“Does anyone but me see the irony in this?” I glanced at my brother and cousin as we made our painfully slow way through the security line.

Miles snorted under his breath. “I’d thought of it, yes.”

“Same here. Who wouldn’t?” Gate looked around. “Times like this, I wish we could make it across the ocean.”

“What? You mean this isn’t as exciting an experience for you as it is for me?” I rolled my eyes, and the others laughed.

It was my understanding that humans did things like this all the time. They decided they wanted to go someplace, they purchased a plane ticket—and, if they were like us and their travel warranted leaving the country, made sure their passport was in order—and then? They went to the airport at their scheduled time and waited in a ridiculously lengthy line to have their bags scanned, only to wait some more before boarding their flight.

It was so much easier just to shift and take to the air.

Except when I was on my way to Scotland, which was another situation altogether.

What would they think if they knew I was a little nervous? I’d have bet they were nervous, too. None of us had ever flown in a plane before. We’d never done anything but drive up and down the mountain. This was entirely new, and the mental image of three babes in the woods flashed through my head as I moved forward in line.

Nobody on looking us over would imagine we were so inexperienced. To the uninformed eye, we were three men who happened to be traveling together. We might just as well be flying away for a boys’ trip, as I’d seen on TV. A long, wild weekend. In Scotland, of all places. Did people fly to Scotland for such things?

My thoughts were wandering again. I reminded myself to focus, as Mary had recommended.

“You’ll be under scrutiny,” she’d informed us as we’d talked about our plans. “Everyone is nowadays. I remember when air travel meant showing up at the airport, flashing your ticket, and getting on the plane. You could bring people with you right up to the gate. And people dressed well to fly. And you could smoke everywhere…” She’d shaken herself a little then, lost in her memories, and smiled. “Sometimes I miss smoking in public, I suppose.”

After that little walk down Memory Lane, she’d gotten back to the business at hand. “You boys already know how to blend in with regular humans. Don’t make too much eye contact, especially with the TSA agents. They might wonder why you’re looking at them so much. Most people don’t, trust me. They’re afraid of getting flagged. Just go about your business quickly, make sure you adhere to the list I sent you of what not to pack in your carry-on, and wear shoes you can slip in and out of fairly quickly.”

“Why’s that?” Gate had asked, reviewing the list of packing no-nos.

“Because nobody wants to be in line behind the guy who can’t quickly take his shoes off to put them up on the conveyor belt. You’ll see when you get there.”

She was right. I did see. The process of hauling one’s carry-on onto the belt, then taking off all extras—belt, whatever was in the pockets, shoes—was like an exercise in efficiency. It was easy to spot the infrequent travelers, those who dawdled or had to be advised to remove another item of clothing before they could go through the metal detector. Or perhaps they simply didn’t care about the dozens of people waiting behind them.

Suddenly, it was my turn. I moved quickly, as I had watched others do, kicking off my loafers while placing my bag on the belt. I caught the appraising gaze of the girl in front of me and smiled.

“You’re a pro,” she grinned. “I can always tell.”

“A pro?”

Her long curls bounced when she nodded. “You travel a lot. I have an eye for these things.”

I did everything I could to keep myself from laughing out loud. “I’ve been around.”

“I’d love to know where.” She flashed me what I could only classify as a look before stepping into the body scanner and lifting her hands over her head. Tight body, killer smile, and bedroom eyes that met mine, catching me watching her as she waited to be cleared.

Travel had its perks.

I took my turn and went through, collecting my things on the other side. That went much easier than I’d imagined. I cast a brief look over my shoulder to find Miles and Gate going through the same process. No problems. That allowed me to turn my attention back to the buxom little thing who was clearly lingering longer than she needed to.

“I’m Vanessa,” she smiled. “If you have time before your flight, maybe we can grab a drink together?”

I considered it. “I don’t know that there’s a lot of time, to be quite honest.”

She tilted her head to the side. “You have the most interesting way of talking.”

“Do I?”

More nodding, more bouncing of those thick, dirty blonde curls. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was quite real, or one of those women who looked like a stranger when she took off her makeup. It was always clear to me when a woman’s beauty was manufactured. How human men could claim to be surprised or claim that their women lied to them over how they truly looked would always mystify me.

Manufactured or not, she was hot. And it wasn’t as if I was going to wait around until morning to see what she looked like under the makeup, anyway.

I opened my mouth to accept her invitation when a strong, entirely unwelcome hand clapped me on the shoulder. “C’mon, brother. We’d better get moving. It’s a long walk to the gate.”

