Lilith stood up and pulled up her green body suit so her top half was once again covered. Sadly, she couldn’t find her bra. She felt cold air drift into her suit and penetrate her skin and found a whole along the seam on her right side.

“Are you okay?” she asked Storm.

Whether she liked him or not—and she still hadn’t decided—he was their only chance of escape. The walls were entirely too icy for her to climb up. She didn’t even want to embarrass herself trying.

She might be able to make it five, maybe six feet up before she lost her grip and returned to the earth.

Storm gritted his teeth together in pain. “I’m fine,” he muttered. “Fuck! We’re stuck!”

“Just fly us out of here,” she suggested. “Easy.”

“I can’t,” Storm replied, walking stiffly away from the opening and deeper into the cave. “Remember the hole in my wing?”

“Wait,” she protested. “You’re supposed to heal quickly.”

He whirled on her. “How about this, Slayer. I’ll cut a hole in your foot and then ask you to go for a run? Sure, your foot will heal in time, but you really can’t do much in the moment.”

She scowled. “I didn’t know.”

Actually, she was starting to learn that she didn’t know a lot about dragons. Storm was teaching her so much. It turned out that dragons had a conscience, and they could be really good kissers.

That last thought made her chuckle.

“What, you think this is funny?” he growled.

“What? No! I was just thinking—” She didn’t want to tell him what she was thinking.

He exhaled deeply. “Sorry,” he growled. “I need to sit down. Climb yourself out of here if you want to,” he scoffed.

With that, he went about fifteen feet away and sat down on a ledge jutting out from the wall. Lilith couldn’t believe what she was seeing. They were stuck in an icy cave with no feasible way out. All she had was her whip. No food or warmth. She was already shivering. It had been plenty cold when it was just her walking around outside. Then, she’d gotten several tons of snow dumped on her, some of which had snuck into her clothes and soaked her to the skin. As if that wasn’t enough, she now had a hole in her suit that was totally exposing her to the cold.

She patted her clothes for her phone and remembered that she’d forgotten it back at the hotel. “Do you have a phone?”

“No. Besides, I doubt you’d get any service down here.”

She sat nearby, hugging her body to warm herself up. “Great. Just great.”

“My men will come looking for me soon,” he assured her. “We’re not going to die in here.”

She met his eyes, hopeful. “How long is soon? An hour? Two?”

He cleared his throat. “I’d be getting comfortable. I go on many long walks. They don’t get worried until nightfall. Although, hopefully they will come looking a little sooner because of the avalanche.”

She pursed her lips. “Please tell me you aren’t serious. Hours?”

They still had another few hours until nightfall, and even then, it’s not like his men would know exactly where to look for him.

A killer and her target. Alone in a small cave for hours. Together.

Awkward.

“I’m serious,” Storm replied. “I don’t know why you’re so upset. You should be dead right now.”

“So should you,” she reminded him. “I could’ve shot you.”

“Could’ve, but wouldn’t have. I saw it in your eyes.”

“You know nothing about me,” she snapped.

Why was she fighting him? Minutes earlier, she was ready to have sex with him. She looked down, feeling defeated, and began to shiver uncontrollably as the adrenaline wore off.

His hard expression softened, and he shrugged off his warm coat. He extended it towards her. “Here.”

She looked at him, then at the coat. She wanted to take it. She was miserable and freezing, and that coat looked awfully warm.

She steeled her mind. No. She wasn’t going to do that. She was not going to stoop to begging. She’d rather sit there and freeze.

“No, thanks,” she said.

He shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He put it on the rock beside him. “My offer stands.”

“You aren’t cold?”

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. His throat glowed dramatically like he had swallowed a fireball. He had changed out of his suit from the hotel and put on a warm sweater. She could see his chest glow through the fabric. It reminded Lilith of someone putting a flashlight on their palm and illuminating their hand.

He exhaled smoke. “I can warm myself up.”

She glanced at the coat, then back at him. Her body shuddered as the cold, wet fabric stuck to her body.

“I’ll take the coat,” she finally conceded. She was just being stubborn. She wasn’t proving anything by suffering. He didn’t care if she was uncomfortable.

