Jett would have heard with his sensitive hearing if she had fled through the trees. That left only one option.

He hurried to the edge of the steep ravine and glanced over. There: he spotted her in the raging water below, still in human form. She was being swept downstream by the rapids. He couldn’t tell if she was conscious.

He raced alongside the gully, following the thin shelf that separated the woods from the cliff, and when he had pulled out in front of her, he dove over the edge.

He straightened his arms and legs so that when he struck the water he sunk deep. His feet smashed into the rocky bottom but he was unharmed. He bent his legs, pushing off. Kicking rapidly, he resurfaced and swam to her. He exhaled in relief when she wrapped her arms around him.

Letting her hands tighten around his chest, he slid one arm over her waist and kicked toward shore. Dragging her up onto the surface, he said: “Did you break anything? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Ariel said. “Nothing broken. The river was pretty deep where I landed: I didn’t even touch the bottom. My biggest problem was trying not to change. The lioness almost got out. Though maybe that would’ve been a good thing.”

“What happened?” he said, unable to keep the accusation from his voice.

“I slipped,” Ariel said. “I backed away to put some distance between myself and the grizzly, but I guess I hadn’t noticed how close I was to the edge. The ground just gave way beneath me.” She hugged him close. “Thank you for saving me.”

He thought he detected a hint of dishonesty in her voice, and couldn’t shake the feeling that she had dropped into the ravine on purpose as part of some wild, albeit dangerous, escape attempt.

Jett nodded and then hauled her to her feet. “If you’re unhurt, I want to cover a few more miles before dark.”

“I’m fine,” she said, clambering upright beside him.

Jett followed along at the base of the gully until he reached a deer trail leading to the upper edge. He and Ariel scaled it, and at the top he moved away from the ravine, traveling deeper into the woods once more. The noise of the raging water faded behind them, and was soon replaced by the calm birdcalls of the forest.

“Did you leap into the river on purpose?” Jett asked.

She sighed. “No. But I admit, I kind of told a white lie about what happened.”

“How so?” Jett said.

“Well, I didn’t back away to get away from the grizzly,” Ariel said. “I backed away because I wanted to jump. I was just looking for the right opportunity to escape.”

“I knew it!” Jett said.

“No, wait, let me finish,” Ariel said. “Don’t go leaping to conclusions—a little pun for you.”

He stared at her blankly.

“Okay, you don’t like puns,” Ariel said. “Anyway, when I saw how far down it was, I chickened out and changed my mind. Too bad the ledge decided to collapse on me. So you really did save me. And I appreciate that.”

Jett studied her. She seemed to be telling the truth. “So you didn’t jump on purpose. But you still wanted to get away.”

“Look, I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful,” Ariel said. “I mean, I’m truly thankful that you’re doing this. Leaving your kingdom behind and all to help me. But I’m not all that excited about meeting the lions. I just want to be left alone.”

“It’s necessary,” Jett said. “You know you can’t go home. Not until you have you beast under control. The lions can teach you.”

She was quiet for a time. “You seem like you genuinely want to help me.”

“I do,” Jett said.

“I’m still not sure why.”

“I already told you I’m attracted to you,” Jett said. “What more do you need to know?” His gaze momentarily dropped to her mouth, and he stared longingly at those perfectly formed, luscious red lips.

In my early years, I would’ve taken what I wanted. In fact, I could still take her…

He quickly looked away.

“Why is it forbidden?” she said. “To be with a human? Or other shifter?”

“The offspring,” Jett said simply.

“You’re saying we create monsters?” she asked.

“That’s one way of looking at it,” Jett replied.

“Could you be more vague?” she said.

He merely shrugged.

“Why not just wear a condom?” Ariel said. “Or wait, let me guess, your dragon sperm is too powerful to be contained by the likes of a mere rubber sheath.”

He couldn’t help a smile. “No, a condom would prevent conception. But it’s still against the rules.”

“Who wrote them?” Ariel said. “You?”

“My father,” Jett said.

“Ah,” Ariel said. “The great father who abdicated centuries ago, and yet the son still feels like he’s forever ruling in his shadow.”

Jett didn’t answer.

“Maybe it’s time to change those rules,” Ariel said.

Still he remained silent.

“You don’t have any regrets about leaving your kingdom behind to take me out here, do you?” she asked.

