“Hey,” I protest. I’m not an old lady.

“And a dragon,” Aggie amends. “And a dog.”

My confidence withers a bit more. Bad enough that Thess is besties with Murr and knows him from before, but now I’m just another old lady?

“The fort checks out every report of ‘marauding’ nomads in the area, but that doesn’t mean it’s a problem. I’m going to report to them that you’re all healthy and harmless, and you have nothing of interest. Fort Dallas is very nice, even if it’s run by a Salorian.”

Murr makes a choked sound at that.

“What’s a Salorian?” Rabbit asks.

“Bad,” Murr says immediately, his eyes flashing so dark that it makes me hold my breath. I’ve learned that his moods follow his eyes and so when they turn jet black, I panic.

Thess holds up a hand before Murr goes any further. “They are, yes. Salorians were our enemies on the other side. There is one in Fort Dallas that lives with a human woman and she makes him behave. I was skeptical until I found out he was the one that managed to close the Rift. It’s what freed us all from insanity.”

“Wait, that had to do with the Rift?” I ask, surprised. “It was what made the dragons crazy?”

“We call ourselves ‘drakoni,’ and yes, it’s a long story.” Thess takes a sip of her tea and launches into a convoluted tale of drakoni warriors enslaved by evil Salorians on the other side of the Rift, and when they were pulled through to this side, their psychic abilities were corrupted. It made them wild and insane, with only a few drakoni taking human mates and reclaiming their sanity. The Salorian in Fort Dallas feared something worse was going to come through the Rift, so he closed it, trapping the drakoni here on this side. Once he did, it also destroyed their ability to speak to one another. “We have all learned human words,” Thess says. “It has been a very interesting time.”

I look over at Murr, feeling all kinds of sympathy for him. He must have been so lonely to wake up on this side, alone and confused, and without anyone’s mind connected to his. No wonder he’s gathered every cat in the vicinity. He needs a family. My heart squeezes and I want to fling my arms around him.

“No…mind talk?” Murr asks slowly, his gaze locked on Thess. “No one?”

She shakes her head. “No one at all. It’s because the Rift closed with us on this side.”

His shoulders sag and he buries his face in his hands. All is quiet. I can’t stand to see him struggle. I reach out and touch his arm, rubbing it gently to remind him that I’m here, that he’s not alone.

He sits up after a moment, features composed but eyes whirling a wild kaleidoscope of shades. “Murr not…broken?”

“Oh, no, it’s not just you,” Thess says. “It’s all of us. After I ‘woke up’ from the madness, I didn’t know who or where I was, so I went looking. I found Fort Dallas and a few other drakoni are there. We’ve had a few humans working with us to help us learn language in exchange for hunting, and while we’re alone up here”—she taps her brow—“we were still together.”

Murr exhales slowly, then nods.

“You can join us, if you like. They’d be happy to see another drakoni,” Thess says, then waves her mug of tea at all of us. “You all can. I promise the fort is very safe.”

“What about the cats?” Rabbit asks immediately. She reaches behind me, locking a finger into my jeans belt loop as if she needs to hold on to something. “We couldn’t just leave them. This is their home. This is where they expect to be fed. If Murr left, they’d go hungry. Could they come with us?”

“I…don’t know.” Thess glances at Murr. “There aren’t many pets in the fort, but things change all the time. We can always ask.”

My heart sinks because I know the answer to that. Pets are a luxury, another mouth that needs to be fed specific food in a time when resources are incredibly scarce. I knew the cats would break Rabbit’s heart. Even so, it’s not up to us. “It’s Murr’s decision, sweetheart. If he wants to join his people at the fort, he can.”

Murr looks over at me, and I realize I’m still stroking his bare arm. We’re like a chain— Rabbit holding on to me, and me holding on to Murr.

“Murr home here,” he says. “No fort.”

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OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER 58

DAKOTA

I’m not going to cry with relief that Murr wants to stay.

I’m not.

If he wanted to go to a fort and meet more dragons, I’d wish him the best. I’d understand it. I wouldn’t follow, but I’d understand it. He’d be choosing his people over our motley little crew. It would make total sense…but I’m still overjoyed that he picks us.

I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to keep from grinning like a loon as Murr lets Thess know the bad news. “Murr home…here.” He gestures at the sad parking lot that we call ours. A cat takes that moment to butt its head up against his leg and he scoops it up. “Murr family here.”

“That’s right!” Rabbit moves to Murr’s side and flings her arms around his neck, hugging him from behind. She kisses his cheek. “We’re your family.”

Thess isn’t offended at his answer. There’s a little smile playing on her lips. “I thought this might be the case. We are all making new families where we can.”

Murr smiles and glances over at me, and I feel a warmth in my belly.

“Well, I’m not going to hug anyone,” Dottie says. “Just pretend I did.”

“I’ll hug him,” Aggie says, and starts to get up from her chair.

Dottie grabs her arm before she can. “Sit down, you old coot. Let him hug Dakota instead.”

Oh. A wave of shyness sweeps over me as everyone turns to look in my direction. Good lord, why am I feeling shy? I’m a grown-ass woman. Yet it doesn’t feel like it’s just a hug. It feels like something…more? I get up and press myself against Rabbit, making her the “meat” of a hug sandwich. She laughs with delight, and my arms barely go around Murr’s neck. “How’s that?”

“You can give him the good stuff later,” Aggie says with a wink.

Maybe that’s why I’m embarrassed. Because there is a horny old goat of a woman that’s going to make a big deal out of everything we do. I ease off of the hug pile. “And that’s enough of that.”

Murr chuckles and reaches for my hand, caressing it as I move back to my seat. “Later, yes.”

I smile to myself as I sit down again, picking up my blanket once more.

“Well, the offer stands. You’re all more than welcome at the fort, and I promise we’re friendly.” Thess gets to her feet, sliding the blanket off her shoulders and folding it neatly. “Can I bring you anything from the fort? Are you in need of anything specific? Medicine? Clothing?”

We all go quiet. Forts might have supplies, but they usually come with strings attached. Thess seems nice enough, but we also just met her. “I think we’re good,” I say, deciding to speak for our group. “But if it changes, we know where to look.”

She gives Murr a fanged smile. “Then I will leave. May I come back to visit, Murtades?”

He gets to his feet, setting the cat down, and moves toward the female dragon. “Yes.”

He leans in and I stiffen, because it looks as if they’re going to kiss. Instead of kissing, however, they press their foreheads together and close their eyes. They remain like that for a long moment, and then Thess sighs. “Nothing?”

“Nothing,” he agrees.

She pats his arm. “So it is. Be well until I see you again, Murtades.” She walks away a short distance, then does the strange hunch that Murr always does just before he launches himself into the air. A moment later her brick-red body shadows us, her wings beating hard to propel herself away. She trumpets as she goes, and I’m no judge of dragons, but it sounds friendly enough. Even the cats don’t panic. One lifts a paw and begins to daintily clean itself right next to Murr’s feet.