Free The Dragon's Eyes by Rain Oxford

Vivian suggested.
    Dylan shook his head. “This creature can take over
anybody to get to us. If it is tracking Sammy by his magic, then we can’t stay
in one place for very long, but being around other people is probably a bad
idea, too.
    “He couldn’t get into me. He tried,” I said.
    “You traveled between worlds. We can stay on the
road. Let’s head to Georgia,” he said. Vivian made a face. “Nothing
Earth-shattering ever happens in Georgia.”
    Sammy had fallen asleep, so we went down the stairs
quietly. Vivian started gathering stuff into a big, flowery bag.
    “Why did you leave Houston?” Dylan asked Vivian. “A
larger city would be much easier to hide out in.”
    She shrugged. “Better opportunities here. I thought
Sammy should grow up in a smaller town. Besides, Texas is being destroyed with
earthquakes. Compared to Earthquakes and the flu, salty rain is nothing, so I’m
damn glad I chose Arkansas.”
    “Well, the raining here stopped, so we can probably
assume the other stuff has.”
    “But why has it stopped?”
    “Maybe because the creature found Sammy.”
    “Or because Earth’s Guardian has returned to save it.
I just wonder why Tiamat hasn’t done anything to stop it,” I said.
    “I think something major is going down with her and
the other gods.” He opened the door and checked to make sure there was nobody
out there.
    We all went outside to a big, red and black, metal
beast. I saw these transportation machines the day before on the streets, most
moving at incredible speeds. They were all different sizes, shapes, and colors,
so a person could actually leave one somewhere and then be able to find the
same one again when they needed it. Sometimes they made horrible noises and
they all seemed to stink, but they were kind of fascinating. This was the first
one I got to see up close, and one of the few that wasn’t covered in rust.
    “You went and got a Mini Cooper,” Dylan said with
approval.
    “Is this a car?” I asked him. “I thought you were
lying. I really did.”
    “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
than are dreamt of in your philosophy,” he said. This was a phrase he used
often when I didn’t believe something he told me about Earth. He never
explained it.
    “There is no quoting Shakespeare allowed in this car,
now get in,” Vivian said, strapping Sammy into a tiny seat that was strapped to
a larger seat.
    I chose to sit next to him, while Dylan sat next to
Vivian. The car moved very quickly as I took in the views through the window.
There were tall, thin buildings, mud, and dead grass. After extremely heavy and
constant rain for so many days, the gray and brown was only to be expected.
    “We can stop by my friend’s place long enough to make
a few calls and be out of there before anything finds us,” Vivian said. “Maybe
we can take a flight to Houston and hide out there. Surely this thing can’t
keep up with a plane.”
    “I wouldn’t put anything past it,” Dylan said.
    I stopped listening for a moment to break down what
he said. After focusing on what each English word meant, I had to deduce that
he was using one of the many phrases he knew that made no sense.
    “What was that thing with your claws?” Dylan
asked me privately.
    I knew by the way he asked it that he was wondering
if I had kept it a secret from him. He may have wondered, but he trusted me
enough to ask and would believe my answer.
    “I had never seen them before. When he went after
you two, I reacted on instinct and attacked. I didn’t even see the claws until
you said something. When I calmed down and realized I had claws, they changed
back on their own.”
    “Is it like your sense of smell? Cause those kinds
of things usually go together.”
    “When I signed your book, I felt something snap
inside me.”
    “You created a bond with the world. I don’t know
how it feels for someone who isn’t a Guardian, but you should actually be more
powerful now.”
    My adrenaline was