Honoria whispered, "I think we should identify the most important and reliable information and start narrowing down the possible locations." He glanced at her and she raised her brows. "What? It's not as if we're going to close our eyes, place a finger on the list, and pick one that way."
The corner of his mouth ticked up. "Of course not. But I was thinking exactly the same thing."
She winked. "Great minds think alike."
Once their assignment was done, Asher would most definitely bring Honoria back here and make this spot theirs in more ways than one.
His dragon snorted. Now who's the randy one? Stop thinking with our dick and focus.
He gave Honoria a quick kiss and motioned toward the list. "I think we should cross off any that rely on secondary and tertiary information and stick with the primary accounts."
Honoria nodded. "I agree. The further away from the original source, the more likely the information gets distorted. Even if some of t
he suspected locations are closer to Skyhunter and our current position, we can always check them, if need be, as we make our way back home."
"Right, and so it might be worthwhile to fly to the farthest site and work our way backward. Then we don't lose track of where we've been or have to waste time backtracking."
Honoria's long, elegant finger ran down the list. The sight motivated him—the sooner they finished the blasted test, the sooner her fingers could run along his skin.
She tapped a finger at one of the locations toward the bottom. "How about we start here. It's at the western edge of South Downs."
He nodded. "Right, but let's land far enough away so no one will see us in the sky and raise an alarm. Whilst it'll take longer, approaching the last few miles by foot means we can take care of any sentries and look for the secret entrances mentioned."
"But we need to stay clear of the village near it, too. So we should probably land just to the south of the location."
Asher closed the binder and put it into the satchel. "Right, let's go."
He tried to take a step away, but Honoria grabbed his bicep and kissed him gently on the lips. "For luck."
While not one to believe in luck, he kissed her back and nodded. "No more delays. I'm sure whoever completes the task in the shortest amount of time will win."
Honoria raced to the other side of the clearing. "Then try to keep up with me."
Her body morphed into her white dragon form, and she jumped into the sky.
Asher scrambled to shift and follow her. Female dragons were smaller physically, but they were bloody fast.
His dragon laughed. It's good because we like to chase her.
Not disagreeing with his beast, Asher picked up his speed and headed toward their first destination.
Chapter Eight
After two days with almost no food or sleep, Honoria lightly smacked her cheeks to wake herself up.
Asher's whisper came from in front of her. "Do you need a break?"
"No, no, I'll be fine for another hour."
Glancing over his shoulder, he raised his brows in concern. "Are you sure?"
Some might think Asher was being overprotective. And while he no doubt was—the trait was pretty much hardwired into male dragon-shifter DNA—he was also thinking of their task. If they didn't take enough breaks, they could miss the smallest detail, one that could lead them to find the right place and complete the bloody challenge.
She bobbed her head. "Yes, I'm sure. Besides, we should be close to the third location on our list. We can rest after, if this place isn't the right one."
He nodded and faced forward again, picking their way through the underbrush. Honoria did her best to keep her eyes and ears peeled in the predawn light. Even with her enhanced sight and sound, all thanks to her dragon-shifter genes, it took time and concentration to separate sounds from one another in the woods, let alone try to identify them.
Her dragon spoke up. I won't miss anything. Save your strength for investigating the site, just in case it's the correct one.