I slide a surreptitious glance over at Arawn's profile. Still just as stone-faced as he's been this entire trip. I look away again, before he can catch me looking at him. He really is angry. It's a little hard to get used to after the way he's been acting towards me so far. Playful, persistent. Always attentive, never masking how much he wanted me.

As contrary as it sounds after I've been actively avoiding him...I kind of miss that. I never claimed to be the most consistent person.

I turn to look out the window as the rover continues to eat up the distance between the city and the settlement. Kate talks quietly with Errol in the front as she drives us, but since my companion here in the back is beyond miffed with me, I've stayed mostly silent. It hasn't really helped the time pass any faster, that's for sure. Especially not combined with the blistering heat that feels like it's trying to bake us.

"God, I feel like I'm swimming in my own sweat," Kate mutters, pulling her shirt away from her chest, plastered there with the aforementioned sweat.

I hum my agreement, wrinkling my nose. It does feel like I just got out of a bath, but we haven't been anywhere near water. It's pretty gross. I guess I've gotten used to the cave system and then the city, where shade is abundant. Out here in the desert, even inside the rover, the heat is ridiculous. Like we're being baked in a tin can.

"Humans are not built for Tajss," Errol murmurs, tenderly pushing a lock of Kate's damp hair behind her ear. "Perhaps we will stop at the next oasis so both you and Fallon may use the water to lower your temperatures."

I sneak another look at Arawn. Cool as a cucumber. He doesn't even look uncomfortable. Well, not any more uncomfortable than sitting in this awkward silence could account for.

It's the same story when I look at Errol. He looks as comfortable as if he was sitting in a climate-controlled room with an icy cold drink in his hand. It's damned irritating. It's never been clearer to me that the Zmaj are adapted to thrive in this environment. And that we are not.

I sigh as I shift in my seat, even while I know trying to find a comfortable position while I'm this hot is a kind of fantasy in and of itself. I glance over at Arawn again. I really can't help it. When I look forward again, Kate is looking back at me through the rearview mirror, one eyebrow raised and a slight smirk on her face.

Busted.

Not that she hasn't already seen enough to know something is going on.

"A dip in an oasis does sound good," I comment, squinting my eyes out the window in the vain hope that maybe one will pop into existence if I just focus hard enough. And I’m trying to distract Kate from what she just saw.

"Agreed," Kate murmurs. "I'm willing to make do with a puddle if it's wet."

That startles a chuckle out of me, though the joke is only distracting for a moment. Groans and sighs abound, all from Kate and me as we continue the journey. Not surprising since we're also the only ones really suffering.

I cast another narrow-eyed look at Arawn. Sitting there, completely comfortable. With that beautiful, sharp jaw. That luxurious hair with those intriguing horns peeking through, those pretty, gleaming scales. His wings are tucked neatly against his back, his tail likewise neatly wrapped to the other side. Those truly impressive shoulders and that muscled body that clearly advertises the kind of strength his body contains...

I shift again in my seat, but this time because of a different kind of heat entirely. Somehow, it was easier to suppress those memories of that drunken night when he was still attempting to pursue me. Now that he isn't, now that he's choosing to be distant, which is what I wanted...

It's leaving too much room for me to remember. Remember the feel of his skin under my hands. The reverent look in his eyes when he touched me. The feel of his mouth... How completely encompassed I felt with him above me...

I grimace slightly as I shift again, another wave of heat passing through my body. How do I erase a memory that's so strong I can almost still taste Arawn on my lips? I have no idea. And being stuck in this car with him right beside me is no help at all. Damn it. Why did my critical mind have to take a vacation that evening?

My eyes clash with Kate's in the mirror again when I look away.

"Looks like you might be making your own puddle back there," she comments, wagging her eyebrows at me.

I feel myself flush a bright scarlet. "Kate!"

She winks back at me. Oh man, I want to just sink into the ground and die. Do the men understand the joke? But my worries over whether or not Arawn and Errol understood Kate's meaning are pushed way into the background in the next instant.

"Kate." The warning in Errol's voice breaks right through my spiraling thoughts.

"I see them," Kate responds, her attention shifting instantly, her voice tense.

