only if for a night [ahkmenrah]

08 ▷ the second firing

"WOULD NOW BE a bad time to mention I'm afraid of heights?" Emily called over her shoulder. She was sandwiched tightly between Nicky in front of her and Ahkmenrah behind her, on the back of a giant T-Rex skeleton. That was moving. Yeah, this was probably the weirdest thing she'd ever done in her life.

Despite the fact that Ahkmenrah's grip on her waist was super tight, Emily couldn't help but feel afraid she'd fall off anyway. It was the same argument she used when she refused to ride a rollercoaster. She didn't want to look down, or behind her, or in front of her, or even have her eyes open at all, really, but somehow having them closed was worse and threatened to make her throw up.

Their plan was for Larry and Texas to catch up to Cecil and try to stop him, while Emily, Ahk, Nicky and Rexy — with Jed and Octavius pulling Rexy's bone in front of them — approached from the other side so Cecil wouldn't be able to get away. Derek had stayed behind while Sacagawea put Teddy back together (literally). Emily's hope was that Sacagawea would manage to keep Derek out of trouble.

"Fear not, Emily," said Ahkmenrah, his breath hot in her ear, "I will not let you fall." His grip on her, if possible, tightened as Rexy lurched along under them, making her body tingle strangely (but not in a bad way).

Emily tried not to think about Ahk's warm hands, nor his strong arms around her waist, instead tightening her grip on Larry's son and focusing on the task ahead of them; she could see Cecil's horses and carriage almost in front of them. Rexy sped up to intercept, making Emily's stomach turn uncomfortably.

   Rexy was still running very fast, and if Cecil didn't move out of the way, he'd be crushed by a reanimated dinosaur skeleton. Emily really didn't fancy having to explain that one.

   Move, she thought, willing the old night guard to get out of the way. Move!

   At the last second, she squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't hear much because of the wind rushing in her ears, but when she opened her eyes again, Rexy was still moving and there was — thankfully — no evidence of Cecil, the horses or the carriage having been trampled. Only ... the car with Octavius and Jedediah wasn't in front of them anymore.

   "Where are Octavius and Jed?" she asked, but her question was swept away by the wind before Nicky or Ahk could hear. She shook her head minutely to herself, making a note to ask them when they were back on solid ground.

   Her stomach lurched again, and she was so focused on trying not to vomit that she almost missed Larry's shout of "DAKOTA!"

   Emily had no idea how, but Ahkmenrah managed to get Rexy to stop not far from where Cecil's carriage had screeched to a halt. Rexy crouched down so they could all get off. Ahk got down first, holding his arms out so that Emily could pass Nicky down to him.

   Once Nick was safely on the ground, Emily pushed herself off the dinosaur's back, her feet landing in the snow, and warm hands catching her waist. She looked up, and found herself staring into Ahkmenrah's eyes. God. Her heart was pounding, and she wanted to say something, but she was drawing a blank. And if he kept staring at her like that—

  "Uh, guys?" Nicky's voice broke through Emily's thoughts, making her jump away from Ahkmenrah's grasp.

   "Right," she said, directing her attention back to what was going on. She caught sight of the Huns making their way over, grabbing Nicky's hand to follow them. They came to a stop next to Attila, just as Larry walked over, carrying Ahkmenrah's tablet in one hand and dragging Cecil along with the other. Emily didn't need to turn around to know Ahk had followed her and Nicky; it was like she could feel him looking at her.