“Shh!” Owen Pars said, holding his finger over his lips and trying to appear stern while he looked over at the dark-haired silhouette sitting a few feet away from him. But his warning only made Raven chuckle harder. Her shoulders shook with laughter, and her giggles came out in odd sounding snorts as she tried to stifle them with her hands. Owen could hardly keep from laughing himself as he watched her.

“Don’t make jokes like that if you don’t want me to laugh,” she whispered when she finally regained enough control to speak. “You’re the one over here doing ridiculous impressions of people. Have you ever thought about becoming a standup comedian after the war’s over? You’d be hella good at it.”

“Hella?” Owen said, raising a playfully mocking eyebrow. “Since when do you say ‘hella’? Seems you’re integrating into northern California quite well.”

He saw her shrug her shoulders in the darkness. “When in Rome…” she said, letting the cliché trail off without finishing it.

Owen smiled into the darkness, imagining the way Raven’s eyes must be sparkling with merriment right now. Even his sharp dragon eyes couldn’t see through the inky blackness inside the cabin, though. The windows all had shades drawn over them, blocking out what little moonlight might be filtering down through the redwoods and into the small clearing where the Redwood Dragons Clan lived.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Owen said. “Vance would kill me if he knew that you were in here distracting me from my job.”

Raven snorted again. “There’s not much to distract you from. You don’t really have to watch things that closely right now, you know? This cabin is surrounded by wizards, and there are two dragon shifter guards watching over the whole base camp itself. If anyone is going to try to break in here and steal the amethyst, you’ll know they’re coming long before they get here.”

“I suppose so,” Owen said. “But then how did you get in here without them seeing you?”

“I snuck in earlier, before they closed and locked the door of the cabin. No one paid much attention to me then because they thought I was just another part of the crew guarding the place.”

“No one ever suspects you of anything, Raven,” Owen said. “That makes you pretty dangerous.”

“Ah, well, that must be why you hang out with me,” Raven teased. “You like living on the edge.”

“I never said I like hanging out with you. I only tolerate you because I’m a nice guy.”

Raven snorted loudly again. “Hah! Now I know you’re lying. No one’s ever accused you of being a nice guy.”

Owen shushed Raven again, and swiped at her in the darkness, trying to playfully punch her in the arm. She somehow managed to see that he was coming and wiggle out of his way. This, of course, triggered a fresh wave of laughter from her.

Owen rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help but smile. If he had one guilty pleasure in his life right now, it was flirting with Raven. The woman drove him crazy, but in a good way. She was one of the few wizards who did not seem frightened by the fact that he was a dragon shifter, and she was one of the only women he’d ever met who could match his sarcastic wit strike for strike. He had spent a lot of time with her over the last several months as they searched for the powerful dragon amethyst. Sometimes, they argued like cats and dogs, but at the end of the day they always made up. They “got” each other, and Owen had never met another woman he could truly say that about. In another life, he might have tried to convince Raven to be his lifemate.

But they weren’t in another life. They were in this life, the only life they had, and the life they were fighting desperately to save from the enemy’s ever advancing evil army. Owen didn’t have time for romance, and he didn’t think it was appropriate to romance a fellow soldier, despite the fact that many of his clan members had done so.

Owen took in a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh as Raven’s laughter finally died down. For a few minutes, they were both quiet, and he sat in the comfortable silence with her, thinking of what strange events had brought him to this point in his life, where he sat in a dark room with a beautiful wizard, guarding a giant amethyst.

Owen had lived out here in the Redwoods for as long as he could remember. He was one of ten dragon shifters in the Redwood Dragons clan, all of whom had been rescued after they were orphaned in the last great shifter war. William, the dragon shifter who had rescued them, had led the clan for several decades, but had now retired to a simpler life in Texas. Ironically enough, Knox, who was the dragon shifter currently in charge of the Redwood Dragons, was in Texas right now, too. Knox was helping a group of shifter protectors in Texas to guard two of the dragon stones—the dragon emerald and dragon sapphire. The dragon amethyst, the stone Owen was currently guarding, would be heading to Texas tomorrow evening, once a large group of wizard soldiers from Falcon Cross arrived to escort it over. The dragon stones were powerful, ancient artifacts that held the powers of four ancient dragon kings. Now that the amethyst had been found, the only missing stone was the dragon ruby. If the ruby could be found by the good shifters and wizards, then their enemy Saul would have no hope of taking over the world for evil, as he was trying to do.

“It kind of sucks, doesn’t it?” Raven asked, breaking into his thoughts. “We should be allowed to go with the soldiers who are escorting the amethyst back to Texas. After all, we found it.”

“Sort of,” Owen said. “Anya is the one who really found it.”