“Midnight City is in good hands,” Jett told her. “My brother knows how to rule. And truthfully, I’ve been wanting to get away for a while. After a few hundred years, being a monarch gets old.”

“Just how old are you?” Ariel asked.

Good. Maybe this will finally push her away and I won’t have to worry about temptation. When she realizes my true age…

“If you count only the years I was awake, then two hundred,” Jett said. “If you count from my birth date, then over five hundred.”

Ariel whistled. “You don’t look a day over twenty-five. Good genes.” She chuckled softly. “Two hundred years. I bet you have some experience, huh? Had a few hundred years to hone your dragon bed game?”

He glanced at her. “Sometimes you’re too bold with your tongue.”

“You’d be surprised what I can do with my tongue.” She studied him mischievously. “I have to warn you, I have a thing for older guys. Daddy issues, I suppose. Though in your case, that would be great-great-great-grand-daddy issues.”

So much for pushing her away.

“You, too, will age very slowly,” Jett said, attempting to change the subject. “Now that you’re a shifter. Though your lifespan will not be as long as a dragon.”

She sighed. “You’re not very good at flirting, are you?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Is that what we’re doing?”

She muttered something about “stupid dragons” and crossed her arms, looking away.

They walked in silence for some time. Jett preferred the quiet, because it let him concentrate on surveying the trees for any dangers. He refused to allow himself to be surprised again. Normally he would have never allowed himself to surprise a grizzly like he had. That he had basically walked right up to the animal disturbed him, and he wondered if he was losing his touch. Then again, he did have a certain distraction tagging along in the woods with him...

“Maybe I’ll become a vampire shifter,” Ariel said.

He shook his head, glanced at her. “Sometimes you say the strangest things.”

“Well, think about it,” she said. “If I was a vampire shifter, I could live as long as you. They’re immortal, aren’t they?”

“Yes, but there’s no such thing as a vampire shifter,” Jett told her. “If a vampire converts you, the power to transform vanishes, and you’ll remain in whatever form you were in when the vampire initiated the conversion. In your case, either human or lioness. Forever. And you won’t exactly be living.”

“Mm, doesn’t sound all that appealing,” Ariel said. “Were you born the way you are? Or were you bitten by a dragon somewhere along the way. Sort of like me?”

“I was born this way,” Jett said. “A dragon can’t change a human with a simple bite. That’s something reserved for vampires and lesser shifters. A way to make up for their diminished powers, I suppose.”

“You keep calling anyone who’s not a dragon a lesser shifter,” Ariel said. “I’m not sure I like being lumped in with a group you consider ‘less’ than yourself. It’s like you’re looking down on me.”

“Sorry,” Jett said. “It’s a habit. I would never look down on you. But you have to understand, dragons are among the most powerful shifters in the world.”

“Language can have an influence on behaviors,” Ariel said. “Consider for a moment why all those beautiful subjects of yours looked at me so condescendingly. And why your sister treats me the way she does. If you stopped calling non-dragons ‘lesser’ beings, it might help improve your relations with other shifters, and humans.”

“That’s an interesting thought,” Jett said. “But somehow I doubt the Orions will stop hunting us, or the vampires stop plotting to steal our blood, if we drop an adjective.”

“Maybe not, but at the very least it’ll improve your relations with other shifters,” Ariel said.

“Perhaps,” Jett said, unconvinced. He studied at her. “You always ask so many questions. I think it’s time I asked some of you.”

“Go ahead,” Ariel said. “What would you like to know? My answers won’t be as fascinating as yours, though.”

“You are ever the humble one,” Jett said.

She laughed. “Sure. But I mean, my life can’t compare to yours.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Jett said.

“So, ask away then,” Ariel said.

“Humans have professions,” Jett said. “What is yours?”

“I’m a tradeswoman,” she told him. “At least, I used to be. I don’t know what I am now. Probably won’t ever be able to go back to my job again.”

“You will,” Jett said. “Once you tame your beast. What was your trade?”

“Well, I worked for a renovation company,” she said. “I installed tiles.”

“Installed tiles?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m a tile setter. Ever seen those pictures in home magazines showing off gorgeous bathrooms with beautiful tiles lining the floors and walls? Well, that’s what I do. I install the tiles that make your bathroom look good.”