“Brother?” Vanessa’s eyes lit up at Gate’s words. “Wow. Some gorgeous parents you two must’ve had.”

“You know, we haven’t seen them in so long, I can hardly remember what they look like.” He cut his eyes to me in the briefest of glances before nodding to her and walking away.

I managed not to roll my eyes at his lame inside joke.

I shrugged. “Sorry. Don’t want to miss my flight. But it was nice to meet you. Have a good trip.” There was no doubting the look of disappointment on her pretty face just before I turned away and hurried to catch up with the others.

“Thanks for the cock block,” I grumbled when I fell in step with my brother.

“Don’t get on my case,” he warned with a knowing grin. “A drink’s just a drink, but you have a tendency to run off at the mouth when you’re in your cups.”

“Bullshit,” I argued, giving him a shove that would’ve felled a lesser man. Gate barely registered the blow.

“He’s right,” Miles agreed with a laugh. “You have no filter once you’ve started in on the bottle.”

“Both of you can kiss my ass.” But I couldn’t help chuckling with them, because there was a grain of truth hidden beneath their jibes: we had to be careful. We always had to think hard about those with whom we chose to spend our time. Just a single slip-up could mean catastrophe for our family. And liquor did have a tendency to loosen my lips a bit.

“I don’t see why she picked you out of the three of us,” Miles muttered darkly.

“Yeah, she must go for the homeless look,” Gate laughed.

I shoved him again, harder this time. “I don’t look homeless.”

“Scruffy?” Miles suggested.

“It’s better than homeless.” I ran a hand over my stubble, then through my hair. Just because it was longer than theirs… “And she seemed to like it, so I guess I’m doing something right.”

“Maybe I should lose my razor,” Gate suggested, grinning at Miles.

“Maybe you should slit your wrists with it,” I suggested.

“Ouch. All right, all right, Fence has been pushed too far. It’s official.” He gave my shoulder a light punch. “Hey, just think. After all this fun, we still get to spend the next few hours on a plane. Let’s not waste all our prime ball-busting before we’ve even boarded.” So like him. Pissing me off, then smoothing things over.

Not that I was really and truly pissed. If anything, it was nerves over the trip which had me on edge. Carissa had given us all a dose of the antidote she’d developed, ensuring we wouldn’t fall prey to our iron weakness.

Would we need it? What would we find out there? It was plain to me as the three of us wheeled our carry-on luggage through the wide, brightly-lit terminal that we had no idea what we were getting into or even where to start.

It had been a thousand years since we’d last been home. We’d be venturing into a new world full of potential dangers—after all, the heartbeat of the dragon shifters in our homeland was still silent. No telling what had silenced it.

That knowledge hung over the three of us like a dark cloud, and all of our ball-busting was only an attempt at keeping it at bay. None of us wanted to face the potential catastrophe we might be walking into.

Or, rather, flying into.

“I feel sorry Cash couldn’t be here,” I mused as we sat near what I supposed was the boarding area, where two young women in uniforms stood in front of computer terminals. The look of strain on both their faces belied their tight smiles as customers peppered them with questions. How difficult their jobs must be. How they managed to make it into work every day was beyond me.

One of the perks of spending my life in a cave: avoiding humans.

“It was his choice to stay,” Miles shrugged. “You know my brother. Stubborn as a mule. It was imperative that he stay with Carissa and Tommy.”

Even though it was his idea to go to our homeland. I kept my thoughts on that to myself, since nobody wanted to hear me complain. Even I didn’t want to.

Only I knew how much it meant to Cash to see our home again. Of all of us, he was the most drawn to our homeland. The thought that he’d give up the chance to be there again and see it all for himself only spoke to how deeply he cared for his mate and her nephew.

That didn’t mean I had to like the idea, even though we all owed Carissa a great debt for creating our antidote.

“As though any harm would’ve come to them with the others there,” I muttered. “What, is he that afraid she’ll run out on him while he’s gone?”

“Ouch,” Gate laughed, shaking his head with a rueful grin. “You’d better never let him catch you even hinting at such a thing.”

“Yes, I’m sure he’ll have my guts for garters,” I replied with a head shake of my own. “Being in love sure made him sensitive.”

“About nothing but her and the boy,” Miles pointed out. “I suppose there are certain topics which are off-limits. What can you do?”

Precisely.

There was nothing to be done about members of my family bringing outsiders into the cave with us.

How was it we’d managed to survive on our own for a thousand years, yet over the course of several months we’d wound up with four new extended family members? It was as if Pierce finding Jasmine was the first domino required to fall, the one which knocked all the others down as a result.

Who would fall next?