Emma mutters something, and an image of me stripping off my pants fills Sasha’s mind.

She giggles. “It does take some getting used to. Clothes just aren’t a big deal for him.”

Emma’s grumpy expression and response are unintelligible to me, but Sasha collapses into a fit of laughter. I try to interpret the meaning from my mate’s thoughts, but all I get are strange images and an emphasis on my “big deal” and how Emma is tired of seeing it.

Humans are odd creatures.

33

SASHA

I’m a bundle of nerves as Dakh scoops me into his claws the next morning for a “visit” with Claudia and Amy. I’m a little worried that Emma’s going to think I’m abandoning her. We’ve become close over the last few weeks, and it’s nice to have a female friend nearby. After our enjoyable book-scrounging adventure yesterday, it just confirms how tight we’ve grown in our friendship. On the other hand, I’ve missed Claudia and Amy desperately, and I can’t wait to see them. I want to see for myself that they’re alive and well and healthy.

And I guess I want to know why I was abandoned.

It feels weird to have that traitorous thought, but it’s climbed in my head overnight and now it won’t go away.

I tell myself that I’m being too hard on them. That I could have easily found them with Dakh’s help. That perhaps Claudia and Amy didn’t know where I’d gone. Except…Claudia has a dragon, too. She knows Dakh stole me away. And she’s been with her dragon longer, and her dragon knew that he could talk to Dakh…

There’s just something about it that doesn’t add up, and it makes me uneasy. I mean, if Claudia wanted to find me, she would have looked a little harder, right? We’re not exactly hiding.

You are worrying too much, Dakh chides me. Do you not wish to go?

“No, I want to go,” I tell him as he extends his wings, ready to launch into the air. I’m clutching a gift-wrapped box of tampons—a present and apology for dropping in unannounced, and I’ve fixed my hair and even put on a bit of makeup, which made Dakh get very confused. He didn’t understand why I was painting my face if I wasn’t going to war.

Which is another tidbit I need to add to my journal when we get back.

Then why are you so worried? I thought you wished to see your friends.

“I do! I just…I don’t know.” I guess I feel like if they really cared about me, they would have found me. Maybe that’s my self-doubt speaking, but I can’t help but wonder about it. Claudia moved heaven and earth to get Amy back, and I know they’re sisters, but she couldn’t have tried a little harder to find me? Really?

Perhaps her mate is being overprotective, Dakh suggests as he takes to the air. Or perhaps she does not wish to leave her sister unguarded. If she is a female alone, her scent will draw other male drakoni to the area.

Oh my God. Of course. Claudia’s still protecting Amy.

I immediately feel like an asshole. That has to be why she hasn’t come for me. I pat Dakh’s claws. “Wait. Before we go, let’s go back. I want to bring some perfume for Amy. She needs to mask her scent like Emma does, and there’s enough to go around.”

Ten minutes later, I have the presents in a gift bag and I’m back in Dakh’s claws. His words have filled me with a sense of relief, and I’m looking forward to seeing my friends once more. I let my own lack of self-esteem get in the way of our friendship, and I’m just being silly. I send affectionate thoughts to Dakh, so happy for his support and his presence.

He nuzzles me as we fly. Do not think so strongly at me or I will land us early and take you to a quiet corner so I may claim my mate and cover her with my scent.

I giggle to myself, because I know what that means—and I don’t hate the idea. But I’m anxious to see my friends again. Maybe on the way back, I tell him. Just stay away from Emma’s gas station. We don’t want to traumatize her more than she already is by seeing your “big deal.”

You say one thing, but your thoughts indicate something else. It is very odd.

I just laugh and laugh.

Some days, the world is full of promise and excitement, and today is one of those days.

We fly high for a time, and Dakh amuses me by flying through some low-hanging clouds and then flaming them away. He’s like a cat with a toy, and I don’t point out that the clouds and their dampness are ruining all the care I spent on my braids this morning. It seems like a silly thing to fuss over when we’re having such a great time. We descend lower, and I can see the tall fingers of the buildings in Old Dallas. Dakh tilts a wing, and we swing about, circling low as we drop closer to the ground.

I have let Kael know we are coming, Dakh tells me.

Okay. I try not to be too nervous about that, or the fact that I see a dragon take to the air in the distance, golden scales glinting. That has to be him.

It is him, Dakh agrees. Though he says there have been other dragons in the area lately. He has had to chase several off, their minds completely gone.

That fills me with prickles of worry. Reds or golds?

Both.

But you said they wouldn’t attack if we were mated. I start to feel a little more vulnerable, even though I’m protected in Dakh’s claws, held tight against his breast.

They will not attack you, he agrees, tone soothing. But Kael also protects his mate’s sister, and she casts a faint scent.

Oh no. Poor Amy. Can you smell her? I ask, curious.

Faintly. She is trying to hide it, but a more determined male will still follow the scent.

That’s not good. I’m more glad than ever that I thought to bring some perfume. Hopefully we can help with things, I tell him.

You have a kind heart, my mate.

She’s a friend. I’d do anything to help her. Claudia, too.

Kael is my friend, but with the drakoni, it is different. I would battle next to him, but if you were even in the slightest hint of danger, I would abandon him to save you.

Aww, that’s sweet. I…think.

We arrow in toward the building with the gold dragon flying around it. I grow more nervous as we get closer, my gaze glued to our surroundings. It’s one of the taller towers in the old ruins, with a lot of the windows on the lower floors broken out. One side of the building looks like it has a giant hole in it, and inside, I can see a plume of smoke and what looks like house furnishings and a rug. This must be the place.