“So you’re an artist then,” Jett said.

“Sure, sort of,” she said. “There’s some art in setting tiles. I also teach martial arts on the weekends.”

“So an artist and a warrior,” Jett told her.

She smiled. “Do you always make everything sound so romantic?”

“It’s my nature,” he said. “What martial art did you practice?”

“Brazilian Jujitsu,” she said.

“I’ve heard of it,” Jett said. “There’s a lot of grappling involved, isn’t there?”

“Yes,” she said. “Especially in my particular discipline, Gracie Ju Jitsu. And because of my smaller size, I incorporate a lot of scratching and biting into my routines. Jujitsu is nothing like the stuff you see in movies. Most of that is Wushu, the most showy, useless martial art out there, at least in the real world. In hand-to-hand combat those flashy moves are useless, because most street fights quickly slip into close quarters grappling.”

“Interesting,” Jett said. “I’d like to spar with you sometime, if you’ll permit me. I have a fascination with the martial arts. Though my preference is with weapons. Have you ever fought with swords?”

“I have,” she said. “Short swords, mostly. I’m decent.”

“What I like about swords is that there’s no chance of a fight degenerating into grappling,” Jett said.

“Unless you’re disarmed during the fight,” Ariel said. “Or throw your weapons away. And of course, this all assumes that you’re not facing someone armed with a pistol, because then you’re screwed anyway.”

“Not always,” Jett said. “Depends on the range.”

“True enough,” Ariel said.

“Let me guess, you’re good with firearms, too,” Jett said.

“I’ve spent a fair chunk of my college years whiling away the evenings on the shooting range,” Ariel said. “I’m not the greatest marksman, but I can shoot.”

“Like I said, ever the humble one,” Jett said. “So how long have you been doing Jujitsu?”

“Since I was a kid,” Ariel said. “I used to get bullied by some girls in my classes, and my parents convinced me to enroll.”

“I’m guessing the girls stopped bullying you?” Jett asked.

“Oh, they stopped all right,” Ariel said. “But I was still a social outcast growing up. Never part of the ‘in’ crowd. Not that I cared for all that, of course. I preferred to hang out with books rather than people. While my classmates spent thousands of their parents’ money to visit places like Paris or The Pyramids, I’d dish out three bucks and I’d journey to a world ten times more beautiful, without having to endure the hours of discomfort and jet lag to get there. A world filled with meaning, a world where I could feel. Where love always triumphed, as did good over evil.”

“Except in the real world, good and evil aren’t always so clear cut,” Jett said.

“Maybe,” Ariel said. “Anyway, I learned more from books than I ever did from school.”

“I’ve seen your schools,” Jett said. “Most are in no way representative of the real world.”

“That’s true,” Ariel said. “The most popular people in high school, the ones voted the ‘most likely to succeed,’ are usually the first to fade away after graduation. It’s the outcasts and misfits who truly bloom, freed of the self-doubt created by that manufactured world. They’re used to fighting for what they want, and never had anything handed to them.”

The pair continued hiking the rest of that day. Jett paused twice at different streams to drink and rest. The two of them experienced no further attacks, nor did they encounter any lions. Ariel transformed “against her will” twice more and Jett had to chase her down. The second time, he started to wonder if she was doing it just so he’d capture her and spend the next ten minutes petting her until she turned back.

Finally, darkness fell, and Jett picked out a spot to rest for the night. It was a small clearing, with trees on all sides that would offer a good defense in case of an ambush. He chose it specifically because he knew there were no Midnight City security cameras operating in the area. He deserved a small modicum of privacy at least once in a while.

He made a quick search of the perimeter to confirm there were no enemies lying in wait, and then he told Ariel to raise her tent. He sat down in the middle of the clearing to wait out the night.

Moonlight illuminated the clearing in the dark. With his enhanced vision, it may as well have been early morning.

He was supposed to be watching the trees, but he found his eyes inexorably drawn to Ariel as she worked to pitch the tent. His gaze ran up and down her lithe, tight body; those clothes clung to her, outlining the shape of her hips and breasts. His eyes drifted to her face. She bit her lower lip as she fought to drive one of the stakes into the dirt, and the sight made him tremble slightly; he imagined himself penetrating her as she bit her lip just like that.

He quickly looked away. It was going to be a long night.