Page 12 of Jace

“You had a very long journey today,” he told her. “I explained about my farm very slowly and quietly to help you relax.”

“Well, it worked,” she smiled.

“Speaking of farms, when will we get to ours?” she asked.

A pleased expression flashed across his face and then was gone in a heartbeat.

A little shiver of awareness shot through her.

Down, girl.

“We’ll head out again first thing in the morning,” he told her, breaking eye contact. “If you’re okay riding, we’ll be there by sundown, maybe before.”

She looked around and took stock of herself.

As scared as she normally was of heights, somehow, she had been able to sleep on the float-ray’s back.

“Maybe this doesn’t seem so bad because it’s dark,” she ventured.

In reality, being beside the big dragon warrior with his arm around her was probably the real reason she felt safe. But it seemed weird to say so.

“You can continue to ride with me if you want to,” he told her, as if he had read her mind. “We’ll have to stop and switch mounts every few hours, and we’ll go a bit more slowly, but it’s still far better than walking.”

“That sounds great,” she said. “No promises, but I think I can handle that.”

“Excellent,” he said. “I see a good place to camp up ahead. We’ll go get some rest and be ready to tackle the day tomorrow.”

She nodded and tried to see what was ahead of them. In the starlight, it was hard to tell what she was looking at.

“What kind of place do you look for?” she asked him.

“Oh, that’s right,” he said, “your eyes aren’t as good in the dark as mine are. I want to find a level area with a hillside or rocks behind it, so it’s easier to defend, if necessary.”

“What would we need to defend ourselves from?” she asked.

“Oh, all kinds of things,” he said carelessly. “But most of them won’t come near the fire, so we don’t need to worry too much if we have something behind us and a fire in front.”

“And you can shift into a dragon, right?” she asked.

It was hard to believe. As gigantic as he was for a man, he was tiny compared to the dragons in the picture books. It seemed impossible for him to change his body on that level. Maybe shifter dragons weren’t as big as they were made out to be.

“I can,” he said carefully with a frown.

“But?” she asked.

“But I am only supposed to take on my other form in defense of my homeland,” he told her. “That is why we train so hard in our man form, so that we do not rely on our shifting.”

“Wow,” she said, feeling more than a little disappointed. It would have been a pretty cool thing to see.

“I do not need that form to protect you,” he told her. “Trust me.”

She didn’t have a choice but to trust him. Thinking back to when they had first met, she realized how lucky she was to have the baby’s guard with them. Much as she valued her privacy and independence, she could see that Han-2 was not going to be a walk in the park. Advice and protection were precious resources, and Jace offered both in spades.

“I’m glad you’ll be with us,” she admitted, looking down at her hands.

“Me too,” he said gruffly.

She stole a glance up at him.

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