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  Ava moved so she stood between the intrusive man and Cale, who was still trying to breathe on the ground. “I’ll kill you,” she warned.

  She’d never killed anything in her life. The thought of it took her breath away. Can I kill some stranger? She swallowed, suddenly desperate. No. The answer is no.

  The boy gave one last smile before it melted off his face and turned into a grimace. By the time Ava recognized the necklace around his neck, it was too late. He sprang forward, his smooth, tan skin giving way to thick bristles of hair, his handsome face mutating into a snout. Talons grew from his fingers and, still on two feet, he threw himself at Ava. She screamed as the wolf-man lunged, but it wasn’t aiming for her. It wanted Cale.

  Ava cried out, rushing onto its back and sinking the dragonblade into it. It threw her off, still focused on Cale, until she tackled it to the ground. It flipped so that it was on top, pinning her to the ground. It opened its mouth, fangs and saliva spreading before her eyes. She was in her bedroom again, the nightfolk pressing toward her. But the injuries she’d inflicted on the wolf beast did nothing to slow it down.

  Ava knew that it was about to sing. It would sing a song so mournful and so longing that she would not be able to move. Its eyes were wild–wild with rage and jealousy. Jealous creatures, Karma had said.

  “I love you!” Ava screamed at it.

  The beast stopped, its eyes fixed on her. Ava tried to breathe, tried not to cry. “I love you. I love you more than I ever loved him. You’re so handsome and strong. I want you, not him. I want you so bad. Take me instead.”

  The beast eased off of her, its talons and fangs retracting, its hair receding back into its skin. It was becoming a man again. He frowned at Ava, confusion in his eyes. Confusion and something else.

  “You would come with me?”

  With all she had in her, Ava pulled her arm free of the man-beast and plunged the knife into his chest. He shrieked, pulled away from her, and ran, but Ava made sure to keep hold of the blade’s handle. She had a feeling she would need it.

  Lying in the sand next to Cale, she wanted to cover her face with her hands and cry. Too much. Too much in one day, in one week. Surviving Jim’s rampages were nothing like fending off mysterious monsters, nothing like watching her only friend dying on a beach in a strange continent.

  But she didn’t dare close her eyes. Ava kept the blade in her hand and touched Cale’s arm. He had warned her. He knew it was coming, just like he knew the sirens were closing in on her house nights before, just like he knew about T.

  Ava barely realized Cale’s eyes were open. “Ava,” he whispered.

  Tears filled her eyes, tears of relief. She wanted to punch him. “You jerk, you scared me half to death.”

  “Help me sit up,” he whispered. It was all he could manage.

  Ava went around to his back and pushed so that he sat up in the sand. The broken bones no longer jutted from his skin and the gashes they left were already disappearing. He opened and closed his hands, making fists, examining his muscles. The pain was all over his face, but he didn’t complain.

  “Did it hurt you?” Cale asked.

  Ava shook her head. “It was a siren, wasn’t it? Werefolk? It looked so much like a regular man. And it called me by name, Cale, it knew who I was.”

  Cale nodded, but his eyes were so clouded it made him look exhausted. Ava wanted him to rest, to lie down and go to sleep. “We can talk about it later,” she said. “We need to get you someplace where you can take it easy.”

  Cale took a deep breath. “I wasn’t asking about the siren.” He had to stop, to close his eyes for a moment. “The black dragon. Did it hurt you?”

  Ava had forgotten about that already. She turned so Cale could see the scratches. “Not that bad. I think I’ll be fine,” she told him.

  His eyes hurt as he observed her injuries. Her brown skin was mangled through her t-shirt, blood drying in each gash. He reached out a hand, wanting to touch her, wanting to heal her. “I should have protected you,” he said, his voice catching in his throat.

  Ava ignored him. “If you can walk, we should get out of here. Find someplace safe. Then we can talk.”

  Cale looked at her in admiration. She was every bit the rider he’d hoped for and more. She helped him to his feet, and he took cautious steps forward. Every movement ripped pain through his body, but he gritted his teeth together and said nothing.

