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thing flapping behind them, coming closer with each resonant slap of the air. Birds and small creatures burst from the brush around them, fleeing for safety. The creature hurtled out of the sky with a roar that sent pebbles skittering down the mountainside. Larkan pulled Keltie to the ground, and none too soon. Wings thundered overhead, and she felt the brush of one wicked claw along her backbone as the monster passed. She shuddered, squirming deeper into the dirt as a scent like ash and incense washed over her. There was another loud flap and a gust of wind that blew her hair into a wild cloud, and then it was gone.
    Keltie sprang to her feet, blood pounding in her ears. “Why didn’t it kill us?”
    “Rand’s playing.” Larkan’s green eyes held a terrifying fury. “It’s you he’s been ordered to destroy, and he knows better than to attack me.”
    “You know this lizard?” Keltie cried, her voice coming out in a squeak. The creature was a bronze streak in the sky once more, but it was turning back in their direction. Her knees began to shake.
    “Dragon.” Larkan grabbed her hand again. “Come on.”
    “Dragon?” Her mind sputtered wildly, but there was no time for questions. By the time they reached their destination, Keltie’s sides burned from running. She flopped to the floor of the cave, gasping in gulps of air.
    Larkan crouched next to her, putting one strong arm around her shoulders. “Keltie, there is no time to rest. You must hide until I can get you to safety.”
    She shuddered with waves of terror, as if she had a fever that was attacking every cell. Fear left her cold and weak, but it was the only certain thing in a world gone mad. Fear, and the knowledge that Larkan had tried to warn her from the start. That didn’t explain his secrecy, but it did earn him a measure of trust. In some incomprehensible way, he was on her side.
    She willed her breathing to quiet. “Where can I hide?”
    He closed his eyes a moment, as if summoning courage. “There is one place no one will ever look.”

Chapter Five
    Panic gnawed through Larkan, creeping up his spine like a viper’s poison. He shifted against the wall where he stood with arms folded, fighting the urge to pace or to check the sharpness of his weapons. He couldn’t let any of his uncertainty show.
    The lawgivers would be hard-pressed to find an edict he hadn’t just broken. Humans were to be kept away, not smuggled into the heart of the den. There was duty, and then there were rules. Larkan wasn’t sure those were the same anymore. And that wasn’t the only thing he felt unsure of. Dragons didn’t experience a lot of change, and he was finding it unnerving.
    An odd weightlessness made it hard to breathe. Disobedience was strange to him, and yet it gave the same exhilaration as flight. He could grow to like the sensation of taking the world into his own hands and making it over the way he pleased.
    Until Nadiana found him out. Then he would have to fight for this bold new future.
    Larkan stole a glance at Keltie, a wave of possessiveness rushing over him. And yet that feeling was tinged with uncertainty. She was huddled in the corner of his nest, furs piled around her. Her shaking had subsided, at least. It was warm enough in the room—the entire den was a warren of natural caves adapted into living quarters—but she had been terrified. Larkan had been unsure what to do, as the males and females of his tribe usually kept apart. He’d hoped the softness of the furs would give her comfort. That had gone well, but when he had offered her food and drink, she had ignored him. Instead, she sat with her eyes closed, knees drawn up under her chin. What was he supposed to do next?
    “Stop staring at me,” she said, her voice firmer than he would have expected. “I can feel it.”
    “As you desire,” he said, slightly embarrassed. He covered his discomfort by crossing the room to light another oil lamp. The additional flame did little to chase