Luckily, Zulas’s saddle wasn’t broken, so there was plenty of space between each of the riders. Still, Dante had Roan sit at the head where he could be watched, Blukke behind him, Dante behind him, and Marnie safely tucked in the rear. Delle and Tamar insisted on coming on their own dragons, though Bern and Gordy wouldn’t be able to keep up. They still wanted to be in the South. Just in case.

They’d left in the early evening the day Bear disappeared after gathering supplies--including riding helmets for the two Southerners. Dante had an extra pair of flying leathers Blukke wore, but didn’t offer to buy Roan a pair of his own, his kindness running out at the helmet.

Zulas flew deep into the night, only stopping to rest at day break. Marnie had leaned her head against Dante’s back to sleep as they flew, but Dante hadn’t entertained the idea of sleeping in the air, and he was sure the other men hadn’t, either. He offered Blukke the chance to sleep while he kept an eye on Roan once they landed.

Zulas took off to find himself breakfast as Blukke stretched out on the hard ground and was out quickly. He was just as used to having to sleep in unusual places as Dante was. Marnie--still tired--tossed and turned until Dante sat down and allowed her to use his leg as a pillow. Roan didn’t attempt to sleep, but paced absentmindedly in front of them until Dante got sick of darting his eyes back and forth.

“Sleep.”

Roan paused his pacing, knowing the order was directed at him as their other two companions were already asleep. He looked pointedly at Marnie. “Sister or niece?”

At least he hadn’t assumed she was his daughter. How old did Bear think he was? He pushed away the thought. What she thought of him didn’t matter. She didn’t matter. “Niece.”

Roan nodded. “And you’re doing this for her?”

“Yes.”

Roan looked at him a while longer, then sat down, stretching his legs out in front of him. “I have a niece. I’ll admit you seem to be a better uncle than I am. Though my niece has a father to take care of her. I’m guessing she doesn’t?”

“Her father died trying to provide for us after your men killed our parents.” Dante didn’t want Roan to think he had the right to make small talk, trying to find common ground. He wanted the shifter to know exactly what he thought of him.

Roan licked his lips. “What did they do?”

If Marnie wasn’t asleep on his lap right now, Dante would have kicked the guard’s ass. “They didn’t do anything. Your piece of shit men burned an entire tavern to the ground, executing men, women, and children for the ravings of a single lunatic.”

Dante could hear the shifter’s elevated heartbeat at his claim.

“That’s not what we do.” The shifter saw the incredulity on Dante’s face--as if he were the one mistaken about how his parents died--and reneged on his statement. “If that’s true, I’ll find the guards responsible and deal with them. But I can’t control what my men do when I’m not around.”

The guard didn’t realize Dante hadn’t meant they were his men literally. That the incident took place when Roan was a kid himself and those men were long retired. Still, the guard was shit at his job. And it was time someone told him. “You shouldn’t be in command if your men only respect you when in your presence.”

Roan clenched his jaw. “I’m sorry for your loss, but I am not responsible for it. I’m trying to be civil. Who knows how long we’ll be working together. You could try, too.”

Gods, he was a prick. But Dante didn’t tell him to fuck off like he wanted to--in an attempt to be civil. He just kept his mouth shut and looked away, letting the shifter know he was done with this conversation.

Roan didn’t take the hint. “How did you and Prim pass the time when you were traveling together?”

You mean when she wasn’t trying to seduce me? Dante bit back that response, too. “We walked mostly. Then slept. Then walked some more.”

Roan breathed a laugh through his nose. “Bet she loved that.” At Dante’s raised brow, Roan continued. “She’s not really a hiking-through-the-forest kind of girl.”

“She didn’t seem to mind doing it with me.” Dante allowed himself a touch of incivility.

Roan breathed that laugh again. “And I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that she thought you might kill her if she didn’t.”

Marnie’s breathing pattern changed, alerting Dante that she was waking. He put a hand on her brown braid securely pinned to her scalp and gave Roan a warning look.

The shifter looked between Dante and his niece, tilting his head. “She doesn’t know what you were doing with Prim?”

Dante gave him that silent warning look again, but Marnie sat up, stretching. “Of course I know what he was doing with Bear.”

Dante’s heart dropped. She wasn’t a child anymore. She was smart. Of course she’d have figured it out, though she’d never pressed on the whole kidnapping thing she’d overheard. “You do?”

Marnie’s cheeks flushed. “You didn’t spin her around fast enough to hide what you’d been doing when I walked in on you.”

Dante choked. Apparently she hadn’t figured it out.

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Roan clenched his fists. “What did you do to her?”

Dante turned his warning look to Marnie, who only looked confused. Dante shook his head. “I didn’t hurt her. Which you already know because she told you and you could see she was unharmed. Now, can we please stop talking about her?” Not only because it hurt too much, but because the leopard shifter was going to get himself killed if he didn’t calm down. “Marn, tell Zulas to get back here. It’s time to go.”

Marnie laughed as her eyes unfocused, speaking to her dragon. Then her eyes refocused on Roan. “He would never hurt her. She’s going to be his wife one day.”

Well, shit. Dante readied his magic to fend off Roan as soon as the shifter made a move toward them. But he didn’t. Roan just looked between Marnie and Dante again, then laughed. That made Dante want a reason to hurt him even more.

Marnie’s own amusement faded. “Why’s that funny?”

“Prim’s not the marrying type. No matter what you think you walked in on.”

Marnie rolled her eyes. “I know I walked in on two people in love, half naked and kissing. Which is what you do when you want to get married.”

