I took a shower and decided to see what might be on television. I’d never been much of a TV watcher, more of a reader, but my mind was all over the place. I was fairly certain any attempt to read a book and make sense of it would be utterly futile.

There was nothing as painful as killing time. Ordinarily, I might have shifted and taken to the sky. There was hardly chance of that in an airport—granted, humans wouldn’t be able to see me as I flew, but that wouldn’t stop a plane from hitting me. Or me hitting a plane.

Unlikely, but not worth chancing.

I caught sight of my reflection in the window as I sat at the foot of the bed, scrolling through channels. She’d seen me before, Keira had, and I’d seen her. She’d seemed to find me attractive. I supposed most women would—we were all physically attractive in the clan, men and women both, as though whatever made us different from humans also set us apart as physical specimens.

As for her? Gorgeous. Those blue eyes… Eyes a man could drown in. Perhaps even a dragon. A firm, strong body. Thick, blonde hair I could bury my hands in and…

And perhaps there was something I could do to relax before going to sleep, after all.

Which, naturally, was when the phone rang.

I growled in frustration, just knowing it would be Alan—who else would unwittingly destroy my arousal?

“Yes?” I asked on answering. No more attempts at keeping things light.

He clearly agreed with me. “You need to get back here. Now.”

“Whatever happened to allowing me to—”

“That was before the woman used your name.”

My throat threatened to close. “What?” I choked.

“She said she was there looking for you, Tamhas. She said your name,” he hissed. “Would you like to explain how a tattooed blonde happened to be looking for you? In front of the cave? Or do you expect me to believe it’s all a coincidence?”

I’d seen those tattoos—at least, what little was visible on her shoulders when she’d worn a tank top during our video chats. And that long, golden hair.

“What is her name?” I dared ask.

“Keira, not that it matters.”

I clenched my fists. Oh, damn, Keira. What did you think you were doing?

Alan was unaware of the shock he’d thrown me into, still raving. “Do you know what I care about? The half-moon birthmark on the back of her neck and the fact that she told me she was looking for a friend named Tamhas. Get your ass back here, now.”

If he’d been using one of those old phones with a receiver, I could imagine he would’ve slammed it down to punctuate his demand.

My hands were shaking as I lowered the phone to the table, until it sat just beside the plane ticket I no longer needed.

* * *

It was only a matter of hours until I pulled my suitcase from the back of the SUV and walked through the dark, damp night to the cave mouth.

Four dragons circled in the air overhead, three more than we normally used to keep watch at one time. I spotted Isla up there, likely flying as a way to vent her resentment at having been beaten up by a human woman.

I’d have done the same thing.

Did they know what brought Keira to us? Did they know it was me? I made it a point to avoid looking up. I dreaded what I’d find inside. What had they done to her?

What had she done to them?

She’d kicked Dallas’s ass. I couldn’t help but admire her for it, even if the very fact that she was capable of it was a bit unsettling. More than a bit. It meant she was special, for certain.

Special like a Blood Moon Priestess?

It’s all a coincidence. I’d repeated this to myself roughly once every minute since my phone call with Alan ended. What if the mark on her neck was merely another tattoo? What if it was a mere birthmark?

What if she just happened to be a tremendously skilled fighter and, evidently, an excellent tracker whose neck bore the mark of an ancient order of witches?

I knew how ridiculous that was.

It didn’t stop me from hoping as I walked down the long tunnel which led to our compound. All I had was hope.

“Where have you been?” Ainsley demanded as she ran toward me down the tunnel from where she’d likely been waiting. Her brother might have told her to do so.

“You look like you took the fight well,” I observed, resenting the motherly tone of her voice.

Her eyes narrowed as she cringed—slightly, but noticeable to my skilled gaze. We’d known each other far too long.

“You’ve heard about that, then.” She fell into step beside me—silly to think she’d back off after a vague insult.

“An impressive fighter, then?”

“Born to it,” she muttered. “I’m still a little sore, but the gash she delivered to my jaw was the real surprise.”

“That would certainly make it appear as though she’s different,” I admitted as we drew closer to the hub of activity. More like a hive, with members buzzing this way and that. All of them wondering who she was and what her coming foretold.

“Wait.” She put a hand on my arm, holding me back for a moment. “You can tell me. You know you can. Who is she? Why does she know you?”

I slid my arm from her grip. “I don’t know who she is, any more than you do.”

“You’re lying. She knew your name.”

I shook my head, resuming my journey. “That doesn’t mean I know who she is.”

Ainsley followed but didn’t ask further questions. Did this mean she understood the futility of pressing me? Would that the rest of them would recognize it so easily.