He tossed it to her, and she caught it. She wrapped it around herself and immediately felt better. It was incredibly warm, like it had just been removed from the dryer.

She snuggled up in it, inhaling his intoxicating scent. “Thanks.”

“Well,” he said, leaning back with a sigh. “What’s my rate up to now?”

“What?”

“What’s my bounty?” he asked.

“Ten million,” she answered, almost embarrassed.

His eyebrows raised. “Wow. I’m a popular guy.”

“Yeah.”

“And you turned it down out of the kindness of your heart,” he said. “That sucks.”

“Probably should’ve gunned you down,” she replied. She wasn’t in the chatting mood. “I would’ve avoided this whole mess.”

“Yup,” he told her with a sarcastic, biting tone. “Because you’d be dead with thirty tons of snow on top of you. I’d say that sounds like one hell of a plan.”

A moment of silence passed, and the two sat awkwardly. She reached for her whip and laid it on her thighs. It warmed up at her touch as the enchantment activated.

“So,” he said. “I’ve have to ask. How long have you been coming after me?”

“Ever since you killed Raven a year ago,” she replied. “You’ve very difficult to find.”

He mulled that around. “A year, huh? Some have pursued me their whole lives and never found me.”

“So, what next?” she asked.

“We wait,” he responded matter-of-factly.

“Are your men going to kill me when they find us? I won’t go down easy, and I’ll make sure to lop your pretty boy head off before I fall.”

He snorted with amusement, like the very idea entertained him. “Of course not. I offered you mercy. You accepted. The deal stands.”

He shook his head and laughed as he looked her up and down. “So...”

“So.”

“So, you’re Red Shadow,” he said slowly in a sing-song voice.

“Yes.”

“You’re younger than I expected.”

“Really?” she frowned. “I’m twenty-four.”

“You’ve got quite the rap sheet for someone so young,” he reminded her. He snickered. “I know many, many people who would pay a pretty penny for your head.”

“Let me guess,” she said. “Your brothers? Maybe your father?”

“Yep.”

“But not you. You’re going to let me go.”

“Yes,” he replied.

“I kill your kind for a living,” she said. “I don’t follow your logic here.”

He let out a huge shrug. “You’re twenty-four. You’ve been raised with a Slayer mentality, but I can tell that’s not what you really want.”

She scowled. “I know exactly who I am and what I want.”

She couldn’t make up her mind on Storm. She thought he was a condescending jerk and a kind man at the exact same time, almost as if the two halves of her brain were battling. “Just because you’re thousands of years old doesn’t mean you can talk down to me.”

He laughed. “I’m not talking down to you. I am thousands of years old and still don’t know what I want.”

She frowned. That sounded…wise.

She’d expected that once she’d met Storm, she would have her suspicions confirmed. She assumed he was a party animal, a womanizer, and a senseless beast capable only of destruction. But then she thought back to the scene with the elk in the forest, where the dragon had been so sensitive and gentle despite his tremendous power.

“Well,” Storm announced, standing up. “It’s cold, and I’m going to get warm. You’re free to join me and explore this cave, Slayer.”

She made a split-second decision and stood up. Why not? She didn’t want to be left alone—especially if his men showed up. They wouldn’t know about the deal she made with the dragon shifter. They’d just recognize her as Red Shadow, the dangerous Slayer. She was in no mood—or condition—to battle anyone. Her best shot was to stick around Storm. And maybe, just maybe, he’d find a way out.

Together, they went off to explore the cave. Lilith kept an eye on the shifter. She didn’t fully trust him. He looked gentle and kind, sure, but she wasn’t a child. She knew better than to trust everyone she saw based off outside appearances alone. She brought along her whip—just in case.

Somewhere, her rifle was buried in snow. There wasn’t anything she could do about that. Her car was likely devoured by the avalanche.

She sighed. Oh, well. She should consider herself lucky that she hadn’t just shot Storm. She’d be dead. The tree would’ve broken, and she would be buried alive if the impact of hitting the ground didn’t kill her instantly. She owed him her life, which bothered her immensely. She didn’t owe people.

She didn’t know how to feel about her situation. She wanted to hate him, but she couldn’t. Instead, she followed closely behind him as they descended deeper into the cave.