“You didn’t see us kissing,” Dante hissed. Thankfully, Roan was sitting still and silent across the clearing, only watching and listening.

Marnie put her hands on her hips, jutting her chin out. “No, but I saw her nightgown.”

Dante was going to get a lock for his door as soon as he got back to Pregg.

“You and I are going to have a long talk about boundaries and appropriate conversation topics when we get home. Now go wait for Zulas over there.” Dante gestured toward the nearby field where the dragon had originally landed.

The girl huffed then glanced at Roan with reproach before walking away.

Blukke’s sleeping breaths filled the air as Roan and Dante looked at one another appraisingly.

Dante broke the silence. “Thank you for not telling her what I do. I do that for her, too. Did. I won’t be doing it anymore.”

Roan nodded, dangling a hand over a propped up knee. “What did she mean about the nightgown?”

Dante nearly groaned as he involuntarily recalled the image of the sheer, wet fabric clinging to Bear’s breast, the nightgown bunched up around her thighs as she pressed herself into his torso. But he only wet his lips.

“I’m sure Prim would rather tell you herself.” The name felt odd on Dante’s tongue, but he’d surely have to use it at some point during his time in Hogard. He might as well get used to it now.

Hearing Zulas’s approach, Dante stood and walked to the leopard shifter, nudging Blukke with the toe of his boot on the way. He extended a hand to Roan, who--surprisingly--took it. Within minutes, they were in the sky.

The journey to Hogard passed in a similar fashion. The hours in the saddle were dull compared to the rush of flying himself, and Dante much preferred flying dragonback with Bear in front of him rather than having to stare at the back of Blukke’s head. At each pit stop, the companions ate and drank and rested--though Blukke and Dante always took turns, and Roan didn’t seem to sleep much at all.

Roan avoided speaking about Bear after that first stop. He didn’t speak about Dante and Blukke’s profession, either. Dante couldn’t help but be appreciative, and found himself being civil without even having to try. He even smiled at the guard once when Marnie was arguing with him about what herbs went best with which meats and he felt that kinship that can only come from two people having to suffer the same tyrant. Roan had smiled back and--when Marnie noticed and began yelling at both of them--had laughed until the teenager, too, grinned.

Blukke kept his easy smile, though his attention on the guard, Dante, and Marnie remained vigilant at each stop. His boyish charm hid an observant, calculating mind beneath, for which Dante was grateful.

It wasn’t only Roan’s silence and Blukke’s vigilance that Dante appreciated. He was also grateful for this time with Marnie. Seeing her outside Pregg, experiencing the South for the first time, interacting with new people, learning about the kind of young woman she was quickly becoming--Solin, she was already dragon-claimed. He was experiencing an entirely new side of her. One that was still learning and needed a bit more guidance, but still fun and interesting. He wished Carson could see her, as he often did.

The bad part about the journey was the feeling in Dante’s stomach he got each time Zulas changed his flight pattern or dipped low or landed entirely. He was always convinced it was because the dragon had spotted Bear. He refused to admit to himself his disappointment when it never was.

Late at night on the fifth day, Zulas landed in the middle of the Great Road just outside of Hogard, but plenty far away from the giant crossbolts that could cause some serious damage to him.

They’d already made their plan. Blukke and Dante were to be new guards under Roan’s command. They would assist in capturing and questioning Sol, then sort through the riff-raff of the Cavs to identify who would be the most likely to attempt to continue Sol’s work and help convince them not to.

All four companions dismounted, and Dante gave Marnie a hug. “Fly north until you meet up with your mom and Tay. Don’t land until you reach them.”

The girl rolled her eyes as she moved to give Blukke a hug, who squeezed her back tightly, and then hugged Roan, who awkwardly patted her head. The men watched as she climbed back up the dragon’s leg and took off. Dante didn’t turn toward the city until even his gifted eyes could no longer make the dragon out in the night sky.

Blukke clapped his arm. “She’ll be fine.”

Dante nodded, knowing she would be. Blukke handed Roan the sword he’d confiscated and the guard promptly secured it over his back. The three men continued toward the castle on foot.

At their approach to the locked gates, Roan called out to the guard on duty and they opened. Once they were inside the bailey, the gates snapped shut again, and a guard was in front of them, looking over Blukke and Dante suspiciously.

“Any news of Lady Primrose?” Roan asked without explaining his companions.

The woman ripped her gaze from the dark-haired men to focus on Roan. “She returned this morning. Well, yesterday morning as it’s after midnight.” She looked back at the two men in flight leathers, obviously having seen Bear in her own pair.

Dante heard Roan’s near-silent breath of relief at the news. He wouldn’t admit how relieved he was to hear it, too. Maybe because that meant he’d get the honor of punishing her himself. But he couldn’t do that. He’d sworn he wouldn’t hurt Prim as part of his bargain with Roan.

“New guards. I recruited them myself.” Roan tilted his head toward them.

The woman nodded, murmuring words of welcome, and returned to her post.

Roan led the men to the barracks, pointing out where they could relieve themselves, bathe, and find uniforms. He assigned them rooms next to one another in the same hallway as his. “We’ll start early tomorrow. I’ll need to put you both on the schedule for post shifts. I trust you understand what will happen to you and your loved ones if you try anything?”

Dante nodded, not letting the threat to Marnie get to him. He wasn’t going to try anything. He just wanted to get this over with. Blukke flashed a smile, nodding as well.

When Roan returned the next morning, he brought with him the news that Prim’s escort shift was open today and would need to be filled by one of them.