She rolls the bat on her shoulder and gives me an exasperated look. “Do you know what a loaded statement that is?”

I grimace. “I know. I didn’t mean it like that. But you have to understand that Dakh’s a pretty singular sort of guy. Er, dragon. His focus is on his mate and that’s it. Nothing else matters. So as long as I’m happy, he’s happy.”

Emma brightens. “But that means I can give up on the deer urine if he’s happy, right?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “He’s got a very keen sense of smell. I think most dragons do. And they can smell things from a long distance away. If another dragon decides that he likes your scent…”

She raises a hand in the air. “Say no more. I get the picture. I’ll continue to stink myself up with deer urine. Speaking of, did you bring me some?”

I gesture at the can on the ground, since I didn’t have the heart to put it next to the food I’ve laid out. “This was the only one I could find.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers.” Emma snags it and jogs away from the table a good distance, then lifts one arm and sprays the deer urine under it, then repeats for the other arm. Then, she pulls out the waistband of her pants and sprays her panties as I watch in horrified fascination.

I’m repelled by her actions, but at the same time, I understand them. You do what you have to do to survive.

Emma wrinkles her nose as she finishes, tugging at the collar of her shirt as if to air out. “Sorry. You get used to it after a while.” She thinks for a moment and then adds, “Actually, no, you don’t. You just tolerate it because it beats dying.”

“Now that, I understand,” I tell her. “But there’s only one can left. What are you going to do when it runs out?”

A flash of worry crosses her face. “I don’t know.”

I drum my fingers on my lips, thinking. “What about perfume? We could have Dakh tell us which ones work and which ones don’t.”

Her eyes widen. “You’d do that for me?”

“Of course. I still feel bad we more or less ran you out of here.”

“Well, don’t feel too bad.” She starts to reach for one of the bags of potato chips, then sniffs her hand and grimaces. “I ran the last person out of here, and I’m sure someone will run you out after a time.” She shoots me a skeptical glance. “Though maybe not with a dragon. I’m thinking dragon trumps all.”

I laugh. “It’s a pretty good defense system, I have to admit.”

“You got some hand sanitizer?” Emma asks. “I’m starving, but I don’t want to eat unless I wash my hands.”

“Of course. And some soap and water, too. Come on. We’ll go in the store and clean up while we wait for Dakh.” I nod in the direction of the doors, and we head inside.

We walk through the shadowy aisles quietly. I’m brimming with questions, but I don’t want to make the already skittish Emma even more nervous. I know this is all a big leap of faith, so I’m content to let her start the questioning. I’m sure there will be plenty of them.

In the sink in the break room, she eyes my pool-slash-tub with longing. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had a bath?”

“Probably almost as long as me before I got here,” I say with a chuckle. “I lived in Fort Dallas before Dakh and I…got together.” That seems the best way to describe our meeting. “They charged for baths because it was hard to spare the water. There’s nothing so nice as being clean.” I gesture at the tub. “You can take a bath if you want.”

The look on her dirty face is wistful. “I shouldn’t. I just reapplied my stink.”

“I understand.”

She washes her hands in the sink and glances over at me as she lathers them up. “I thought this was a trap, you know.”

“Yeah, I thought you might. I know if I were in your shoes, I’d have thought the same thing. But I promise you, Dakh and I mean you no harm. We were just flying out of the city when we came upon the store here.”

Emma nods. “This is all kind of weird for me, you know. A barbecue with a dragon and the girl who booted me out of my home? Very strange.”

I laugh, because she has a point. “It’s all weird for me, too, believe me. Some mornings I wake up and wonder how I got to this.”

“Well, since you bring it up, that’s a great question. How did you end up shacking up with a dragon? And how did you know that he’s human?” She shakes the water off her hands and dries them with a paper towel, then folds the paper towel neatly and sets it in her pocket for re-use later. “I’ve never seen a dragon turn human before. Then again, I’ve never seen a dragon this close before, either.”

“I didn’t know he was human, either. It was a shock to me, too, when I was told about it.”

“Then how did you meet?”

“‘Meet’ might be the wrong word for it. Dakh was attacking Fort Dallas, and my friend Claudia was trying to escape with her dragon. She pulled me up behind her on his back, but I couldn’t hold on because of my bad arm.” I gesture at my sling helplessly. “I fell off the back of the rescue dragon, and Dakh snatched me from the air. Next thing I knew, he’d taken me away.” And made it abundantly clear he wanted companionship, but I avoid saying that part to Emma.

Why? It is an honor to be your mate. Dakh’s thoughts sound a little distant, like they’re coming from down a long hallway instead of right in my ear. There is nothing to be ashamed of.

I’m not ashamed, I tell him. I just don’t think most people would understand. Sometimes I’m not sure even I understand, and I know you.

Bah. If you have any doubts, I can show you when I return.

No doubts! That wasn’t what I meant. And no showing is necessary. I can feel my face growing hot even as Emma watches me. “So um, where were we?”

“You okay? You seem distracted.”

I debate telling her that Dakh is telepathic, but it seems like something I should keep to myself for now. I don’t want her to feel like we’re plotting against her silently. “Just thinking. It’s been a bit of a wild journey.”

“I’ll bet. So tell me more about Dakh. How did you find out he was human instead of dragon?”




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