Tanis shivered at the thought. Definitely not something dragons had to worry over.
Halla patted her gently on the arm to take the sting out of those words. “Don’t worry. I won’t be long. Just rest a few and I’ll be back.”
“Try not to get bitten.”
Laughing, Halla ventured off in the direction Dash had vanished.
Tanis was tempted to follow, but truthfully, she was too tired to bother. It was nice to have a little reprieve by herself. Not that they were bad company. Halla was very pleasant.
Dash...
He was intense. Dangerous. Not in a bad way. It was just... There were no real words for it. He lured her like no one ever had before.
The more they traveled, the more she wanted to know why he was so quiet and mysterious. She felt as if Dash and Halla had a secret they were keeping from her. Not that it was any of her business. But a part of her would like to know what was behind some of the side glances they exchanged.
Didn’t matter. She had a mission. And she intended to finish it as quickly as possible.
Then, she’d work on regaining her freedom.
Dash frozeat the sound of someone rustling in the brush in front of him. “Better be Halla.”
“You better be dressed.”
He snorted at her irritable tone as she broke through the clearing where he was stretched out on the grass. “Where’s the dragon?”
“I left her at the campsite. You should try being nicer to her.”
“Nicer how? I haven’t yelled at her, and I’ve been carrying her on my back all day.”
Standing over him while he lay in the grass, staring up at the sky, she gave him a peeved stare and crossed her arms over her chest. “You know, you could fly with her.”
He smirked. “I could do a lot of things with her.”
She threw an acorn at him. “Get your mind out of the gutter. You know what I mean. It’d be a lot faster if we flew.”
“She doesn’t need to know I can do that anymore than she needs to know I can be human.”
Halla cocked her head as she raked a look over his human form. “I’m assuming that’s why you’re not in camp at the moment, too?”
“It is.” He just needed a moment to stretch out and relax in his human body.
“Then why is she with us if she’s slowing you down?”
He had no idea and no real answer. Except for one thing. “I’d like to think that if I was the one who was dead, Renata would be as determined to avenge me.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
Because it wasn’t the entire truth. There was something about the dragon that compelled him, and he had no idea what or why. Only that she haunted him.
It made no sense, but all he could think about right now was heading to their camp, scooping that dragon up in his arms and shocking Halla right back into her hobgoblin hill.
You need a woman.
Perhaps that was all it was.
He’d been alone far too long, and he knew it. But lovers came with all kinds of complications he didn’t need or want. He’d learned a long time ago that he was better off on his own.
And still, his thoughts kept drifting back to that auburn-haired temptation. To those searing darkbrown eyes that were filled with intelligence and fire.
