“Why do you doubt your senses?”

  “Because dragons, excuse me, drakons, aren’t real.” She spoke slowly so he’d understand. A giggle fell from her lips. She never giggled. “I’m definitely seriously food or oxygen deprived.”

  He blinked, as though not certain what to say or do.

  She patted his long snout. The teeth he’d flashed were huge and sharp, like gleaming white daggers. But there was no need to be afraid of a figment of her imagination, right?

  “Don’t worry about it. Most people don’t know how to take me.” She leaned in. “They think I’m odd. I know, I know. It’s difficult to believe, but there it is.”

  She was dying. There was no other explanation. Her mind had splintered, her grasp on reality slipping away. A deep sadness gripped her. “I wish my life had been different. I’ve never been able to connect with people, never made those lifelong, close friends that most people seem to have.” Sighing, she petted his jaw while he continued to stare at her. “Maybe that’s why I study creatures of myth and legend. I think I understand them. Your pink eyes are pretty. I would’ve thought I’d imagine them to be black or green or at least brown, but the pale pink is so cool. Like pink champagne. And your scales are gorgeous. They’re gold, but not a really yellow gold.” She snapped her fingers. “Rose gold. The outline at the edges matches your eyes.”

  The ground beneath her feet began to shake again. Her drakon tipped his head back and roared. She slammed her hands over her ears and toppled backward, landing on her butt. The air around her supercharged with heat, driving away the chill until she was sweating.

  “I’m not pretty. I am fierce and deadly, feared by humans and my own kind. And you, human, are trapped in here with me.”

  “Holy shit! You’re real!” Then her light went out.

  Chapter Three

  Molten fury ran though Lucius’s veins. Pretty, she thought him pretty. The insult wasn’t to be borne. He was a fierce drakon. And she was…terrified. Her breathing was erratic, harsh gasps tearing from her throat as she struggled to drag air into her lungs.

  Turning his head to one side, he inhaled, drawing on his inner fire and releasing a tiny blast. The nearby rocks turned molten, melting beneath the tremendous heat. Some cracked and exploded, incinerated before they hit the ground. It lit the area, allowing him to better see her huddled form, but more importantly, it allowed her to see him.

  Her eyes were wide, the golden brown of her irises almost swallowed by the dark pupils. Her skin was pale, her hair damp. A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead. She pressed her hand to her mouth and scooted back toward the wall, still trying to catch her breath.

  He closed his mouth and the flames extinguished. “I won’t hurt you.” Raine had awoken him from the Deep Sleep, something that should have been impossible.

  “You.” She gasped for air. “You’re real.”

  “I thought we established that.” The darkness soothed him, but her heartbeat was getting faster, not slower. Frowning, he leaned forward until he was a hairbreadth from her face.

  “Don’t eat me,” she yelled. Then she popped him in the jaw with her fist. It bounced harmlessly off his scales. She yelped again, shaking her fingers and cradling them to her chest.

  Even in her fear, she fought.

  “Where’s my stupid flashlight?” She patted her hand on the ground beside her. He caught the edge of the light with the tip of one claw and gently rolled it toward her. “Ah-ha.” She grabbed it and shook it. “There are new batteries in you. Work, damn it.” She smacked the device several times against her thigh and the light reappeared.

  She swiveled and shone it straight in his face. He reared back and blinked several times. “Don’t like that, do you?” She continued to point it at his face. “Stay back.”

  Did she really think the puny light would stop him? Not wanting her to damage herself further, he settled back on his haunches. “Now what?”

  “What?” His question seemed to confuse her.

  “What do you plan to do now? Do you think your light will protect you?” She really was a fascinating creature. She pushed to her feet and edged toward the path leading to the entrance.

  “I’m getting out of here.” Her hand was shaking, the light bouncing all around the space. She grabbed her pack and sleeping bag in her free hand and inched toward her goal.

  “The entrance is still blocked.”

