Taurian flew over the gorge, hunger clawing at his insides. The drameze herd below would have to wait. He had to find Kohl. His brother had given himself to the Tryns to save their father. No, to save them all. Desperation twisted Taurian’s insides. His brother couldn’t be dead. He was the youngest of them all and brave to a fault.

But Taurian had never heard of their enemy taking prisoners except for their older brother who was working alongside their father as king. Tryns were nasty little parasites with short black fur covering their bodies. Claws and rows of teeth. Their bite poisonous if it got through any Renjerian’s scales. The buggers coated their weapons with it. And though the Tryns couldn't fly, despite their leathery small wings, they launched their barbed spears and had brought down many of his kind.

He inhaled. Scents from the pinxula bush blooming with purple flowers and toxic white berries filled the air. Beneath the plant lingered a metallic glimmer. Hope soared in his chest. It smelled like his brother’s blood. And if he was bleeding, then he was still alive.

Gods, he wanted Kohl to be okay and bring his brother home safely. Their father was overprotective of Kohl. All because Kohl's human mother had died giving birth.

Taurian snorted. Females on Earth were too fragile. Too swooning or screaming and fainting when they saw a Renjerian...or wait...what did they used to call his kind, dragons.

Yup, Taurian hadn't visited Earth for fifteen hundred years and didn't plan on going back. Their superstitions alone made him shake his head. Believed they were the only beings in the universe. Fuck! Even Xyrians weren't that arrogant.

Once his rebellious brother was back home, Taurian would celebrate with a visit to the Crimson Lane district and eat and screw alien females until he could no longer fly straight.

The wind above him picked up and he grunted as Desmonda landed beside him. His sister's copper wings glowed in the sunlight. Having her out in the open was dangerous. She was too easy a target for the Tryns, but she had the best nose of all of them. Taurian didn’t care if the bastards spotted him. Let them come and I’ll roast them all.

Desmonda shook her head. “I smell Kohl...and another scent I can't make out from this distance. A female.”

“Tryn?” He'd only ever come across male Tryns, but that didn't mean anything. Their enemy had been smart. Swooping in under their noses and taking out the quasicrystals that fueled their weapons before attacking.

The wars and slaughters that had followed still kept Taurian up at night. His father had to gather what remained of their family and go into hiding. Palace walls that Taurian had taken for granted were now replaced with a labyrinth of caves in the mountains.

“No, I've never smelled this before. It's not from here. There's a sweet aroma like a flower.”

“Can you locate the source without being discovered?” Taurian wasn't going to let anything happen to his sister.

“Have you ever found me during our hiding games as hatchings?”

“Twice.”

She ruffled her leather wings, her spiked tail hit the ground to emphasize her words. “Those were the times I got bored waiting.”

“Be careful.” He placed his talon on her scaled head, but she shook it off.

“Always. Follow my lead.” She rose into the sky with a few flaps of her wings. “When we find Kohl, I'll take him home,” she called out.

“And I'll destroy whoever has him.” Taurian launched himself skyward and followed after his sister.

In silence, they flew over the gorge, allowing the overcast clouds to shield them. Ions charged the air. There would be a storm later tonight. With his luck, Kohl would be home on his sleeping mat and Taurian could ride the lighting to fuel his transporter comm strapped to his forearm. Crimson district, here I come.

Who was he kidding? He hadn't left the planet since the Tryns came. Best he could ask for was a day of no fighting.

Desmonda dove forward, landing in the river below him. The water splashing against her scaled abdomen. Had she found something? He peered into the distance and blinked. Two humans...here?

But when he inhaled, he caught Kohl's scent. No human could smell like his brother. Being half-human must mean his brother could shift back and forth between his patronages. Desmonda’s mom was Zumarian and she had a double set of ears, forked tongue, and extra olfactory glands.

Joy paraded through Taurian’s heart, they’d found Kohl. But his brother wasn’t moving and his breathing was shallow.

Taurian glared at the human pulling their brother on some sort of handmade raft. Kohl wasn't moving and his blood covered him as he bobbed along on the river’s surface.

“Distract the female and I'll take our brother home. He's got the Tryns’ toxin all through his bloodstream.”

Taurian growled. “How about I eat her in one bite and bring Kohl—”

“No,” Desmonda said sharply. “The woman is pregnant with hatchlings.”

Taurian narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure?” His chest tightened. Had Kohl found his mate or was this a trick?

“Find out what the female knows,” Desmonda whispered, turning back to him, “and if she's a danger or not.”

He balked, but Desmonda placed her talon on his scaled cheek. “You thought the same when the first Tryns arrived and left us with half our brothers to party on Lexy Prime.”

Sorrow slammed into his chest. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't wonder if he and his brothers had remained home if they could've stopped the attacks before they had started. But the Tyrns were barely bigger than a large boar. How did Taurian know there'd be so many of them by nightfall or that their poison could kill a full-grown Renjerian within two nights? That the creatures who looked like devils would target their weapons and kill their brother, who had newly been appointed king under the guidance of their father. And that so many of his people and family would die while he was gone and in the months that followed despite his return.

“Fine. I’ll distract her while you get Kohl out.”