Anya was the lifemate of Owen’s clanmate, Finn. Anya had figured out where the dragon amethyst was hidden, and together with a small search team that included Owen and Raven, she’d recovered the stone.

“Details, details,” Raven said. “Our search team found the amethyst. That means we should get to take it to Texas.”

Owen shrugged. “I guess so. But, honestly, aren’t you tired of traveling around, anyway? I’m actually a bit relieved that Peter is sending other soldiers to take care of transferring the amethyst. We get to stay here in the redwoods for a bit and eat real food every meal. Not to mention we get to sleep in a real bed.”

“You’re not sleeping in a real bed right now,” Raven pointed out.

Owen rolled his eyes. “No, but I will be tomorrow night, once the amethyst is gone and someone else is guarding it.”

Raven made a hmph sound. “You’re getting soft in your old age, Owen,” she said. “Since when would you rather sit in the comfort of your own cabin than take on a mission?”

“My old age?” Owen asked, laughing. “I’m pretty sure you’re the same age as me, so if I’m old, then you’re ancient, too.”

“Nonsense,” Raven said. “I’m timeless.”

Owen opened his mouth to make another sarcastic remark, but he never had the chance to get the words out. A sudden, loud roar from outside stopped him before he could speak. He looked at Raven in horror, and, even though he couldn’t see her expression in the darkness, he was sure her expression mirrored his own. For one long second after the warning roar had sounded off, everything was silent. And then, all chaos broke loose.

The sharp zing of laser beams cutting through the air was so loud that it could have been heard for miles. Voices screamed mostly unintelligible words as the attacking wizards sent off spell after spell from their magic rings. Curses from the good wizards and shifters filled the air as they began to fight, trying to overcome the surprise of an attack that they’d had virtually no warning was coming. Huge pops of energy exploded through the air as the dragon shifters began to shift into dragon form. Owen himself began shifting, his clothes tearing off into dozens of shreds as his human body transformed into the larger, fearsome body of a dragon. He glanced at the small chest in the middle of the cabin, which held the dragon amethyst. He had been charged with protecting the stone, and he would fight to the death to keep it safe. Saul’s army could not be allowed to take possession of it.

Saul’s army, Owen thought in confusion as he scooted his dragon belly so it covered the chest where the amethyst was held. How did Saul’s army know we had the amethyst? Surely, that’s why they’re attacking. But we arrived here less than twelve hours ago. How did they already assemble an army? Were they waiting for us? And how did they see us coming in through our invisibility shields?

Owen had so many questions, but there was no time to think about answers right now. The main priority had to be protecting the dragon amethyst. Next to his giant dragon form, he saw Raven stepping forward, holding her right hand high in the air. The hand was balled into a fist, and her magic ring was glowing slightly. All traces of laughter were gone from her face as she prepared to fight.

“Magicae arma!” she yelled out. Nothing visibly changed in the room, but Owen knew enough about wizards and magic to know that Raven had just cast a shield spell around them. The spell would help hold off attackers, but only for so long. There had been shields around the entirety of the dragons’ base camp, and clearly those shields had been penetrated. The enemy’s dark magic was growing stronger, allowing them to break through even the most robust of shields. And, it seemed, the enemy was able to easily see through the invisibility shields that Owen’s wizard friends had been using. Owen growled, a low, frustrated rumble rising in his dragon throat. He didn’t even know why they bothered to put up invisibility shields anymore.

Outside, the sounds of battle grew louder. Owen wished he could be outside, breathing streams of fire onto the attackers and showing them what happened to evil bastards who dared attack his clan’s cabins. But he forced himself to stay still and quiet. He breathed in and out in slow, methodical movements. His place was here, in front of the dragon amethyst, keeping it safe. He wished that he knew how to use the amethyst’s powers. There had been no plans made to use its powers, since the leaders of the dragon and wizard clans thought it best to keep the stone hidden and unused as much as possible. But, surely, this situation was an exception. If the stone’s powers had to be used to keep it out of the hands of the enemy, then Owen figured his leaders would understand. The only problem was that Owen wasn’t sure how, exactly, to activate those powers.

The noise outside was deafening, but Owen and Raven held their ground, silent and waiting. Shrieks of pain filled the air, and Owen could only hope and pray that none of those shrieks belonged to someone he loved. He glanced at Raven, but could not see the expression on her face in the darkness. She was wearing her Falcon Cross military uniform, which kept the lines of her silhouette crisp and smooth. Owen’s heart clenched up a bit as he looked at her. If the battle made it into this room, that would mean that things were going very poorly for the Redwood Dragons and their wizard friends. And it would mean that he and Raven were in mortal danger. Despite the fact that he’d watched Raven face plenty of mortal dangers in the time he’d known her, he couldn’t keep himself from feeling fear at the thought of losing her. A low growl rumbled up from his belly, and his whole body tensed as he waited, knowing that at any moment he might be called upon to defend both the amethyst and Raven.

