69 Chapter Sixty-Nine

"Good work, Mr. Colt," Mrs. Snow smiled as she quickly stood up. She took the slip of paper containing Leila's number from Edward's gloved hands and brought her phone out of her pocket at the same time. She quickly tapped the number into her phone and held it up to her ear as she waited for Leila to pick up. Within moments, she answered.

"H-hello," Edward heard from the other side of the line. Leila's voice was faint and shaky. Edward was able to feel her nervousness even by just hearing it.

"Hello, Ms. June," Mrs. Snow smiled, "I'm glad to finally speak to you after all this time. My name is Anne Snow, the CEO of Desert Industries. Your friend Mr. Colt is here with me now. He has very many good things to say about you."

"O-okay,"

"Thus, it would be a pleasure if I were able to meet you," Mrs. Snow said with a smile.

"Meet me? Yes, please!" Leila replied. After a moment though, he heard a sigh from her end, "I don't have enough money to get to you, though. I live two states away."

"That's fine, Ms. June. I can pick you up myself and fly you to my headquarters," Mrs. Snow said, "I'll also be able to accommodate you with a top-class apartment while you're here."

"Really?"

"Yes. We can talk more about the details in person, but I'll need your address," Mrs. Snow said, "Other than your phone number, I don't know anything about you."

"Oh, right! Yes!" Leila's ecstatic voice replied. Her voice became faint- until Edward couldn't hear it- as she told Mrs. Snow her address. Mrs. Snow grabbed a pen and paper, then wrote the address onto it as she listened to Leila.

"Thank you, Ms. June. Mr. Colt and I will leave for your location immediately," Mrs. Snow smiled. Edward pointed at himself, surprised. He wasn't expecting to meet with Leila until she got to the headquarters. Mrs. Snow nodded as she glanced at Edward, her expression plain.

"Thank you, Mrs. Snow!" Leila exclaimed. Mrs. Snow pulled the phone from her ear and ended the call. Then, she turned to Edward.

"You'll be going with me, obviously," She said as she noticed Edward's confused reaction, "She may become more comfortable if she sees a familiar face, so I want you to be there."

"Uh, okay," Edward replied, too stunned to think of a proper response. Mrs. Snow grabbed a jacket from a coat hanger nearby, then looked back at Edward.

"We'll be flying for a little over an hour, but I don't want you to bring Ikarus," Mrs. Snow said, "Somebody will be bound to notice him if we're out in public for that long."

"Alright, I'll tell him to stay here, but he won't be happy," Edward replied. Ikarus was still in his apartment, so the young dragon wasn't privy to this conversation. Mrs. Snow nodded, then walked to the elevator with Edward following behind.

As he did so, he pulled out his own phone and assigned Leila's number to a new contact with her name on it. He wasn't expecting to call her anytime soon, but it would be nice to have her number as a precaution. As Edward and Mrs. Snow entered the elevator, the woman turned to him.

"Go tell Ikarus, then meet me on the first floor. We have a helicopter pad behind the building. We'll be using it to reach my private runway," Mrs. Snow told him as the elevator opened to his floor. Edward gave her a quick nod, then left the elevator as he made his way to his apartment. Ikarus was waiting at the door as he opened it, so Edward didn't have to go far.

"I'll be gone for a few hours. When I get back, Leila will be with me, so don't destroy anything in my absence," Edward told him. Ikarus perked up, both out of surprise and excitement. The dragon tried to leave through the door, but Edward stopped him, "You're not coming, unfortunately. We can't risk you being seen while we're flying- not even the pilots know about you. Stay here and I'll grab you a new tub of ice cream tomorrow."

Ikarus sighed, then backed away from the door and sat down. Ikarus wasn't yet able to speak, but Edward was beginning to understand his facial expressions perfectly. To some level, the two of them were able to communicate. At the moment, Ikarus was acting like a pouting child, despite having the mind of a teenager.

"Thanks, buddy," Edward smiled. He closed the door and locked it before turning back to the elevator.

The helicopter pad behind the building was well hidden, as it took Edward ten minutes to find the right place. By the time he arrived, the helicopter was already fueled and ready to go. Mrs. Snow was waiting inside, a headset over her ears. Her eyes were trained on the window as she waited for Edward's arrival.

The helicopter was already rotating its blades, causing a powerful gust of wind to spread out from the helicopter's location. The noise caused by the blades was deafening. As Edward approached the helicopter, a man wearing a reflective vest stepped forward. He had a thin beard and a hard hat on, though his vest was moving wildly in the wind.

"Sir, the heli is ready for you!" The man said as he followed Edward, his voice muffled by the sound of the helicopter blades. When Edward got close to the helicopter doors, the man opened them for him and allowed Edward to enter. Mrs. Snow smiled as Edward climbed into his seat. He took a headset from the hooks on the ceiling and put one over his ears. As soon as he did so, the loud sound caused by the blades above became deafened.

"Is this your first time on a helicopter?" Mrs. Snow's voice echoed from the speakers. Because her voice didn't come from her lips, the voice sounded disembodied. Her voice was covered in a static sound, but he was able to understand her just fine despite it. Edward turned to her and nodded, "You'll get used to it. Buckle up!"