"See what?" I ask, trying to lean forward and look through the window.

I hear the high-pitched shriek before I see anything.

"Oh...shit."

It's a group of giant bird-like creatures, maybe six of them in total.

Their feathers are dark, ranging from gray to a deep blue, to an almost black.

Sharp, curved beaks look like they mean business, the razor-sharp claws adding to that impression.

"Tell me those things are vegetarians," I murmur.

"I'm afraid not," Kate responds grimly.

"They have targeted us," Arawn says quietly. He's leaned forward to look out the windshield as well, his eyes sharp, readiness emanating from him. "We will not be safe in the rover. Not with that many."

What?

"Yes," Errol agrees. "They could destroy it. Kate, stop the rover."

"Stop it?" she repeats incredulously. "Errol, there are six of those things! Six vtaks!"

"And two of us," Arawn inserts. "Fair odds," he adds with a grim, slightly reckless smile.

That look shouldn't be so hot.

"Kate, we will not survive if we keep driving. We cannot go faster than they can fly," Errol says, his tone urgent. When I look out at the flock—is it still a flock if they're alien birds? —I can see he's right.

They're almost on top of us already.

Kate starts cursing as she slowly steps on the brake, slowing our forward momentum.

We aren't fully stopped before both Arawn and Errol grab their lochabers and leap out of the car.

"Fallon—get the poles!" Kate orders as she steps harder on the brake, bringing the rover to a rocking halt. "Hurry!"

The poles!

I immediately twist in my seat and grab the cool metal of one, threading it through the seats to Kate in the front before grabbing another myself.

Thanks to Penelope's survival book and our interest in never being sitting ducks again, one of the things we decided to create were these metal poles with sharp ends, fashioned for guarding and defense.

I'm guessing these birds aren't proof against a good old stabbing.

Heart pounding, I slide out of the rover right behind Kate, intent on fighting rather than just sitting and hoping not to die.

I've done too much of that.

My eye immediately goes to Arawn, reassuring myself he's still well. An uncomfortable thing to realize, but there it is.

Luckily, he's leaping through the air, hale and healthy, his lochaber swinging powerfully as he cuts through the wing of one of the birds, sending the powerful creature careening to the ground. Wow. I don't have time to dwell on his show of prowess though. Not with what feels like a hundred birds shrieking above us, even though I know it's only five.

"Fallon—watch out!" Kate shouts.

I let myself stare too long at Arawn. I grip the pole and turn to look, but the vtak is closing in too fast, its sharp claws extended, shining menacingly in the sunlight.

I start to duck and bring up the pole, but I feel like I'm moving through molasses, my muscles feeling as though they're responding at a snail's pace.

Slow.

Too slow.

It'll reach me long before I can do anything about it, and those claws will slice me into ribbons. I don't give up even as I think it, but I know in my bones that I'm right. But I am not going to go down cowering. I brace myself for the impact, trying to decide how best to do damage once I'm hit.

But the impact never comes.

Something plows into the giant bird's side so fast and hard that I hear the crunch of bone. I whirl around as time snaps back into place, my pole coming up in a defensive stance. Just in time to see Arawn flip his lochaber and bring it down hard on the wounded vtak's skull, cracking through it in one hard blow. I gape at him, even as he pulls his lochaber free.

He pauses to give me one swift glance. To make sure I'm not hurt? Before I can be sure, he leaps up into the air once more, his wings flaring for lift, his tail snapping out behind him.

"Stay alert!" he orders.

Right.

Alert.

Shaking off my shock, the undeniable warmth at his fierce show of protection, I resolutely turn my attention back to the sky. I can't let that happen again.

The next time one of the birds targets me, I stab upward with all of my strength, crouching down to avoid it and to stabilize my body. The tip doesn't pierce its underbelly that time. It flaps its wings hard, rising up to avoid much damage.

Then Arawn is there again, tearing into the thing with a vengeance. Maybe it's stupid, but I'm not as scared as I should be. I can feel Arawn's eyes on me the whole time. And I know he'll intervene if I'm in danger. I can feel something in me soften towards him, but I don't have time to examine it in the melee.

