Standing outside her partially open door, he could hear her quiet sobs. It tore at his heart that she was hurting. He knocked softly and waited. She didn’t respond but the door slowly opened. She was walking away from him as he entered, not knowing what to do, he just stepped in and waited. He wished for a smart remark that would piss her off. Anything was better than her gloom. “How could anyone be so cruel to them?” She growled. She picked up a towel and began drying her hair, her rage displayed in the aggressive action. Tiny wisps of blue peaked out as if trying to escape. “I don’t know. Some humans seem to see animals as only a means for profit. Maybe keeping them hungry keeps them from outgrowing the pool,” he reasoned. Gulls sounded outside, drawing his attention. He saw a bright multi-colored kite in the distance swaying to and fro in the sea breeze. His attention returned to her as she wrangled her hair into some kind of knot on top of her head. How

“What do you think happened?” Katalea asked Dakari as they entered their room.“I couldn’t begin to guess,” Dakari responded. He started to reach for his mate, thankful she hadn’t been hurt or worse. His instinct was to protect, but now a baser, more primal instinct was taking over. He saw the passion he felt reflected in her eyes as she began to make her way to him.There was a knock on the door, a light rapping that suggested someone who wasn’t really sure they wanted to knock to begin with.From where he stood, Dakari moved his index finger and unlocked and opened the door. Beecher strode in, a bag of chips in hand. His head turned as the door closed behind him, his eyes looking for whoever closed the door..“I forget that you guys can do stuff like that. It’s pretty cool.” He rounded on Dakari. “I’m really thirsty, can you make a soda appear?” He laughed at his own joke but jumped when a bottle of water appeared in Dakari’s hand.“Water is better for you,” Dakari said wit

Aquina’s eyes narrowed and she noticed five doors, each a different color facing the common area. She made a bee-line to the fanciest door and mumbled a string of curse words as she entered. It was a small room with a small bed and even smaller window. It was a utilitarian beige and had no flavor. Aquina turned back quickly to see if she could change rooms. The others had followed her lead and were all headed to their own doors. “I guess the saying, ‘You can’t judge a book by its cover’ works on doors too,” Beecher teased, poised and ready to open his own door. It was not painted and in fact looked to be made of distressed wood. “If there was any justice you would find a doggie bed inside your door.” Aquina blushed, knowing she had been caught trying to find the fanciest room. He opened his door and gasped. A large waterbed was the focal point in the medium-sized room. The walls were painted in an hombre fashion from a light sea green near the ceiling to a deep dark aquama

She walked with him to the diner. Foods he had never seen before enticed him, the scent making his mouth water. “They treat you like a servant, slinking out in the cold morning to fetch their food?” She spat at him. “You should be treated as a king with servants to do your bidding.” He looked curiously at her. There was a momentary twitch in her face, almost as if the shift hadn’t quite took. He shook it off, and turned to the man behind the counter. He placed his order, doing his best to communicate in broken Spanish and hand signals. They sat at a little table to wait and Ashara looked at him in disgust. “I will help you solve the riddle. Our pack here is army-like in size. We can find whatever treasure is promised you. You do not need those intruders. They want nothing but to use you and get the glory for themselves,” she spoke low, but with an intensity that made a light layer of sweat rise on her skin. Again, he noticed a momentary glitch. Her eyes seemed not to sy

There was no traction to be found in the sand. As if on ice, Beecher tried to turn the tires into whatever was pushing them laterally across the road. Nothing worked. They slid until they were forcefully stopped by a large cactus bush on the opposite side. Dakari yelped when his arm was punctured by the bush upon impact. For a moment there was silence. A sound Aquina had never heard before started low but steadily grew louder. To her ear it didn’t sound like what she imagined a gruppa of weredragons would sound like that was about to feast on a car full of misfits. She had fallen onto the floor of the car, wedged under Katalea, at the initial impact and tried desperately to see what was coming for them. She tried wiggling and found that Katalea too was trying to get herself back upright. Twisting her torso, she was able to see out the window, but only at an angle that told her that the rain had passed. Halfway off the floor, she was looking up, a weak sun was now streaming