  “Are we going home?” Cale asked.

  “Home?”

  Ava’s concept of home had already changed. She didn’t think of sneaking in through the window at Jim’s house. Home was with the Anders nest. Home was with Cale. Somehow, he’d snuck in and made a dent in her.

  Ava shook her head. “Not without that dragonstone. We’ve come too far to start over.”

  Cale smiled, though the pain still clouded his eyes. “Then we should go this way. The city isn’t far from the coast.”

  “You know where we are?” Ava asked.

  Cale nodded. “Good sense of direction. For flying.”

  Ava thought about that. Cale had known how much oxygen was in the air, how cold it would be, exactly how to move his body so that he could catch up to her, how to position himself so that he hit land first. He was a born aviator, the training passed down in his blood. He knew how to keep his rider safe in the air and on land.

  For flying, Ava thought. Of course. “Lead the way.”

  Nine

  Stone

  The sun began to set over the Peruvian mountains as Ava and Cale fell to their knees before the river. Cale had never been so thirsty in his entire dragon life. Accustomed to a constant intake of the stuff, he had gone nearly a day without water. He buried his face in the icy flow as Ava stood watch. When he had his fill, he kept a careful eye on their surroundings for her while she indulged.

  Then, Ava sat still as Cale washed the sand and mud from the scratches on her back. Every time she winced, his stomach rolled over. Even though a fire bath would have been welcomed to ease his own wounds, causing Ava pain literally made him ill. And fire certainly wouldn’t help her.

  “What?” Ava asked without having to turn around.

  Cale wanted to lie. He wanted to say, “Nothing. I’m fine.” But he knew when he opened his mouth, truth would come out. “I hurt when you hurt.” He swallowed. “Not a big deal.”

  Ava moved away, just like he figured she would. She reclaimed the blue sweatshirt that she had laid on the black stones and soaked it in the river. Then she shrugged it back on. Though it cooled her down, the water did little to wash away Cale’s blood. Red was smeared all over it from when she had used it to keep him warm on the beach.

  “You’re going to owe me a new closetful of clothes soon,” she said.

  Cale wasn’t so easily distracted. “Let me finish cleaning you up, Ava.”

  “I'm clean enough.” She sat down for a minute, exhaling and looking around her. The dense jungle had made way for the river, but Ava wasn’t looking forward to plowing through the bushes again. Even though the evening promised to be much cooler, heat still hung in the air. “How much farther?” she asked.

  Cale chewed on his bottom lip as he thought. “We were planning to stay with the Flores nest. They’re still six miles south.”

  Ava crawled forward and splashed the river water against her face. I wouldn’t be surprised if it sizzled. “I don’t think I can make it six more miles. It’s too hot here.”

  “Hotter than Miami?”

  “Yes, hotter than Miami. It’s sticky. No breeze gets through these trees.” Ava gaped at Cale. “You’re not hot?”

  “No, I like it.”

  Ava dunked her head in the water so that her hair soaked it up. She flipped her head back up and sighed. When Cale thought she wasn’t looking, the pain showed on his face. “Maybe we should stop here?” she asked Cale.

  They hadn’t talked about what had happened. Cale hadn’t brought it up and Ava had a feeling he needed time to process it for hi
mself. But it had been hours and her back was throbbing. Her patience was wearing away.

  “I feel….” Cale shook his head. “I don’t know how I feel. I was going to say ‘fine.’”

  Ava let her fingers dangle in the clear water. “That big black thing freaked me out, too.”

  Cale blinked away the memory of it. He was glad Ava wasn’t close enough to see the goose bumps on his skin. He put his hands on his knees to hide the tremor in them.

  “You don’t even know what that was, do you?”

  “Nope.” Ava saw that Cale’s skin grew pale, that his breathing picked up just at the thought of it. “But I have a feeling I should be more afraid of it than I am,” she finished.

  “No-ir. A black dragon and its rider.”

  Ava stopped and pulled her fingers from the water. “That monster was a dragon? But it killed all those people.”