“Easy, dragon,” Raven’s voice said softly, cutting through the tension in the air and wrapping around his heart like a soothing embrace. “You’ll get your chance to fight.”

Owen’s dragon lips curled up in a smile. She thought his growl was an impatient desire to fight. Which was no surprise since, ordinarily, Owen loved a good battle. But right now, his growl was a frustrated one. He wanted her safe. He wanted the amethyst safe. And damn it, he wanted one night where he could relax and didn’t have to shift and fight. Just one night. Was that too much to ask? This constant battling was getting old.

The shrieks of pain grew louder, and Owen could smell the acrid scent of smoke filling the air. More than likely, one of the cabins was burning. Perhaps more than one. He just hoped that the cabin he was in right now did not catch fire. The heat in the small room was increasing, but the smell of smoke was not close enough for this cabin to be the one that was burning. The air in the room hung heavy and stagnant, and still he waited.

The fifteen minutes he spent in there, motionless with Raven by his side, felt like an eternity. Owen was a man suspended in time, waiting for the clock to start ticking again. He felt removed from the battle raging beyond the walls of the cabin. He heard the fighting but it did not reach him. It could not touch him.

And then, the door to the room he was in opened, and reality came rushing back. He aimed his dragon mouth toward the doorway, ready to let out a long stream of fire, but Raven yelled at him.

“Wait!” she said. “It’s one of ours.”

A moment later, a sharp hissing noise filled the room as another woman’s voice called out, “Invisibilia terminantur.”

The invisibility shield that had been surrounding the intruder fell away, and Owen saw Lily, the wizard lifemate of his clanmate Vance, standing in the room. Her hair was a sooty mess, and her clothes were torn and burned in several spots. Deep scratches covered her face and arms, but none of the injuries looked life-threatening. She looked at Raven in surprise, but did not comment or ask why Raven was with Owen and the amethyst. There was no time for explanations right now. Instead, Lily turned to look at Owen, speaking to his dragon in a hurried tone.

“You have to get out of here, and take the amethyst with you,” she said, panting for breath as she spoke. “We’re far outnumbered and losing the battle. Vance says it won’t be much longer until we’re forced to retreat.”

Owen felt like he had just been punched in the gut. The thought of Saul’s army taking over his home made his skin crawl. He wanted to roar in anger, and rush out to meet the attackers with a fresh wall of fire, burning as many of them as possible. But he forced himself to hold still and wait as Lily continued to speak.

“Vance is going to make a big show of retreating, leading everyone north away from the cabins. When he does, you need to fly as fast as you can in the opposite direction, taking the dragon amethyst with you. Keep yourself hidden using your chameleon skills as best you can, and fly as far and as fast as you can away from here. When you’re sure you’re not being followed, stop and contact Falcon Cross. They’ll be able to send help.”

Owen slowly shook his head no. This was madness. He was only one dragon. If Saul’s army found him alone, there was no way he would be able to defend himself against them and keep his hold on the dragon amethyst.

“We have no other choice,” Lily said when she saw him shaking his head. “These are Vance’s orders! You have to follow them. The enemy is too strong, and even if we retreat they might catch us and overpower us. No one here knows how to use the dragon amethyst, so we can’t rely on it for protection. And if they take it from us, all our efforts to find it will have been in vain. You have to go, now! Our best hope is for you to escape with the amethyst without them realizing it.”

Owen started to shake his head again, but then a large howl of pain went up from just outside the cabin, and he saw, through the doorway Lily had just entered, that the front door of the cabin was splintering. The enemy was breaking in. They were running out of time. Lily looked back, panic filling her eyes.

“I’ll hold them off as long as I can,” she said. “Now go!”

Lily ran toward the front of the cabin without waiting for an answer, jumping over the piles of assorted supplies that the Redwood Dragons kept in here. This cabin had been used as a supply shed of sorts for a long time, but it looked like they were about to lose all of their supplies. Heck, it looked like they were about to lose all of their cabins, for that matter. Owen took a deep breath, forcing down the anger that filled him, and told himself to concentrate on the task at hand. Vance had ordered him to escape with the dragon amethyst, and Vance was in command of the dragons’ base camp right now. Owen had no choice but to follow his orders. He looked up at the ceiling, trying to gauge how best to burn a hole in it so that his dragon could escape.

“I’m going with you,” Raven said. He looked over at her to find her standing there with her hands on her hips. For a moment, he wanted to protest. Vance’s orders had been for him, and the road ahead of him might be very dangerous. It’s possible he would die trying to escape from Saul’s men. Then again, it sounded like staying here was going to be quite dangerous as well. And if he and Raven were going to die, it would be a comfort for them to die together, at least. Besides, having a wizard along who could help him fight might not be such a bad thing.