Errol watches Kate with just as much focus as Arawn watches me, shoving her out of the way of a swooping vtak, its sharp claws extended with clear intent. The thing doesn't stand a chance when Errol leaps onto its back at the bottom of its flight path.

I shift my attention away as I see movement nearing me. All right, here we go again. Crouching down, I try my method once more, stabbing up with a yell as the creature nears.

Second time is the charm. I feel the tip punch through the feathers and then the body underneath with a grim sense of satisfaction. The bird shrieks even louder above me, flapping its wings hard in an attempt to get away. Hard enough that my feet start to lift from the ground.

"Got you!"

Kate's arms wrap around my waist and together, we pull down hard to free up my pole, managing to tear a gash through the vtak. It tries to fly off, but it's gushing blood and other things now as it wobbles through the air. Its wings start to falter, its height falling rather than rising.

"It is done."

I turn back at Arawn's deep voice, my chest heaving, sweat pouring off of me.

"What?" I ask.

But when I turn around, I realize he is directing his words to Kate. My heart clenches.

"That vtak will die in moments," he says, jerking his head towards the one Kate helped me with. "And the others are already dead." His eyes shift towards me. Do they soften somewhat or is that just wishful thinking? They turn back to Kate almost immediately. "We may put down our weapons now."

Only then do I realize that I still have it up in the air as if anticipating another attack. I nod, slowly lowering, feeling the adrenaline still pumping through my body.

He turns away, still not looking directly at me. Even though it's clear that last bit was for me. Nobody else had their weapons up and ready anymore.

"We will cut up the meat and set it on a fire," he announces.

"What?" Kate asks, turning to look at Errol. "We don't need more food. We have enough rations."

"We do not waste meat," Errol responds. "And more food will not hurt where we are going. We will cook the vtaks." He grins. "And I think it fitting that we celebrate our victory in the traditional manner—where the felled predators become the meat of their intended prey." Reaching out, he pulls Kate close. "You fought valiantly, my mate. As did you, Fallon," he adds nodding at me.

Kate looks over at me, shrugging slightly. This is clearly some kind of masculine, Zmaj thing. A tradition there is no use fighting against. Besides, they're right. It seems like a waste to leave food behind.

So we all get to work with our own knives, hacking away at the still-warm bodies. I remember a time where I didn't know how to field dress an animal. I wipe some of the blood onto the feathers in front of me. Feels like a lifetime ago now.

Arawn works alongside me, Errol and Kate obviously together. But he still says nothing, his face closed off as his hands move competently, efficiently. I'm okay. But he's obviously been doing this his whole life.

I bite my lip as I keep cutting up the meat into manageable chunks. He's...still not speaking to me. And it somehow hurts more now.

We finish breaking down the meat and Errol and Arawn set it onto a large fire, careful to not get it so close that it'll burn. And Arawn still doesn't say a word to me. Someone would have to be both deaf and blind not to notice, and Errol and Kate are neither. I appreciate that they don't bring it up though. As I sit down and watch the flames, it's a bitter truth I ruminate over.

"I believe there are some caverns we can take shelter in nearby," Arawn murmurs to Errol. "It is not a good idea to keep traveling so close to night."

Errol nods.

"Can you go scout them?"

Arawn nods, standing.

"I will be back shortly."

I feel a pang of fear as he goes off alone. Which is stupid. He obviously knows quite well how to take care of himself—and me. The way he rushed over and saved me during that fight... I'd be lying if I didn't admit it affected me. Unlocked something deep and primitive inside me that I didn't even know was there. Something my defensive mind can't just explain away.

And I can't deny that when Arawn returns less than five minutes later, I feel a rush of relief. Oh, man. I have it bad.

I watch him as we eat, trying not to be obvious about it but unable to stop myself even if Errol and Kate can see. Heck, even if Arawn notices, really.

When he's still silent after we pack up the meat and trudge over to the caverns, it stings. No, it burns. And as we settle in for the night in the relative safety of a small cavern, I can't escape the thought that I did this. Messed up what was between us. Started this silent feud to push him away.

I turn over restlessly. The ground is hard under my thin pallet.

But I know that isn't what keeps me awake.