Owen blinked his eyes open, and, for a moment, felt completely disoriented. He was staring at the top of a large rock, and he felt beads of sweat all over his body despite the fact that he was fully naked. He turned his head to the right and saw a vast stretch of desert in front of him, interrupted only by a small town that looked to be about a half mile away. That’s when it all came rushing back to him. The battle, the retreat, escaping with Raven and the dragon amethyst.

Raven! Where was Raven? She had gone into town to get supplies, and he had fallen asleep like an idiot, with no one standing guard over him.

He sat up quickly, nearly banging his head on a low portion of the rock he was sitting under. He saw with relief that Raven had returned. She was sitting several feet away from him, leaning against the opposite side of the small rocky wall and reading a newspaper. Her face looked pale, as though she had just seen a ghost. Next to her, he saw a large hiking backpack, and a brown paper bag that smelled suspiciously like breakfast food. His stomach growled loudly, and Raven looked up.

“Hungry?” she asked. She was smiling, but her voice sounded tired, not teasing like it normally did.

“I could definitely eat,” Owen replied. “What time is it?”

“Not even nine yet,” Raven said. “I haven’t been back that long, actually.”

“Not even nine?” Owen said. “Wow, it’s really hot for being so early in the morning.”

Raven nodded. “Yeah, well, you were right. We’re in Nevada. In a town called Sandview, which is apparently the one oasis in a large stretch of desert. But tourists come here for the nature, which keeps the town running. And, it would seem, tourists aren’t the only ones who come here. Look at this.”

Raven shoved the newspaper in his direction, and he took it from her wearily. He would much rather eat than read a newspaper right now, but whatever she’d seen here she clearly thought was important. It only took him a moment to understand why. At the top of the Sandview Scribe, a large, bold headline read “Ghosts in Sandview: Has Dark Magic Returned?”

“What the heck?” Owen said, looking up at Raven.

“Keep reading,” she said. “It’s really weird, and I’m not quite sure what to make of it.”

Owen’s eyes returned to the page, and he read aloud slowly. “The rumors of ghosts in Sandview persist, as once again on Friday evening, the town lost power with no explanation. Not only that, but after the power was restored, several items were missing from local stores. Additionally, items continue to disappear from store shelves without explanation. Readers of the Sandview Scribe will remember that several ‘robberies’ recently have left police baffled. Items are stolen from stores, but security cameras do not show anyone taking the items. Instead, the items seem to move out of the stores by themselves. This strange phenomenon has led many to believe that ghosts are involved. Although some laugh at such an absurd suggestion, others in Sandview remember that this town has a history of paranormal activity.”

Owen paused his reading and looked up at Raven with wide eyes. “Items disappearing from shelves by themselves? That sounds like someone stealing under the cover of an invisibility spell.”

“I know,” Raven said, gesturing toward the large backpack sitting next to her. “It sounds a lot like what I did today to get this stuff. Which makes me think…”

“There are wizards in Sandview,” Owen finished for her. He felt his heart beginning to pound. This did not seem like good news. If this was a normal wizarding town, Raven would have heard of it. There weren’t that many wizarding towns in North America, and Raven and the other wizards knew by heart where most of them were.

“And if there are wizards here,” Raven said, answering the question Owen had before he could ask it, “Then that almost certainly means that they are Saul’s wizards. No good wizards would be hiding out here, let alone stealing things, without a good reason. And as far as I know, we’re the only ones with a good reason to steal things.”

“But why would Saul be out here?” Owen asked. “This is the middle of nowhere. Surely, if he wants to steal from stores, there are more convenient places to do so.”

Raven’s face looked grim. “Keep reading,” she said.

Owen turned his face back to the page. “Those who know the history of Sandview remember that several decades ago, an unexplained increase in the number of bats in nearby Sandview Canyon Caves took place. Around the same time, unexplained thefts took place at local stores, much like the recent thefts. The bats killed several townspeople, and the thefts were never explained. Many have claimed that some sort of evil spirits or ghosts were responsible for both occurrences, but, of course, no proof of ghosts has ever been found. Recently, the bats in Sandview Canyon Caves have been increasing in number once again, leading many to believe that the ghosts have returned. Keep reading the Sandview Scribe for updates on this developing situation.”