Her twin brother, for one, who waited for me outside the control room with murder in his eyes. To his credit, he remained still, but he fairly vibrated with tense, dark energy. The flare of his nostrils betrayed his otherwise calm façade.

All conversation ceased as the two of us looked at each other. The staring was enough to make me want to crawl out of my skin. We’d been together for so long, all of us. At times, I’d felt certain we could read each other’s thoughts—that we were thinking the same thoughts as one, even.

They were thinking the same thoughts then. That I was a traitor. That I had put them all in danger. That we might be under attack again, so soon after coming home.

At least the threat had come from outside the clan before. This one, I had brought on their heads.

And they wanted answers.

None more than Alan, of course. “What is this all about?”

“Have you spoken to her again?” I asked, pointedly ignoring the resentful stares coming at me from all sides.

It seemed everyone but the four dragons patrolling the skies was out there in the corridor, watching and listening.

“Nay, we got nowhere with her. I wanted to wait until you returned.”

“Good. I want to see her.” I wanted many things. I wanted to be left alone with her. I wanted to escape the resentment and accusations of my clansmen.

My dragon wanted things, too. He could smell the strong, sharp distrust of the other dragons. He sensed the danger around us. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as he warned me to be cautious in this very tenuous time.

“Who is she?” Alan asked.

“You know as much as I do now.”

If my dragon told me to be cautious of him, I knew his was telling him the same of me—even more so, perhaps.

“How did she come to find out about us?” he asked, eyeing me up and down.

“I can’t tell you that. I honestly don’t know. I would like to go back there and see her, find out for myself. She might be more forthcoming with me.”

“But how do you know her at all?” Leslie asked.

Other than Alan, who was our leader, she was the first to speak up, which opened the floodgates and gave the rest of them permission to voice their questions. Who was she, how did I meet her, how did she know me, how long had this been going on, did I know she was a Blood Moon Priestess when we met?

“All of you, silence!” Alan raised his hands above his head, above all of our heads, and his voice towered over the echoing, ear-splitting roar. “We’ll learn nothing this way. Tamhas is right, he should go back to the woman and speak to her on his own. We’ll find out more about how she came to find us, what her business is, and the rest.”

“And if she doesn’t speak to him?” Ainsley challenged, asking Alan but staring at me. So, she didn’t take well to a human beating her down, either. I happened to glance at Dallas and found that he was just as resentful. His dragon screamed and raged, which my dragon picked up easily.

“Well, we’ll find a way,” Alan decided with a careless shrug. “If she doesn’t wish to speak while we’re being polite, we’ll stop being polite. She’ll see that we mean business soon enough.”

They would torture her until she gave them the information they wanted. I saw it in all their eyes, felt it in my bones. My dragon coiled, silently snarling, ready to spring should the need arise.

I hated the feeling that it was me against them. It had always been us, always a clan acting as one. You were the one who broke rank first, my dragon reminded me, sounding for all the world like Alan. You wanted something for yourself. This was always going to be the result.

There were too many questions competing for my attention all at once, enough to make me want to raise my hands to my ears and tell them to stop. That wouldn’t help. I’d still hear my dragon telling me to go to her, warning me to protect us both.

“Has she eaten?” I asked, looking around. “She’ll want food. Drink. We must at least work with her.”

Ainsley snorted, but retreated to the kitchen, returning moments later with a canvas backpack. “She was carrying this.”

“I assume you’ve already been through it.” It wasn’t an accusation, but she recoiled as though it were.

“Aye, naturally. Wouldn’t you?”

“What did you find inside, then?” I asked as I took the bag. It was light. Keira hadn’t packed for more than a short hike.

Her mouth twisted into a cross between a smirk and a pout. “Nothing of value to us. A flashlight, food, water bottles.”

“And that tells you nothing?” My gaze swept over the faces of my family. “Do you believe a hiker carrying food and water is a true threat?”

“You weren’t out there with her,” Dallas muttered, his brows knitting together in a frown. “She needed little more than her fists to be a threat, believe me.”

“It matters little,” Alan cut in, shooting looks at the two of us before focusing on me. “Take it to her. Do what you can to convince her we want nothing more than the truth, that there’s no threat here.”

I blinked, stunned. “Convince her there’s no threat? You realize you’re implying that there is, indeed, a threat?”

He scowled. “What do you think? That we’re going to invite her to live with us? Bring her into the clan? You’ve gone soft in the head if you don’t see this for what it is.”

My dragon reared up, threatening to strike or at least to lash out verbally. My hands tightened into fists, the canvas crumpling.

The last thing we need at this time is to start a war, I warned the dragon.

We’d be horribly outnumbered, for one.