She grinned. “Don’t let Father catch you calling Kohlxchijr by that nickname. He says it’s too short for a Renjerian prince.”

“Kohl likes it.” He shrugged. “And Father has too many things to worry about besides his youngest’s name.” Leaving his sister, he launched himself into the air.

Yards from the human woman, a stripped lynich dashed into a bush on the river’s edge. The woman glanced at it and overhead, Taurian circled past her. He lowered his altitude and swept past her again. This time the force of his wings blew her backward and she lost her grip on his brother’s raft. The water surged around her.

Instead of looking at the danger from above, she spun to find his brother and waded after him.

Enough of this. His brother needed medical help and to get home. Taurian lowered into the water, his wingspan brushing the sides of the riverbank, the impact tumbling the human woman under the water. Well, if she drowned, it wasn’t his fault…exactly.

Desmonda grasped Kohl and the raft in her talons and flew toward home.

When the human surfaced, sputtering, she glanced in the way Kohl had disappeared. Taurian frowned and stomped his scaled feet into the water until she gasped, staring at him.

He snapped his teeth at her, and she yelped, dipping under the water again. ‘Bout time the woman acted like a proper scared senseless human in his presence. Then again, maybe her bravado was what his brother liked about her.

It was getting late and Taurian wanted to know how his brother was doing. The only reason he didn’t kill this female was Desmonda had said she was pregnant.

“What have you done?” Taurian barked.

“P-Pardon?” She struggled to keep afloat and backed away from the tide pulling her toward him.

“My brother, human.” He narrowed his eyes and inhaled to sense if he could smell the hatchlings when the scent of smoked fur reached his nostrils. Tryns. Was this a trap? “Are you working with the Tryns? You smell of their vile scent as well.”

She swallowed, shaking her head.

“How did you get here? Are you a spy?” Taurian snarled. “I scented Kohl’s blood and the enemy.” Before, when the Tryns had first arrived, he underestimated them and while he was out screwing and partying on another planet, they destroyed half his family. He would not make the same mistake again. Who knew what ruses the enemy hadn’t revealed yet? Good thing Desmonda had taken Kohl back to their cave home to tend him. Taurian didn’t think he could not kill this woman if he discovered she’d played a part in his brother’s injuries.

“No, I-I was kidnapped by a demo-Tryn. It brought me here on a spaceship against my will.” A fish splashed past and the woman wiped her face. “I just want to make s-sure Kohl’s okay…and to get back home to Earth.”

“How do I know you speak the truth? That I just happened upon you with my brother while I was scouting for him? There’s enough of their foul stench to choke a rumix.”

She lifted her chin. “And I have to trust you not to fry me and eat me.”

Brave. Stupid, but brave. He shook his head. When his brother recovered, they were going to have a long talk. “If he dies then so do you.”

“Where is Kohl?” She bit her lip. “The poison must be extracted from him...he’ll need a blood transfusion as well is my guess. He's weak and lost a lot of blood.”

Perhaps this human cared for his brother after all. But he still didn’t trust her. Too many humans had attacked and killed his kind when they tried to help them against the Tryns long ago when the buggers invaded Earth. The thanks they got for removing them then was human swords and spears. He held out his talon, but kept his expression neutral. “Come, I will take you to him. But any trickery, human, and I will suck the marrow from your bones.”

“No tricks.” She limped forward, her head occasionally slipping under the water. “I just want him safe.”

He raised a scaled eyebrow, but said nothing. A female the size of his foot making demands! Good thing none of his brothers were here or he’d never hear the end of their jokes about it. With the woman against his chest, he flew to his home in the labyrinth of caves deep in the mountainside. Wind tore at them and she shivered, but he landed quickly and let her go. By now, Desmonda would be tending Kohl in his chamber.

“Come, human,” he spat and squeezed through a mountain gap, then into a dark cave.

Her steps slowed behind him. “Where is Kohl?”

He snorted. “How vulgar that you use his third name when addressing him and a mispronunciation at that.” His spiked tail zigzagged across the darkened dirt path. The cave continuing down and he took the second tunnel. “Kohlxchijr is his name, not Kohl.” Only he and family were allowed to call him Kohl.

“Fine.” She squared her shoulders. “Where is Kohlxchijr?”

For several turns, he didn’t speak, then he pressed through Kohl’s bedroom opening. The area opened up to a chamber with glowing lights along the walls and ceiling providing just enough light to see Kohl, in his human form, laying on a straw mat with Desmonda hovering over him. His hair was still damp from the river.

“Kohl!” The woman rushed forward, dodging her escort’s tail.

Desmonda turned, hissing and the woman skidded to a stop.

“Please, is he okay?” The human wrung her hands. “Have you healed him or given him medicine?”

“Taurian, leave us. I want to talk with the human alone.”

“No, she might do more damage to him or hurt you,” he rumbled.

Desmonda stared at him then back at the woman. “I think not. Wait outside the chamber if you must, but you will not like our discussion.”

With a snapping of teeth that made the human jump, Desmonda turned and scraped her body out of the opening and stomped away. As soon as those hatchlings were born, Taurian was sending this woman back to Earth and Kohl was going to get a lesson in birth control that he’d never forget.