Owen looked up at Raven again, his eyes dark. “I know why the bats are increasing,” he said.

“So do I,” Raven said. “I’ve been briefed on the history of shifter wars, and I know all about cloning bat shifters.”

Owen raised an eyebrow at Raven, somewhat impressed. “I didn’t know you knew that much about shifter history,” he said.

Raven nodded. “When the Falcon Cross wizards and Redwood Dragons first became allies, Knox briefed the military leadership in Falcon Cross on shifter war tactics. He told us about the last dark shifter, Rocco, and how he cloned bats. Apparently, Saul knows about the cloning trick, too. At least, I’m assuming it’s Saul’s people out here. God forbid there’s another enemy lurking that we don’t know about yet.”

“No, I’m sure it’s Saul,” Owen said. “The fact that there are wizards sneaking around under invisibility spells means that whoever is behind this is working with wizards. It has to be Saul.”

Owen closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed his forehead, trying to stave off the headache that was beginning to pound behind his temples. Not long ago, an evil shifter lord named Rocco had tried to fight the Redwood Dragons and their shifter friends in Texas to gain control of the dragon emerald. Rocco had nearly succeeded, too, thanks to his large army of bat shifters. Rocco had learned how to clone bat shifters, quickly raising a giant army that was almost impossible to defeat. Thankfully, the good shifters had discovered Rocco’s hideout and taken him down before he could grow his army large enough to get to the dragon emerald. But it seems that Rocco’s bat cloning technique had not died with him. Saul was apparently building an army out here, quietly cloning bats which he no doubt planned to use to try to steal the dragon stones.

“I need to eat something,” Owen said when he finally opened his eyes. “I can’t think straight and I’m getting a headache from lack of food.”

“Oh, right,” Raven said. “Sorry, I got really caught up in the ghost headlines. Here, let me warm some food up for you.”

Raven pulled a couple plates of food out of the brown paper bag, and assembled the food onto one giant, heaping plate. Then she pointed her magic ring at the plate and said “Magicae therma.”

“A warming spell,” she explained, handing the food to Owen. “It will make the food taste like it’s hot off the stove. And here, I have some coffee, too.”

She poured some coffee into a thermos lid and handed it to Owen. The liquid was strong and piping hot, and just one sip of it did a lot to revive Owen.

“This is quite a spread,” he said, feeling grateful. “How did you manage to get all this?”

Raven groaned. “Don’t ask,” she said. “It wasn’t the smoothest operation ever, and I think I perpetuated the ghost rumors in the process.”

Owen laughed, but then they both were silent for a few minutes as he ate hungrily and Raven took the newspaper back to read over the article again.

“If this is true, then we’re in a lot of danger,” she finally said. “We should get away from here as quickly as we can, before they realize we’re here. The last thing we want is to have to fight a huge army of bat shifters to keep the dragon amethyst safe.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Owen said as he slowly chewed on a crispy slice of bacon. “It might be good to stay here for a bit and spy on Saul’s operations. He must not think any of us know about the bats. That’s why he’s cloning them out here in the middle of nowhere. If we can spy on him, maybe we can figure out a way to sabotage his cloning efforts.”

Raven looked at him like he was out of his mind. “Are you insane?” she asked. “You know his dark wizards can overcome my invisibility spells. We’re out here by ourselves, just the two of us, against who knows how many dozens or even hundreds of wizards—not to mention hundreds of bat shifters. If we don’t get out of here before they find us, we’re doomed.”

“But they’re not going to find us,” Owen said, his voice growing excited as he spoke. “Don’t you see, Raven? They can break through your invisibility spells, yes, but they have to do so on purpose. They don’t suspect that any of us are out here, so it’s unlikely they’re spending much time going around trying to break invisibility spells just in case. As long as we don’t give them any reason to suspect anything, we can stay here undetected and spy on them. We might get some truly valuable information!”

“No way,” Raven said. “One false move, just one wizard suspecting something, and they’ll break through my spells in a heartbeat. We’ll be toast.”