  “I know that, but you can’t fit through the tunnel.” Her lips turned down and several lines wrinkled her forehead. “How did you get in here to begin with?”

  “I walked.” No reason not to be truthful.

  “You walked. Of course you did.” He turned slightly, angling his big body to see her better. “You probably commanded Mack to bring me here. Is he your Renfield?”

  “My what?”

  “Renfield, you know, Dracula’s servant from the Bram Stoker book. Dracula was a vampire and was vulnerable during the day, so he had a human help him get what he wanted. Eventually drove the man crazy. Or maybe Mack is more like Harker. He was tricked into helping Dracula. I can’t remember. I read the book a long time ago.”

  He was practically dizzy trying to keep up with her. “I’m no bloodsucker, and I don’t need a Renfield.” The very idea was distasteful.

  “You’re a stone dragon. Excuse me, drakon. Or you were. What am I supposed to be? The virgin sacrifice? According to legend, that’s what they did.”

  She wasn’t wrong. When dragons had arrived, the tribes of the earth offered up their most beautiful maidens. Only the dragons hadn’t eaten them, they’d seduced and procreated with them. His heart ached at the memory of his mother who’d been one such woman.

  “You’ve been cheated. I’m no virgin. Not that I’m super experienced or anything, but I dated a guy for a year in college and had a couple short-term relationships. So, yeah, no virgin here.” She pointed at her chest, a triumphant smile on her face.

  Lucius frowned and lowered his head. The idea of her having sex with another man was…distasteful. Good gods, was he jealous? Of this mouthy, dirty creature?

  Yes, yes he was. He closed his eyes for a moment and prayed for deliverance. “Maybe I won’t care that you’re not a virgin.”

  Now she was frowning again. There was no guile to her, her expression open and honest for all to see. No wonder she’d been taken advantage of and lured here. Obviously, she needed someone to look out for her. Not him, but someone.

  “You can’t eat me.” She’d dropped her belongings and put her hands on her hips, the light now directed toward a side wall.

  “Why not?” This was the most absurd conversation he’d ever had. The most interesting, too. She was a constant surprise.

  “I’ll give you indigestion.” She punctuated it with a decisive nod. “My muscles are stringy. Not much meat. You’d likely choke on a thigh bone.”

  “I could roast you up and I wouldn’t notice.” Why was he pushing her?

  She wagged her finger at him. “That’s a terrible idea.”

  He made a playful snap toward the extended digit. Raine yelled, yanked her hand back, and scrambled for the exit. Her fear saddened him. It was also a reminder that others would see him as a monster, no matter what.

  Heaving a sigh, he lay back down and rested his head on the cool ground. This was why he’d gone to sleep in the first place. There was no sound of digging, but Raine was still nearby. Where else would she be? An hour passed. Then another.

  Though she tried her best to be stealthy, the slight scrunching sound of her boots, along with her breathing, alerted him to her presence. “Ah, Mr. Drakon, are you okay?”

  He turned his head away. Better not to interact with her anymore. That didn’t stop his ears from twitching to follow her movements as she crept closer.

  Was she for real? “You need a keeper,” he told her, not bothering to look at her.

  “I’ve heard that.” On a sigh, she sat down beside him. The silence lengthened. How long would she last without speaking? He counted the seconds and made it all the way to five minutes. “Thing is, I could use your help.”

  And there it was. “Your kind always wants something—protection in battle, power, my treasure, my very blood.” And that last one was something he should have kept to himself.

  “You have a treasure? That’s true? Wait, forget that. It’s not important. I’m not in a battle. I don’t need power. And blood? I’m sorry, but no.”

  Unable to feign disinterest any longer, he turned toward her and opened his eyes. She wiggled her fingers at him in a wave. “If you don’t want protection, power, or treasure, what do you want?”

  “It occurred to me you could probably tunnel out of this place if you wanted to.” Her hopeful expression made him morose. She wanted his help to leave him.

  “I could.”

  Seconds ticked by. “Well.” She waved toward the tunnel. “What are you waiting for?”