  Cale shuddered, wishing the sun was even hotter. “They protect the grey court’s will, collecting and executing dragon criminals.”

  “Then what was it doing tearing our plane apart?”

  “It called my name, Ava.” Cale licked his lips, already thirsty again. “It was going to kill me.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Neither do I. Cale stood up abruptly. He wanted to keep moving. He didn’t want to stop and think about it. Ava hurried after him, grabbing his arm.

  “Cale, wait. I don’t understand.”

  “Let’s talk about it later.”

  “But why would a black dragon want to kill you?”

  “I don’t know,” he snapped. His voice was so tight it cracked. He rubbed his forehead and forced himself not to panic. “Ava, I don’t know why the grey court could possibly want me dead.”

  “Did you do something wrong?”

  “No. Nothing. Nothing that deserves that.”

  Cale took off again, Ava close on his tail. They crossed the river at its shallow point and trekked mud over the dead leaves on the jungle floor.

  “Cale, that siren…it was a werefolk, right?” She didn’t wait for his answer. “It knew my name. It knew you were my dragon. That can’t be a coincidence.”

  Cale marched on. “Sirens share information. The more infamous you become in their world, the more they talk. It’s no surprise it knows who we are. We killed three at once. That’s impressive.”

  Ava was having trouble keeping up. Her side was on fire and even though the river had been cool, the sticky heat in the air was already steaming her.

  “But we’re in Peru, Cale. And it wore the same necklace….”

  Cale paused, then continued on. “That is weird. Usually siren clans aren’t so well networked. To have news travel from Miami to Peru that quickly….” He shook his head. “But we have worse things to worry about.”

  “You think that black dragon will be back?”

  “I–I don’t know. Hopefully, the grey court will realize they made a mistake. Let’s just concentrate on getting to the city.”

  Ava closed her mouth. If Cale wanted silence, she could give him silence. She knew that need well. Feels like your brain needs air, but people keep cramming their words into it. She followed, wondering if Miriam and the Anders family would get news of the plane crash. She hoped not. Miriam might lose her fragile little mind.

  It took three more hours for them to make it to the outskirts of Chimbote. Ava wrinkled her nose as the smell of fish clouded the air. They climbed the hill that the coastal city was nestled in and entered through a large, white stone gate. No one even looked their way as they trudged through the streets.

  Ava nearly tripped over a chicken. It squawked and flapped away, giving her a nasty look before it continued on its course. The city bustled in a different way than Miami. People untied pigs from the bumpers of their cars. Others chatted or bid goodnight to fellow shop owners, wiping down their windows for the night.

  Ava kept up as Cale turned into an ally. They climbed uneven concrete stairs to the second floor of a white and red building covered in vines. Cale knocked on the door and waited. Ava had no idea what to expect from the people inside. The only other dragon family she’d ever met was the O’Hara nest. And if these people were like Onna and Myra, Ava would rather snuggle up next to the pigs and chickens.

  The door creaked open and the smell of fried fish and rice embraced them. Cale entered, and Ava followed. The old man inside didn’t smile at them. Instead, he pulled out two chairs and closed the door behind Ava.

  “Gracias,” Cale said. “Hace mucho tiempo. Espero que todo esta bien.”

  Ava rolled her eyes. Make that four languages. She sat gladly in the wooden chair as the old man scooped food into rusted plates and placed them before his guests.

  “Does she speak Spanish?” the old man asked.

  Cale half-smiled at Ava. “Un poco.”

  “Muy, muy poquito,” Ava said, making the international symbol for “a tiny bit” with her index finger and thumb.

  “She must speak red tongue at least?”

  Cale shook his head. “Not yet. It will have to be English.”

  The old man grunted. “You are much later than your father said you would be.”

  Cale nodded, his eyes darting to Ava. He had forgotten to tell her not to talk about the black dragon encounter. She glanced back at him knowingly, and he exhaled. Thank God for a rider with brains. “Yes, we ran into some trouble. We have no luggage.”

  The old man poured them large cups of water. “Tienen sus pasportes?”