“So we won’t give them a reason to suspect anything,” Owen said. “This is the perfect opportunity to sabotage Saul’s efforts in a big way. And it’s a damn good way to get back at them for what they did to my home last night.”

“I agree that they deserve vengeance for what they did to your home,” Raven said, crossing her arms. “But this is not the way to get vengeance. We were given one, important job: get the dragon amethyst to the shifter protectors in Texas. We need to stick to that job and not get sidetracked.”

“No, I was given the job,” Owen said. “You tagged along on this mission uninvited. Which is fine, but since it was my mission, I think I should get to make the rules.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Owen knew they were a mistake. Raven’s eyes flashed with anger.

“Really? You think you would have been better off on your own or something? May I remind you that I’m the one who went into town and got all of this stuff for us? I’m the one who is keeping us under an invisibility spell right now. You wouldn’t even have clothes without me! Speaking of which, why don’t you put some clothes on and cover up that obnoxious dick of yours. Just because you’re a shifter doesn’t mean you can parade around naked all the time.”

Owen smirked. “I think I’ll stay naked for the moment. It’s too damn hot for clothes.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “No it’s not. I’m wearing clothes.”

“Feel free to take them off.”

Raven huffed and turned her back on Owen, grabbing the newspaper and burying her face in it. For several minutes, she fumed silently while Owen polished off his plate of food. He knew the best thing to do would probably be to apologize or offer some sort of olive branch, but he wasn’t really in the mood to say sorry. Even though his stomach no longer growled with hunger, he was still feeling tired and cranky. He hadn’t slept very long, and every muscle in his body ached from his long flight out here. Sure, Raven’s magic skills were useful, but she couldn’t deny that his dragon skills were useful, too. It irked him that she was acting like she was so much more special than him.

Damn women, he thought to himself, lying back down to take another nap. They always think they’re right.

He purposefully lay on his back so that his dick was clearly visible, just to annoy her. He had no problem being naked in front of her, and he was getting a bit too much satisfaction from her irritated reaction to his refusal to put on clothes. With his stomach full, and his body warm from the heat of the day, he quickly drifted off to sleep.

He wasn’t sure how long he slept, but it must have been nearly all day. When he woke up again, the sun was low in the western sky. He looked up to find that Raven was gone, and he felt a mixture of panic and frustration rising in his chest. Had something happened to her? Or had she just gone off without telling him, in which case he was going to give her a piece of his mind. Owen sat up and quickly jumped out of his shady rocky haven, looking all around. For a moment, he saw no sign of Raven, but when he turned around, he saw her sitting on the top of their little rock hideout. Beads of sweat glistened on her forehead, and her face was set in a half frown.

“Good morning,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she looked up at the late afternoon sun. “I trust you slept well.”

Owen frowned. She was angry that he had slept all day. Well, let her be. He wasn’t going to apologize for getting some much needed rest.

“I slept like a baby,” he said, raising his arms up above his head in an exaggerated stretch, being sure to push his hips forward to emphasize that he was still very naked and his dick was still very much in plain view. Raven rolled her eyes but said nothing. Damn. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her quite this pissed off.

“Didn’t you sleep?” he asked casually. If the dark circles under her eyes were any indication, she had not been sleeping all day as he had. She looked exhausted. And yet still as beautiful as always. Even tired and angry, she was a vision to behold.

“Only an hour or so,” she said. “I was busy.”

The implication in her voice was clear. She was busy. Someone had to get shit done, and he was slacking. Owen resented her attitude. He’d flown all night, and if she really wanted to get out of here, the only way was for him to fly them out. He wouldn’t have been able to fly again without sleeping a good long time, like he’d done. But Owen didn’t say anything. He just looked at her with an annoyed expression on his face, daring her to say more.

With a sigh, she hopped down from the rocks to stand next to him. “Are you ever planning on putting clothes on again?” she asked.

“Nah, I kind of like feeling uninhibited and free,” he said, shaking his hips a bit for emphasis. This earned him another eye roll from her.

“Well, I suppose it’s not worth putting clothes on. After all, you must be just about ready to shift and head out of here. We should travel by night, and it will be dark soon.”

Owen heard the challenge in her words. If she wanted to fight, then he was up for the challenge. He wasn’t going to be bossed around by a girl, even one as beautiful as her.

