I came to expect the unexpected with Malcolm in my life. Over the last two months, I’d become complacent, and though I was always vigilant, I’d stopped jumping at shadows. Or jinn as the case sometimes was. So how was it that our day had gone from completely normal to completely insane?

We were now running through alleys, even through houses as we rushed to escape his father. Our day started out as always with breakfast, a bit of flirting, a lot of sex, and then lunch. Then Malcolm's brother Henry had appeared at our door. That's when things took a turn for the worse. Henry told us Malcolm's potion was wearing off and his father knew where we were. Worse than that, he was already on his way.

We dropped everything and ran, our hands clasped together as we ran for our lives.

We huddled between two buildings as we tried to stay quiet. Malcolm couldn't shift so we couldn't fly away.

I put my hand over my stomach protectively, the bulge of our child now more obvious.

“How are you? Are you alright?” Malcolm inspected me, his hands pushing my sweaty hair out of my face.

“I’m dying in this heat but I’ll keep running. Any clue where we’re going?” I looked at him, trust burning in my eyes.

“I think we should head to that place on the edge of the city. Maybe we can lose ourselves in that artificial jungle they built out there.”

“Good idea. Sweaty times a million beats being locked up. Come on.” I grabbed his hand and we were running again.

All I could hear was the strained sound of my own breathing, the pounding bang of my heart, and my feet slapping the ground in my primitive sandals. I hadn’t even had time to tie my hair up before we’d left.

One minute the world was right, the next, we were running. We didn’t even stop to greet Henry, we just ran, leaving him standing in what had been our home.

Now we had no money, no clothes, and no water, but we did have each other. The houses passed and grass began to appear the farther we ran. Soon, we were crouching in a tropical forest of greens and browns, our eyes searching for a place to hide. I struggled to catch my breath as we walked through the forest, but before long, my heart had stopped pounding and I didn’t feel like I was going to suffocate anymore.

“Here, there’s a cave here. Let me look inside first.”

I leaned against a tree, keeping an eye out behind us but still thinking.

“Do you always have to be a smartass, Arista?” he called out with a laugh.

Oops, he’d read my thoughts again.

“I can’t help it if I didn’t see you magic up a flashlight. How are you going to look inside without one?” I smiled but kept my eyes on the path we came up when we made our mad dash up this hill.

The forest was made up of thick rubber trees. An animal trail had led Malcolm to the cave, and the hard-packed dirt hid our footprints, but I had to wonder if Godwin and his team would have the same thought as Malcolm did. There’s something up there that keeps the animals trekking up it.

“Alright, I think it’s safe,” my king of the jungle called down.

With a grin, I ran back up the hill to the cave and walked in. The top was well over my head and the huge entrance was hidden by vines. I could hear splashing in the back and made my way to it. Water ran through the cracks in the rock back there, about fifteen feet behind the entrance. I cupped my hands to sniff it.

I’d sweated out gallons of water and needed to replace it. The baby was kicking around in my tummy in protest already, so I knew I needed water.

“It’s safe, I think. I’d be happier if we could boil it, but we don’t have a way to do that.” Malcolm came up beside me to have his own drink.

A rumble of thunder shook the walls of the cave, and we both looked behind us. The sky had been clear when we first came in, only moments before. A storm was coming, and we didn’t have long by the sound of it.

“It’s not far away, hopefully it will keep Father in the city and not out here.” By the time he finished speaking the rain had come and it was coming down hard enough to make it impossible to speak as it splashed onto the rocks at the mouth of the cave.

We walked back into the cave and did what we do best; we found comfort in each other.

“Do you think it’s safe in here?” I asked my mate, a gleam in my eye.

“Well, it’s not like I’ll turn into a vampire if a bat takes a nibble out of my ass.” We both laughed at that, and he held me in his arms.

It had been a mad dash to get out of the city, and now this storm was holding us hostage in the cave. The air became warm the longer we stayed in there, and even the rock walls warmed up. I was leaning back against the wall, listening to the rain while I stroked my belly, when Malcolm pulled me close to his side.

“Whatever happens, Arista, I love you. You know that, right?” I couldn’t see his face, but I knew from his voice that he was in serious-mode.

“I know, Malcolm. Maybe as much as I love you, you know?” It was the way I always teased him, but it deflected discussion of me, so I kept it up.

“I’m serious, my love. You are all I want in this world. You and our son.” His hand went over my belly and I looked up to see his eyes in the near darkness.

“We’ll be alright, darling. Don’t worry.”

“I just...damn my father.” His head went back to the wall, and I could tell how frustrated he was by the tenseness in his jaw. “Why can’t the man just leave us alone?”

“Would you, if it was our son? Would you let him carry on with a life you thought would destroy him?”

“I hadn’t thought about it like that,” he said, his eyes closing. “I don’t know that I’d go to these lengths, but I do know I’ll protect him no matter what it takes.”

“And maybe your father feels the same way? Perhaps he thinks keeping us apart is for the best.”

“Oh, he thinks you’ll go berserk and kill all of us dragons, that’s what you were made to do. You aren’t a killer though, not even a dragon killer.”

