned her attention to the lock.
    She lied. He knew she had no intention of willingly sharing a bed with him, no matter what she promised. Kinnsell realized Maia would never tell the truth if a lie sounded better, and she would not tell the whole truth if she must tell any of it.
    She stared hard at the keypad for a long moment. “I cannot see the heat of Her Grace’s hand on the puzzle. Your heat has masked it.”
    Kinnsell slammed his fist into the hatch. The first assault of pain turned into a numbing ache. The clamminess returned to his skin. He jerked his hand away and sucked on his abused knuckles. They looked alarmingly swollen.
    “There are other ways of unraveling a puzzle, though.” Maia flashed a radiant smile at him.
    Kinnsell forgot the pain in his fist, the growing anxiety inside his gut, and the pressure in his chest. He forgot her lies and deceit. “Tonight, my dear. Get that hatch open, and tonight we will celebrate in safe comfort.”
    “Yes. Tonight Piedro will reward you for returning me to the clan. Tonight we will celebrate in Hanassa.”
    “Just open the hatch, and I will command this dragon to fly us to safety.” He couldn’t remember if the bushie lord had named his castle Hanassa or something else. Many small details eluded him. Had he remembered the right codes for the lock? No matter. He would pilot the shuttle and take her where he wanted to go and nowhere else. Maia had no say in their destination.
    Maia concentrated on the keypad one more time. This time she held her palm in front of it, a hair’s breadth away. Her eyes rolled up and her expression went blank.
    Then she reached her other hand inside her bodice, deep into her cleavage and out again so quickly Kinnsell almost didn’t see her gesture.
    But he followed her swift movements closely.
    Still gazing at the lock in a trancelike state, Maia pulled a small twist of wire free of her garments. She inserted the tool into the very narrow crack that defined the doorway. A few seconds later the hatch clicked and slid open.
    If he hadn’t known better, Kinnsell would not have seen her pick the lock. But . . . “Electronic locks can’t be picked,” he gasped.
    “A lock is a lock, and all locks can be picked.” Maia giggled in triumph. “Now show me this wondrous dragon, Lord Kinnsell. I would make friends with the strange beast.”
    “Why not?” Kinnsell gestured Maia into the shuttle while suppressing a new bout of coughing. His lungs had been quiet for hours. Why now? Probably the molds and other nasty fungi growing in the mud had triggered an allergic reaction.
    The warm, slightly metallic tasting air rushed to envelop him in familiarity. It smelled of home and comfort and