“We’re not going anywhere yet, Raven,” he said, his voice rising slightly. “I’m in charge of this mission, since I’m the one who was ordered to take the amethyst. And I say we need to stay at least a day or two and see if we can figure out what’s going on with these bats.”

Raven looked tired, but her eyes flashed with anger nonetheless. “We cannot stay here, Owen. Don’t you understand? Getting the amethyst to safety is more important than ever. God, why are you so goddamned stubborn all the time? If you really want to spy on the bats, then come back in a few days, after the amethyst is safely with the shifter protectors in Texas. And it doesn’t matter that Vance sent you on this mission. He only sent you because you happened to be the one guarding the amethyst at the time of the attack. You’re not in charge of anything, least of all me. You can’t make me stay here.”

“Then go,” Owen said, gesturing toward the desert with a flourish of his right arm. “Be my guest. See how far you get on your own.”

Raven looked up at him with a pained expression on her face. He knew it was unfair of him to suggest that she leave. Even if they disagreed on how to run this mission, or who was or wasn’t in charge, they were still on the same team. They still needed to look out for each other. But damn it, he wasn’t the one being so goddamned stubborn—she was. She needed to back down a bit. So he crossed his arms and waited for her to make some sort of apology and say they could stay another night or two.

He should have known better. With an angry toss of her head, Raven walked into the cave and started pulling the giant hiking backpack onto her shoulders.

“Fine,” she spat out at him. “I’ll go. And you can see how far you get on your own. It’s not so easy with no supplies and no invisibility spells. I hope you’re enjoying being naked as much as you claim you are, because it’s gonna be difficult to get clothes without me.”

With that, Raven turned and started marching across the desert, due south. Owen watched her for a few minutes, expecting her to eventually turn around and come back, but she kept marching. After ten minutes had passed, and she was starting to become just a speck on the horizon, he realized that she was serious. She was leaving without him, even though she was probably going to die trying to walk across the desert. Who knew how far it was to the next town, and then to the town after that? Even if she survived, it would take her an eternity to reach the shifter protectors this way.

“Damn it, Raven,” he said. He had no right to be angry. She was only repaying his stubbornness with her own. And yet, he was angry. Furious, even. Throwing all caution and fear of being discovered to the wind, he let out a roar and shifted into dragon form. He made a weak attempt at using chameleon skills to hide himself from any of Saul’s soldiers who might be around and watching, but he was so angry right now that he couldn’t concentrate properly on camouflaging himself against the sandy desert ground. With a grunt and a huff of smoky breath, he flapped his wings and rose into the air, heading toward Raven. In dragon form, it took him less than a minute to catch up with her. She looked up at him as he flew toward her, her deep blue eyes nearly black with rage. He ignored the daggers she was sending him with her gaze, and reached down his giant dragon claws to pluck her right up from the desert floor. Then he turned and started flying back toward their little rocky shelter.

“Put me down,” she yelled, wriggling her body so violently that he was afraid one of his claws might accidently puncture her skin. “Put me down or I swear to God I’ll kill you.”

Owen ignored her until he reached the rocks again, then he dropped her, making sure that she was about a foot above ground when he did, so that she’d tumble a bit. As soon as he landed himself, he shifted back into human form with a loud pop and rush of energy.

“There,” he said. “You’re down.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Raven yelled. She was sliding the backpack off her shoulders, her face red and seething with rage. “How dare you!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Owen yelled back. “You’re usually the one up for anything, but you’re not willing to take a golden opportunity to spy on Saul’s men? I thought you were more adventurous than that!”

“You ignorant bastard!” Raven screamed, rushing toward him. She raised her hand and slapped her open palm against his left cheek with a surprising amount of force. He felt a red welt almost instantly forming on his face.

“What the hell, Raven? You’re lucky you’re a woman. Otherwise, I’d beat you to a pulp right here and now.”

“Go ahead and try!” she said, raising her other hand and slapping him hard across the other cheek. She continued yelling at him, punctuating each word with a fresh slap. “You. awful. ignorant. idiot. stupid. stubborn. dragon!”

