To Love a Dragon - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,15

are walking. You and Serek may shelter here for as long as you need.”

Leyloni’s heart clenched, and she nearly collapsed with relief. She’d not realize quite how heavily the uncertainty of having viable shelter had weighed upon her before the last few days, and his offer greatly eased that burden. Even if she and Serek only remained here for another day or two, until the storm had passed, it was enough. “Thank you, Arysteon.”

Serek grunted. For a few moments, he didn’t breathe, and his face turned a dark shade of red. Then came a vibrating burst of sound that Leyloni felt against her arm, which had been cradling his bottom.

Arysteon’s scaled brow ridges fell, the spines along his back rose, and he stretched his neck, moving his head closer. His tongue flicked out again. Not a moment after it had slid back into his mouth, he recoiled with a snarl, spines slapping flat. “How can a creature so small produce so foul a stench?”

Serek giggled.

The dragon pushed up on his front legs and twisted around, swinging his head toward the entrance of the cave. His sides heaved with several deep breaths.

Leyloni laughed, which caused the baby to giggle more. She could relate. The first time she’d changed Serek to help Atalla, it had taken her a good while to stop gagging.

A shudder coursed through Arysteon, shaking him from his snout down to the tip of his tail. “I assume by your reaction that such odors are normal?”

“From him?” Leyloni’s smile was so wide that her cheeks ached. “Yes.”

“Perhaps we had best keep him outside.”

Leyloni chuckled and looked at Serek, who was gnawing on his fist with drool trickling down his arm. “Come, Serek. Let us get you cleaned up before Arysteon rethinks his offer to let us stay.”

She crouched next to her bag and dug out one of the spare diaper cloths. She took it, Serek, and some fallen leaves as far back into the cavern as she could while still having enough light by which to work and changed him.

Once she was done, she carried Serek back the fire. She placed him on the floor and dumped the soiled leaves into the flames. Another bit of rummaging in her bag produced some of the soapberries she had stashed toward the bottom.

Leyloni looked at Arysteon, who had turned to face her again. “Would you…keep watch on him for a moment?”

The dragon perked and nodded.

Offering Arysteon a smile, Leyloni hurried to the cavern opening, giving him a wide berth. Though she could’ve sworn she’d asked him about the stories of dragons becoming human through touch, she could not recall whether he’d told her if it was true—but it seemed best to make him aware that she had no intention of testing it against his will.

For his part, he didn’t seem very concerned.

The smell of the storm—and of the forest; alive, earthen, and damp—struck her when she reached her destination. Since the rain had begun yesterday, she’d not stopped to appreciate the way it added to and altered the forest’s smell. That had always been one of her favorite things to do before…

Leyloni frowned. There would be time to dwell upon all that later. There would be time to grieve. For now, she had to care for Serek. So long as the two of them were safe, the Moss tribe was not gone.

She rinsed the soiled diaper cloth as thoroughly as possible in one of the large puddles just outside the cavern entrance, crushing a soapberry and working it into the cloth. She ignored the pattering of cold rain against her head and back.

Once satisfied, she moved to another puddle and rinsed the cloth before scrubbing her hands with another berry.

As she returned to the cavern, she paused at the entrance and tilted her head back to catch some of the runoff from overhead in her mouth, relishing the taste and feel of the cool water. Despite drinking her fill, Leyloni was only reminded of her deep, gnawing hunger.

Serek’s giggles echoed within the cavern, creating a fleeting impression that there were several babies inside rather than just one. Leyloni’s heart lurched, hit by a fresh wave of sorrow. So much had been lost. There were so many faces she’d never see again outside her memories, her dreams. How long before those faces faded in her mind’s eye?

It would have been so easy to lie down beneath that crushing sorrow and give up. It would have been so easy to have stayed with