Owen smiled a dragon smile at Raven, and nodded his assent. Then he turned to look back at the ceiling, ready to burn it down. But Raven held up her hand to stop him.

“Allow me,” she said. “Stand as flat against the wall as you can. The ceiling’s going to cave in once I cast this spell.”

Owen tried to flatten himself against the wall, but it wasn’t much use. His dragon form was too large to get out of the way, so he just braced himself and gave a small nod to Raven. She flattened herself against the wall and raised her magic ring in the direction of the ceiling, then began casting spells.

“Magicae invisibilia. Magicae disseco,” she yelled out.

The first spell Owen easily recognized as an invisibility spell. She was casting it over the roof in hopes that Saul’s men would not notice that the cabin was being destroyed from the inside out. The second spell Owen had never heard before, but it seemed to be some sort of cutting spell. Raven moved her hand in a large circle as she pointed her ring toward the ceiling, and some sort of energy seemed to emanate from her ring, slicing right through the cabin’s thick wooden roof. Within moments, a giant circle of the ceiling came crashing down around them, splintering as it hit Owen’s dragon back. The crash only added to the noise coming from the front room of the cabin, where Lily and several other wizards were in a heated battle with several of Saul’s soldiers. Raven’s invisibility shield must be working, though, at least for the moment, because none of the soldier’s in the front room seemed to notice Owen, Raven, and the amethyst—or the fact that the roof back here had just caved in.

“There aren’t any broomsticks in here, so I’ll have to ride on your back,” Raven yelled, running to scoop up the giant amethyst. She tucked the large stone securely into the front pocket of her uniform, and then ran over to jump on Owen’s back. She raised her ring and cast several invisibility and shield spells, and then wrapped her arms as best she could around the base of his thick dragon neck.

“Alright, I’ve done all I can,” she yelled through the smoky chaos. “Hopefully those shields will hold us at least until we get beyond the view of Saul’s army. Use your chameleon skills, too, just in case.”

Owen nodded. He had the ability to change his dragon form to match his surroundings, camouflaging himself in much the same way a chameleon would. It was difficult to maintain this type of camouflage while flying, but he would do his best. Hopefully, between his chameleon skills and Raven’s invisibility shields, they would be able to get out of here unnoticed.

Owen glanced over at Lily, who sensed that they were ready to go. She paused for a moment and raised her magic ring to send thousands of sparks into the air. This must have been some sort of signal that she and Vance had agreed upon, because moments after the sparks started flying, Owen heard Vance roaring loudly, calling for a retreat.

More chaos ensued as the dragons and good wizards started flying after Vance, due north. A roar of triumph went up from some of Saul’s soldiers, and they began pursuing the retreating army. The wizards who had been fighting Lily in the front of the cabin cheered, and abandoned Lily to join in the excitement of the chase. Owen took a deep breath, trying to steady his rapidly beating heart. It was now or never.

He pushed off his hind legs, springing as high into the air as he could through the giant hole in the cabin’s roof. As soon as the momentum of his jump had pushed his wings past the hole, he began flapping furiously. He turned his face toward the south, catching only a small glimpse of Vance, the retreating army, and the dragons’ base camp. But that small glimpse was enough to tear at his heart.

Nearly all eleven of the Redwood Dragons’ cabins were up in flames. Several of the redwood trees that surrounded the cabin were burning as well. Dead bodies were strewn across the open space between the cabins, and, while Owen could not tell from up here whom the bodies belonged to, he knew that many of them were Falcon Cross wizards. He could see the telltale black and gold of their military uniforms by the light of the flames that were burning his beloved home base to the ground.

Owen’s stomach turned as he realized that his boyhood home, the place he had grown up, had been destroyed and was being overtaken by the most evil soldiers he’d ever encountered. Every fiber of his being filled with anger, and he wanted nothing more than to turn around and burn as many of them to a crisp as he could. But he forced himself to keep his eyes trained on the dark, southern horizon. The dragon amethyst was more important than revenge right now. He had to do his best to keep it safe.

He could feel the weight of Raven’s body on his back, and her arms squeezing comfortably around his neck. Her presence soothed him, and he was glad in that moment that she had snuck in tonight to see him during his guard duty. Maybe, just maybe, the two of them working together could figure out a way to get the amethyst to safety.

Owen nearly laughed as he realized that Raven had gotten what she wanted, after all. She was going to be part of the team escorting the dragon amethyst to Texas, and, so was he—whether he liked it or not.

Let’s do this, he thought with a sigh, pumping his wings as quickly as he could and slicing through the air in the opposite direction of the only home he’d ever known.