Caran had said Juliana was fine and doing better than ever, but Mac still avoided her for the rest of the day. He’d give her space to get herself sorted. She wouldn’t want him hanging around anyway, she’d want him to get on with things.

He looked over Lyson’s shoulder at the computer screen. He'd found them. Tessa and two other women were waiting at the bottom of the mountain near the road. He had to give her credit for her patience, he was sure that she would have ventured up to try and find the Dragonspark facility by now. But perhaps she thought that’s what he would think she would do. It didn’t matter. He knew where she was now and it was easy enough to get to her.

He’d discussed flying down so he could be there within a few minutes, but without the serum to change back that wouldn't work. No, he had to go the old fashioned way. By heading back to Dragonspark and taking a car down the winding road until he reached her.

It meant the element of surprise was gone, but it couldn’t be helped. He’d be alone which is all she ever wanted.

Mac adjusted the vest as Ash inspected it. It was new so there wasn’t a problem with it, but he appreciated Ash checking it over just the same.

“Now, Mac,” said Lyson. “You need to take this transmitter so the drone can follow your movements. Once you get right down, I won’t be able to control it from here.”

“Gotcha.”

“And this.” He pointed to a clip at the bottom of the vest. “Slide that and it’ll reveal a button. Once that button is pushed we’ll know and we’ll be there within minutes. Don’t hesitate. It’s better for us to come to a false alarm than arrive too late.”

“We’ve been over this already.”

“We have to be sure,” said Ash. “Although I reckon you have it covered.” He grinned. “She’s going to shit herself when she sees you.”

“Nice image.” Mac rolled his eyes. “I’m hoping for an end to this hostility. Whether her pants get ruined is not my problem.”

Lyson chuckled. “Looks like we’re all set.”

Mac took off the vest and handed it to Lyson. “Keep this inside your tent. I don’t want Juliana seeing it.”

The brothers looked between themselves. “You’re not telling her?”

“You know she’ll want to come and help. If Tessa see’s Juliana, this won’t go smoothly.”

“But you should still let her know. What if she wakes up and you’re not there?”

“I’ll deal with that later. If all goes well, I won’t need to worry her or anyone else. I’ll convince Tessa to leave us alone and it’ll be done. We’ll return to Dragonspark and never have to worry about her again.”

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Ash furrowed his brow in concern.

“Do I have a choice?”

“We always have choices,” added Lyson.

“Just leave the vest where I can grab it.” Mac left his brothers alone, his head swimming with different ways the conversation with Tessa might go.

He had to try. If he didn’t, he’d regret it. She could be reasoned with. Not easily, but he’d lived with her for a long time. He knew her better than anyone. She had to listen to him.

* * *

Mac walked into the tent. Juliana did look better. She was resting, her eyes closed and her breathing much more relaxed and calm. He was about to leave again, so he wouldn’t disturb her when she opened her eyes and smiled.

“Caran was able to help.” It wasn’t a question, just an observation he'd made. “She’s good for us.”

“She was a big help actually.”

“You need to let others help you more. You take on too much on your own.” He busied himself with his belongings. Tidying up the clothes he’d thrown at the end of the floor this morning. He normally didn’t care about such things, didn’t really care right now either, but it kept him from looking at her too much.

“I’m not the only one around here with that affliction.” She laughed. It was good to hear her laugh again, even if she was making fun of him.

He finished piling his clothes up in the corner into a stack that looked like it’d topple over. Maybe he should have left them strewn on the ground. “They’re serving dinner soon,” he said. “It smelled pretty good.”

“Excellent I’m starving. I’ve hardly eaten all day. You wanna come down with me?” The cot creaked as she got out of it.

He turned his head to look at her, trying to read what her mood was. “If we do everything together, they’ll think we’re a couple.”

“Are we?” she asked. Right to the point. Interesting.

He supposed it was a good question to ask considering the past few hours and it wasn’t like it would be a shock to anyone here. Still, she’d run after they’d kissed and he was about to go and confront his murderous ex. Not ideal for starting something.

Besides. The whole reason they were in this mess was because they were hiding out from his last disastrous relationship. Relationships and him didn't work.

“Do we have to label it?” he grunted.

Juliana rolled her eyes. “Oh please, you’re not going to give me the ‘let’s not define it’ talk. We’re adults here, Mac. Either we are heading towards something or not. We can be friends or we can be more.”

He studied her face. She was being serious. She’d never talked so directly to him about this before. Something had changed. A few hours ago she was denying that anything could happen, and now she was berating him for not verbalizing what it was between them.

“Juliana, I don’t know what this is between us.” It was the most truth he could give her right now. “You know I care for you.”

“Sure. I know it’s stronger than concern. But ...”

“A few hours ago you said we couldn’t act on the attraction. I was your leader and it wasn’t right.”

“I was burning up a few hours ago with a . . . Fever. From the bite,” she added quickly. “I’m fine now.” She reached for his hand and placed it on her forehead. “See.”

“Did Caran give you something else? You’re acting very strangely.”

Juliana groaned and threw her hands up. “I’m feeling just fine. Great in fact. I’m just tired of pussy footing around this topic of us. We pretend it’s nothing and then when it’s clear it’s something, we both retreat from each other.”

“Yeah, we do.”

“I was terrified of sharing a tent with you. Why? Because I didn’t want to be so close to you without being about to touch you. I thought I could handle being friends, but not anymore. It’s either we admit our feelings or get on with our lives. Which is to be?”

“You’re giving me an ultimatum." What was going on with her? "I have to choose right now, or we part as friends and nothing ever happens. No, Juliana. I can’t make that decision at this moment.”

Her face pinched with frustration.

Mac moved closer and lowered his voice. “I can’t make that decision because it’s too early to know how I truly feel. We have all the time in the world. I don't get what's changed. Let’s take it slow and get to explore this new arrangement before we start calling it anything. I rushed into something with Tessa, and I’m not about to make that same mistake again.”

“I’m not Tessa.”

“I know,” he said. She looked away from him. “All she did was lie to me. I do want to see where this goes, more than you realize.” He guided her chin up to meet his gaze. “I just want to be certain we are both sure.”

Juliana locked eyes with him. “I’m already sure. So if I were you, Mac Dragonspark, I’d hurry up and get to that decision fast, because I can’t wait around forever.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “In the meantime, we could have a lot of fun waiting for forever to arrive.”

She tossed her hair over her shoulder as she stepped away. “Typical man answer. We’ll see. In the meantime,” she said, playing on the word. “I’m still hungry and want to see what they’ve made for dinner. Coming?” She held out her hand for him.

If he took it, and they walked out of the tent together holding hands, there would be talk. Ah hell, what did it matter? Perhaps it would give everyone something to take their minds off the conflict they were facing.

He took her hand in his and pulled her to his side. “Fine. You win. Lead the way.”