  “I’m quite content here.”

  “How can you be happy stuck in here? And how did you become a lump of stone when you’re alive? How did that happen? Is that natural? Did someone put a spell on you? Did I break it?” The hopeful tone made him want to smile. “If so, then you owe me, buddy.”

  “Lucius. My name is Lucius. And I chose to turn to stone.”

  “Why would you do that? You’re a drakon. You can probably do all kinds of cool stuff.”

  His chest puffed out slightly. “I can.”

  “Then why are you in a cave in the middle of nowhere!” Her voice rose until she was yelling at the end. “Sorry.” She rubbed her grubby hand over her forehead, smearing even more dirt there. “I just don’t get it.”

  “The world is not kind to those who are different.” He clamped his mouth shut. He’d already said too much, but it was so easy to talk with her.

  “No, it’s not.” Her voice had softened.

  “Do not pity me, woman.”

  She snorted. “I don’t pity you. You’re a damn drakon, more powerful than I’ll ever be. You’ve seen things I’ll never see. How long have you been alive? How long were you locked in stone?”

  His muscles were beginning to twitch with the need to move. There’d be no going back to sleep for him. Ready or not, he was back in the world of man.

  “Probably none of my business,” she continued. “You may not agree, but I understand you better than you think.” Her fingers twined around the edge of her sweater, and she twisted it. “I know what it’s like to be different.”

  He shook his broad head. “You think you do, but you don’t. You’re an attractive female human. Others will accept you.”

  “Fat lot you know.” Turning her back on him, she walked away.

  …

  Raine bit her bottom lip when it quivered. It was stupid to be upset because some mythical creature threw her confession back in her face. She joked about being different, but the truth was, it hurt. Her entire life was one of being abandoned.

  “Forget him,” she muttered. The wall of rubble in front of her and the fact that someone wanted her dead were more pressing concerns. Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. She’d already moved a ton of rocks but wasn’t making much headway.

  Closing her eyes, she tried to remember how many steps she’d taken to get this far into the cave. A growl of frustration welled up inside her. “I have no idea how far it is to the outside.”

  “About eight feet.”

  “Ahh!” She whirled around, tripped over a rock, and slammed into the side of the wall. Lucius’s huge head was peering at her. Hand on her chest, she glared at him. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.” And how could a creature that big be so silent?

  He huffed out a breath of warm air. “I thought you’d hear me.”

  “I was busy thinking.”

  “And talking.”

  “Get used to it. I talk to myself a lot.”

  “I hadn’t noticed.” His deadpan delivery and the slight twitch of his lips—did drakons even have lips?—stopped her cold. He was joking with her.

  The absurdity of the situation slammed into her, and she began to laugh. He tilted his big head slightly to the side, and it scraped against the walls. What started out as a giggle became a huge belly laugh. She hugged her stomach when the muscles cramped. He looked disgruntled, which set her off again. She tried to stop, really she did. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She sat on the floor to keep from toppling over.

  “What’s so funny?” His voice was deep, the baritone vibrating through the floor. His teeth were incredibly sharp, something she hadn’t paid much attention to when she’d thought he wasn’t real. Big, too. All the better to eat her with. Only if he was going to do that, he’d have already done it.

  “I’m stuck in a cave, talking to a drakon who is complaining I talk too much.”

  “Not complaining. You’re…interesting.”

  Her humor died as old insecurities washed over her. “Interesting is another word for odd.” She pushed to her feet, rolled her shoulders, and grabbed a rock. It seemed heavier than it had earlier, even though it was the same size of many she’d moved.

  I’m getting weaker. How much longer could she keep this up? “Go away. If you’re not going to help, don’t distract me.” Probably not smart to bait the drakon, but she no longer cared.

  Dead was dead. If she didn’t get out of here soon, she’d eventually run out of food and water. There seemed to be plenty of air. With that realization, she dropped the rock and turned to Lucius.