“Oh, don’t be so quick to judge, dragon! I’ll kill anybody that threatens you or our child.” I pulled away to make sure he saw how serious I was. I wasn’t playing.

“I know, but that’s different. Father thinks you’ll go on a rampage. That’s just crazy. You don’t see the world that way.”

“I don’t, no, but I do think he’s just trying to look out for you.” It was a thought that had been bugging me since we got to this strange land.

I should hate Malcolm’s father, I should definitely fear him, but once I’d learned about our baby, once I knew he really was growing away in my tummy, I’d started to understand him.

Godwin wasn’t malicious, though I did think he’d gone a bit overboard. He was just a protective parent trying to keep his son from the dragon killer he thought I was. Alright, so his son loved me, Malcolm would get over that, right? He’d move on and have a family with another, far more suitable dragon female without these stabby-murdery tendencies, right?

Obviously, he didn’t realize who his son was.

“Just, try to understand him a little, Malcolm. He’s doing what he thinks is best.” I couldn’t believe I was defending the man.

Malcolm breathed out a long breath, before he stroked a hand over my shoulder again. “I guess you’re right.”

“I know I’m right. Now,” I said, pushing up to look him in the face, a smile on my own, “are we going to make use of this noisy storm or are we just going to sit here and worry about what we’re going to do next?”

“By rights, we should be panicking right now, Arista. We have no money, no food, and no way out of this place.”

“Don’t forget our new home is a cave, babe.” I waved a hand around and grinned. “Great, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know how you can be so cheerful.” He groused for a moment longer, but I shut him up with a kiss.

I needed the distraction as much as he did, and the one place I found completely distracting was a place only Malcolm could take me to. We didn’t bother to take our clothes off, the floor was too gritty with sand and we’d both been sweating buckets, but that didn’t matter. Buttons opened, mouths fused, and fingers stroked until we were both panting heavily in the secluded little cave.

He was right, we should have been worrying, we should have been planning, but if I did any of that I’d feel overwhelmed, so I chose to ride him into a mind-scorching orgasm. I’d panic later.

Malcolm, always so careful with me, pulled me on top of his body, and I sank down onto him, my pink dress fluttering around us to hide what we were doing. My fingers gripped at his bare chest, his shirt up around his neck now that I’d pushed it up, and I lost myself in how good it felt to have him fill me.

Malcolm joined me in that place, and for a moment, his father, the world, and everything else stopped existing. There was only us, intertwined once again in total completion.

It didn’t take long before we noticed the rain had stopped and Malcolm went out to look for wood that might have escaped the downpour. No doubt it would get cold in the cave after the sun went down, even if we were in a hot climate. Besides, the light would keep away wild animals.

I heard noises outside of the cave about twenty minutes after he’d gone and went out to see if he needed help carrying the wood in. The sight that greeted me wasn’t Malcolm, though, it was a tribe of women. They were dressed in the same style of linen shifts, an A-line shape that covered their bodies but wouldn’t be hot.

They all looked similar in that they had tanned skin, black hair, and brown eyes, but their facial features were all different. Two had flat, wide noses, another had a slim nose and full lips, while the fourth had thin lips, a short nose, wider cheekbones than the others, or a round face where the others had oval faces. They might be cousins, but they weren’t all the same.

“Hello, can I help you?” I didn’t assume they spoke English, I just hoped they did.

“Join us, sister, while the dragon is gone. Hurry, before he comes back!” The woman in the lead, the one with the round face and lighter eyes than the others, came to me and tried to beckon me away from the cave.

“What? He’s my mate, there’s no need to worry about him.” I waved off her worry and made to sit on a rock. “Would you like…”

I paused, because I had nothing to offer.

“No, sister, you can’t be mate to the dragon. You are a hunter. Come now, please. We can take you to safety.”

I stared at her because I’d noticed that the movement of her lips and what I was hearing were far different, like a movie that was out of sync. Was she speaking a different language and my brain was interpreting it as English?

“I’m fine, seriously. But I could use some food if you have it.” I patted my belly, my little boy inside kicking away in protest at the lack of nourishment.

“He has put a spell on her. Salvia, Juniper, take her. We must go before the dragon comes back.”

“What?” I’d been paying more attention to her mouth, fascinated with the fact that I knew she wasn’t saying those words, than to what she was saying.

I stood up, my arms raised defensively as the two women came towards me. When one of the women in the back brought out a spear tip and held it to my neck, I stopped fighting. No use dying if it wouldn’t protect my baby, right?

“Hurry, Juniper,” the leader said to the woman tying a rope around my wrists.

They pulled me through the jungle, deep into the heart of it, and my spirits were flagging. I’d had a mad dash through the city, a bit of adult fun with Malcolm, and I was tired. Another trek was the last thing I wanted. I wanted a nap, some food, and something cold to drink.

“This is the city of the dragon hunters, sister. You will be safe here.”

I stared out at a city that reminded me of ruins I’d seen in pictures from Mexico. The jungle had been cleared out to make room for the humans, and now there were women and female children wandering the streets, talking as if I hadn’t just been kidnapped and the day was normal.

I walked into the city with round eyes and a thumping heart. What had I gotten into now?