After the attack on our caravan, we were all shaken. Zaruv and Hardin were sniping at each other, unresolved tension between them. Pavar was frustrated with his inability to shift and was snappish with everyone. Ragal seemed to be berating himself for not having spotted the raiders during his morning recon, despite the fact that no one else thought to scout further ahead either, and the raiders were likely nowhere near our camp.

Having already shifted in front of Andie, my reticence felt reckless. The raiders would have killed her, undoubtedly, and I had waited until the last moment to shift. My distraction with this growing attraction had nearly cost lives. Of course, this was exactly why I was so opposed to even acknowledging it in the first place.

The damage was done. Even so many hours later, the memory of that kiss, wrong as it was, still haunted me and left me aching. Riding with her had been torture. I had wanted to reach out and touch her so desperately, wanted to pull over with her and explore every inch of her.

I knew it had been cold of me to walk away so dismissively last night, but there was no other way. The idea of making her feel rejected made me feel lower than an Infernian, but still, I knew it was in her best interest.

Danger clung to us like static, and I didn’t want to put any more lives at risk.

I found Zaruv as Jennifer was replacing his bandage. His hand was about halfway regrown, comprised of bones and some muscle tissue. Jennifer did what she could, but I knew from experience the indescribable pain of regrowing a limb.

As she got to the last layer of gauze, she wrapped it ever so slightly tighter and I saw the pain on Zaruv’s face.

“No further injury, I take it, batr?” I asked as he looked up.

“Not for me, no, but Jennifer was burned.” For a moment, fear seized me that I might have negligently burned someone other than the raiders.

“Zach has already apologized, Zaruv. Let it go. The burn is minor at best. Andie has several, so I hardly think I qualify as deserving of any pity here.”

“He was reckless. I do not trust him in battle if he cannot control himself. He saw you, Jennifer, but he was so battle-crazed he still struck you,” Zaruv seethed.

“Hopefully, this was an isolated occurrence,” I said.

Turning to me, looking a little worn down, Jennifer asked, “Is Andie all right? I haven’t seen her burns. Depending on the voltage they were using when they struck her, she may need to have her burns dressed.”

Defensively, I responded, “How would I know?”

Jennifer’s face furrowed with impatience. “Obviously, by asking her. Can you please check in with her and send her to me if she needs dressing? I need to see to Pavar.”

Zaruv winced again as she finished securing his sling somewhat less carefully as she was talking to me.

Growling, he looked at me, irritated. “Be useful and find her.”

I trudged away, frustrated because I was avoiding her. I was determined to keep things cooler and not let my urges rule me.

I found Andie repairing the windows to Hardin’s rover with thin film. It wouldn’t do a lot, but it might keep some of the dust out if another storm kicked up.

I saw her look at me, looking over my body slowly, the desire written clearly on her face. She straightened and swept wisps of golden hair out of her face from where it had escaped her braid.

I wanted so desperately to sink my fingers into its silken strands and see it draped down her naked back. I reminded myself that these thoughts were becoming a liability.

“Hey, we should all be good to go soon. Not much damage to the vehicles, thankfully.” She said, slapping the hood of the rover.

“That is fortunate,” I said, feeling awkward but trying to convey an air of total indifference. “Jennifer wishes to know if you will need any medical attention prior to our departure.”

“Me? No, I’m fine, just a couple of burn marks. They don’t even really hurt anymore,” she said as she lifted her tank top to show me.

There were two large bright red circular marks, one just above the curve of her hip and the other higher up on her rib cage, below her breast. Seeing the soft, flat planes of her stomach was impossibly arousing.

I schooled my features into a blank expression. “Hopefully, the pain is gone swiftly then. I will communicate your status to Jennifer.”

With that, I turned and left. Needing to work off some of this excess energy, I spoke with Ragal and we agreed to alternate having one of us in the air once we got back on the road. I shifted first and took off, ready to incinerate anyone I encountered.

With so much time lost between the dust storm, the attack, repairing the damage, checking and recharging weapons, and patching up the minor scrapes and bruises, our progress was far slower than expected.