  “Yes.” They were in the backpack. A little rumpled, but still usable. Ava hadn’t thought about having to go back to Florida. She was thankful they hadn’t lost them.

  The old man scoffed over Ava’s head. “This is her?”

  “Yes, this is me, godammit.” So tired of people being disappointed when they see me.

  She pushed the fish aside. Its blank stare made her queasy. My food should not be able to see me. She shoveled some rice into her mouth instead.

  The old man scowled at Cale. “She is rude.”

  “I am simply mirroring the sentiments of my host,” she answered without missing a beat.

  Cale couldn’t help but chuckle. “I apologize, Santiago. We’re very tired.”

  He grunted toward two mats that he had lain out on the floor of the kitchen. Then, he disappeared into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

  When Ava looked back to the table, Cale was staring down her plate, his fish gone, bones and all. Nothing remained but two perfectly round eyeballs, spinning slowly along the plate’s rim. Cale’s intensity was remarkable as his gaze bore into her food. Ava reached over and switched her plate with his, kindly rolling the fish eyeballs off of her new plate and onto Cale's. She devoured some of his rice, and he crunched the fish between his teeth, even eating the tail. He belched out two more fish eyes, and they rolled about on his plate, all four knocking together like billiard balls. Ava could tell he was still hungry by the way he frowned when it was all gone.

  “You want some of my rice?” she pushed her plate back over.

  Cale sniffed it. Then he picked up a few grains with his fingers and placed them onto his tongue. He chewed on them, then flicked his tongue back out, spitting them out onto his plate.

  “That’s disgusting.”

  Ava pointed her fork at the wobbling eyeballs. “That, Cale, is disgusting.”

  She finished the rice and sighed. “You think we can shower here?”

  Cale pushed his chair from the table. “Santiago has a trough out in the backyard.”

  Ava blinked at him. “A trough?” She shook her head. “You’re telling me to take a bath in a trough?”

  “That’s the best we got tonight. But wait here.”

  Cale knocked on Santiago’s door and talked with him in both red tongue and Spanish. The old man handed him something and shut the door again, this time turning off his lights.

  “What is that?” Ava asked. The black satchel was tattered and torn.

&
nbsp; “Go on and lay down,” Cale answered. “And take your sweatshirt off.”

  Ava didn’t argue. Since she’d eaten, exhaustion and pain were waging a war within her. She winced as she pulled the jacket over her head. Her t-shirt was already beginning to stick to the scrapes. She lay down on the blankets and rested her cheek on her forearms. Cale sat beside her and opened up the old travel bag. Santiago didn’t have any peroxide or alcohol, but he did have some herbal remedies that the Chimbotes had come up with hundreds of years before, prior to the city's transformation into Peru’s largest fishing port.

  Cale opened the small glass bottle and sloshed some of the mushy green contents onto his fingertips. He touched it to Ava’s back, and she tried not to show how much it hurt. She bit her lip and closed her eyes against the sting.

  It didn’t matter how much she faked it. Cale felt every flinch, every groan she suppressed. He knew when to pull his hand away and give Ava a moment to collect herself, because he needed the same. When he finished with the green leaves, he smoothed a clear liquid over the mess. It soothed her, cooling the burn of the wounds.

  “Okay, you can sit up now,” he said.

  The only light in the house came from the moon. Its glow sneaked through the slats in the windows and the wooden beams overhead. But Cale wasn’t afraid, not in Chimbote. The outskirts of the city were crawling with reds. Truly, he and Ava could have stayed with almost any nest in the western part of the town. But Santiago was one of his father’s oldest friends. Despite his less than hospitable welcome, the old man would have been offended if Cale hadn’t come.

  Cale wrapped thin gauze around Ava’s midsection, careful not to pull too tight. When he was finished, she lowered her shirt. Ava was amazed at how Cale could remain so unflustered. She looked him over again. If anything, he felt guilty for letting her get hurt. There was no hidden agenda, nothing that he wanted from her besides her company. Well, that and a dragon bond that can never be broken.