When she finally stopped, she stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. Her face was bright red and she was breathing hard. Her eyes were dark with rage, and she had a look on her face that just dared him to speak. So he did.

“Anything else?” he asked with a sneer.

Slap!

His face smarted, and he was sure it was bright red from the force of her hand against his cheek, but he would not give her the satisfaction of knowing she had caused him pain.

“What’s wrong with you, Raven?” he asked, his voice low and angry. “It’s not like you to run in fear from the enemy, or to complain about needing to follow the rules to the letter. You’ve never been one to argue about who is or isn’t in charge. What gives? Is this war finally getting to you? Do you need a vacation or something? A couple months off from work.”

She closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them, she looked so angry that he thought he was about to be slapped again. But she kept her hands on her hips, and then spoke in a low, even tone.

“You know I love a good adventure just as much as you do, Owen,” she said. “But this isn’t about adventure anymore. It’s about survival.”

“Oh, come on, Raven. It’s been about survival for the last six months, at least. Don’t act like all this danger is anything new.”

“I went into town again while you were sleeping,” she said.

Owen raised his eyes in surprise. “And?”

“I tried to contact Falcon Cross. I tried to contact the shifter protectors in Texas. I even tried to contact your home base in the Redwoods, as a last resort. I called every number I could think of that someone we know might answer.”

Owen felt a strange sensation fill him, almost like bile was rising in his throat. “And?” he asked, not sure if he really wanted to know what Raven was about to tell him.

“And I got no answer, Owen. No answer from anyone. Do you understand what that means? There’s no one monitoring the emergency phones in Falcon Cross. The Redwoods base is definitely taken by the enemy. And the shifter protectors…they are not answering either. Everyone is either in a huge battle right now, or already defeated. We have no way of knowing what’s going on, but I can tell you for sure that whatever it is, it’s not good.”

Owen could not speak. He felt his heart twisting up in all sorts of strange ways as the full meaning of Raven’s words hit him. A thousand emotions rushed through him at once, and he nervously ran his fingers through his hair as though that motion could somehow keep him from drowning in the ocean that was washing over him.

“Don’t you understand, Owen?” Raven said. The anger had gone out of her voice now. She sounded sad, like her heart was breaking with every word she spoke. “It’s entirely possible that everything—and everyone—we love has fallen to Saul. All we have left is each other. I cannot lose you, too. I know that if we stay here in Sandview we might be able to learn all kinds of valuable things about Saul’s operations. And, yes, normally I’d be up for the challenge. But not now. Not when everything is so uncertain. You’re all I have, Owen. Don’t ask me to stand here and watch you risk your life unnecessarily when I’ve already lost everything.”

Owen looked at Raven, who stood in front of him with her eyes filling with tears. Behind her, the sun was setting further, lighting up the sky in a brilliant display of pink and orange. In that moment, all of the anger went out of Owen as well, and a different emotion filled him. A different fire began burning in his veins, and he knew it was time to stop dancing around the truth. If what Raven feared was true, and they truly were all that was left of the good shifters and wizards, then they probably were not going to last long on their own. And if his days were so numbered, then there was only one thing Owen knew for sure: he wanted Raven to know, before he ran out of time, that he loved her.

He’d loved her from the beginning. From the very first moment he saw her. He’d tried to deny it. Tried to hide behind his reputation as a ladies’ man to keep from admitting the truth to everyone, even to himself. But he could not hide any longer. Not when the devastating possibility of having lost everything loomed so heavy over his heart.

He opened his mouth to try to speak, but he did not know where to begin. How do you put into words the emotions that make your heart beat? It’s an impossible task. And so, instead of speaking, Owen took a step toward Raven. He put his arms out and pulled her, trembling, into his embrace. And then, he put his lips on hers.

She did not pull away as he kissed her. She melted into him, and let him say with his kiss the words he could not find to speak: I’m sorry. I love you. You’re my everything. Hold on to me, and we’ll make it through this somehow. We’ll make it through this together.

She kissed him back, her kiss telling him secrets of its own: I’m sorry, too. I love you, too. I’ve wanted this for so long. Everything is still going to be okay, as long as we’re together.

Together.

Owen held her tighter, and felt relieved that, no matter what was going on out there, Raven and he were together.