I flew up ahead, grateful to be out of close quarters with the object of increasingly distracted thoughts. I sailed over the crags. It was beautiful in a harsh, severe way. The land was striated by deep crevices. Birds flew out of the crags, evidence of life in their depths.

I circled back, summoning the rovers to follow my course to the location I had picked out for our camp, and I shifted right before they pulled up.

Hardin wisely went straight to work helping Ragal and Andie set up domes. Zaruv, who had ridden with Andie, assisted Jennifer with medical supplies and the thermogenerator.

I went to Pavar with the intention of helping him, but he slapped away my attempts.

“I’m not so pathetic that I can’t get down from a truck on my own,” he said, wincing as his feet hit the ground with a jolt.

“You put words in my mouth, batr. You are certainly not pathetic,” I said, trying to be sensitive to his wounded ego.

“Well, what other word would you use to describe it when I need to be rescued, not once, but twice, by a human woman?”

“Andromeda is not an ordinary human woman,” I replied defensively.

“Good, I’m glad you think so,” he said. I wasn’t sure what point he was trying to make.

“Well, yes. Obviously, she is capable of holding her own against considerable foes.”

“Indeed, she could probably even handle a dragon. You should find out,” he said with a brief grin as we walked toward the makeshift camp.

I said nothing, refusing to play into this game. I had enough to struggle with my own responses. I couldn’t argue with him about it too.

Finally, sensing my refusal to engage, he said, “I, too, feel the sting of rejection from our senseless exile. But we cannot live our lives in fear of it.”

Sensing a tangent I could exploit, I said, “It is indeed senseless. Our absence does not protect Mulkaro from another challenger.”

Pavar was extremely critical of Dragselian tradition and began a long and often repeated rant. “No, it doesn’t, but regardless, if there is such a constant threat of revolt, then perhaps we should examine what is so flawed with our governmental structure that allows this distrust and instability to take root.”

He would have made a good political counselor, and maybe someday, a good ruler. Of course, with the monarchical structure of Dragselia, he would never be given the opportunity to prove his intelligence or competence.

Having redirected his attention, I passed the conversation over to Ragal, who had come over after completing the dome setup.

I was walking around the camp, securing our perimeter, when Andie caught me off guard, further proof of my mental distraction. Ordinarily, with my Dragselian heightened senses, I would not be startled so easily.

Recovering from the unwelcome rush of heat, I greeted her. “Good evening, Sergeant Titania.”

“Back to Sergeant, are we? I thought we were on a first-name basis, Prince,” she said, emphasizing the last a bit sarcastically.

“Excuse me. I only meant to show courtesy,” I said politely.

“Have I offended you somehow?” she asked sincerely.

“No, absolutely not.”

“Okay, well stop me if I’m wrong here, but there is something happening here,” she said, gesturing between us, “and I know I’m not the only one who feels it. I didn’t just dream that kiss—”

“It was a momentary lapse in a stressful situation,” I tried to cut in.

“It was more than that, and you know it. Don’t insult both of our intelligence.”

Sighing, I turned my back to her, facing east to watch the suns dip low. Anything to put distance between us.

“You’re right, it was more than that, and maybe . . .” I paused, trying to figure out how to be gentle but make clear where things stood. “Maybe in a different situation, if we weren’t fighting for our lives, if I weren’t being hunted by demons who would kill anyone in their path, then maybe there would be leave to explore this infatuation.”

I turned back to face her, needing to make myself clear.

“But we can’t. This isn’t the time or the place for that. Lives are on the line—yours, mine, my family’s, your comrades’. It would be selfish and wrong to put this physical attraction before their and our safety.”

Looking like I’d slapped her, she drew back.

“Well. I see where I stand. I’m sorry to have been such an inconvenience,” she said, swallowing audibly. Turning on her heels, she hastily withdrew into the eerie, stretching shadows of the double sunset.

Choosing a dome on the opposite side of the camp, she stayed there through our meal. As I walked to my dome, I had the strongest urge to go to her dome and apologize for my callous words and show her just how much I wanted her.

The worn leather of my pants had been doing a lot of work since I’d met her, and that wasn’t going to get any better tonight.