  His brows lowered. “What?”

  As she walked toward him, he surprised her by backing out of the tunnel. “It occurred to me there may be another way into this cavern, which means there’s another way out. There’s plenty of air.”

  “There are tunnels. I never explored them.”

  “Oh.” That was disappointing. Still, it was another option. “New plan.” She rolled up her sleeping bag and tied it to her pack.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m going exploring.” She groaned as she lifted her knapsack and put it on. The muscles in her shoulders and back were killing her.

  “That’s dangerous. No way of knowing what lies in that direction. You could end up falling into a pit or reaching a dead end.”

  She shrugged, even as his observations gave her the shivers. “You’re right, but trying is better than dying. And it’s a given if I stay here, since you won’t help me.”

  He shuffled across the floor, moving faster than she’d thought possible, since he was hunched over. Not toward her. No, the big bastard was blocking the tunnel going inward.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Stopping you from doing something you’ll regret.”

  “Regret?” Something inside her snapped. “I’ve got all kinds of regrets. I regret getting that grant from the Angel Foundation. I regret agreeing to meet with Mack. I regret coming into this godforsaken cave. I regret waking you. I regret you not helping me.” Her voice got louder and louder until she was screaming at him. She stopped, chest heaving, heart racing.

  “Are you done?”

  Furious beyond caution, she grabbed a rock from the floor. Fittingly, it was one of the stones he had shed. She drew back her arm and flung it with all her might. It bounced harmlessly off his scales and right back at her, hitting her in the thigh.

  “Fuck!” She fell to the floor and grabbed her leg. “See what you made me do?”

  “Me? I’m trying to keep you safe.”

  “No, you’re not. If you wanted me safe, you’d get me out of here. If you’re not going to help me, then kill me. Anything is better than sitting here waiting to die.”

  “You’d think that.” There was something in his tone—resignation, regret, a tinge of fear. Whatever. She had much bigger problems than worrying about some drakon’s issues. He had options, could leave whenever he chose. She was stuck here, and all because of him.

  She’d never given up, facing each challenge in her life as it arose from the time she was a kid, born into a horrible situation before being thrust into an orphanage and later foster care. Maybe there was something about her that was destined for tragedy. If so, she’d certainly found it.

  Beyond tears, she shrugged out of her pack, lay down, and closed her eyes. Exhaustion tugged at her. She needed to eat and drink but couldn’t work up any enthusiasm.

  I’m done.

  A spark inside her protested, but she squashed it. Quitting went against her very nature. She’d fought to live from her first breath, but she was tired. Tired of always having to do everything on her own.

  “Too bad you weren’t a damn genie, then you’d owe me three wishes.” She clamped her mouth shut. She wasn’t taking to him.

  Something nudged her. She squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to look. It nudged her again. “Stop that,” she muttered. When it happened again, she turned, relented. One of those massive claws prodded her side. “Are you going to turn me into a human kabob?”

  He pulled his arm back. Or was it a leg? Did drakons have arms or did they consider them all legs? Not important. She propped herself against her pack and wiggled around trying to get comfortable.

  “I told you, I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “But you’re not helping me and that is hurting me.” She could debate with the best of them and talk rings around most. Maybe she could find a way to make him listen.

  He huffed, a huge plume of smoke puffing out of his nostrils. She waved her hand in front of her, glad it wasn’t fire. That had been impressive and downright scary.

  “I have a life out there.” She waved toward the tunnel blocked with rocks and debris. “Responsibilities. Penelope.” She wouldn’t lie and say she had anyone who’d miss her. Her colleagues thought she was on a year sabbatical. Maybe the people from the Angel Foundation might call—if they weren’t somehow involved in this fiasco. All they wanted from her was a final report, which wasn’t due for another twelve months. “And if I die here, Mack gets away with murder.” As hard as it was to face, there wasn’t anyone coming for her. All her bills were set up for automatic payment. With the grant money, it would be a year or more before anyone would even notice she was missing.