A sandstorm passed through here. She’s smart, so I’m sure she took shelter inside the cab. She’s probably just passed out from the heat and exhaustion.
When we uncover the driver’s side door, I jerk it open, only to find the cab empty. No sign of my best friend.
John places a hand on my shoulder with a sad look. “If she’s not here, I hate to say it, but she is probably dead.”
I don’t want his pity. I shrug his hand away. “She’s not dead, John.”
He shakes his head, frustrated. “Look, I know she’s your friend, but you have to face the facts. If she’s not in the rover, there’s no way she survived that storm.”
“You don’t know that,” I snap.
He glances at the sky. “It’s going to be dark soon. We need to head back to camp.”
“Not yet.” I scan the rover for any clues to my friend’s fate. My heart sinks when I notice her blaster and jacket on the passenger floor. She wouldn’t have left those behind unless she had no choice.
Tears sting my eyes and blur my vision as I stare out at the vast expanse of scarlet sand. Caught in the wind, sand grains weave through canyons and around the towering rock formations jutting up from the earth. I turn my gaze toward the pale-blue sky.
She can’t be gone. She just can’t.
Strong arms wrap around me as John pulls me into a hug. He gently runs a hand over my long, blonde hair. “I’m sorry, Skye. I really am.”
Despite my resolve to remain strong, unbidden tears escape my lashes and run down my cheeks as I rest my head against his chest, struggling to hold back a sob. How could we have ventured so far into the dark void of space only for her life to end here? We could have forged a new life with the last of our people, escaping the world that generations before us poisoned beyond saving.
A soft scrape across my forehead pulls me back from my dark thoughts. John’s chapped lips brush across my skin. He continues down my temple to my cheek and just as he’s about to bring his mouth to mine, I jerk back, stunned. “What are you doing?”
“Just trying to offer you some comfort.” He leans in to try again.
I place my palm firmly against his chest and push him away. “I’m fine.”
He responds by tightening his arms around me. “No, you’re not. You’re in shock,” he murmurs. “That’s to be expected after losing a friend.”
I shove him again. “Let go of me.”
“Come on, Skye. I’m just trying to comfort you. Stop acting like you don’t want me.”
“I don’t want you,” I snap, staring incredulously.
His expression hardens. “What are you talking about? I’ve seen the way you look at me. We both know you want this.”
Is he crazy? “I don’t know what you’re talking about, John. Now, let me go!”
He shoves me away, slamming me back against the rover. Pain explodes across the back of my skull as he cages me in with his arms. His towering form looms over me. “Stop playing hard to get, Skye. I’m getting tired of it.”
John has always had a thing for me. But it’s never been reciprocated; we’re just friends and nothing more. In all the time we spent together on the ship, I’ve never had any reason to fear him until now.
“I’m not playing, John.” I force myself to straighten and meet his eyes evenly, trying to appear unafraid so he won’t think I’m weak. “I mean it! Let me go!”
He leans in to kiss me again. I knee him in the groin.
He yelps in pain, doubling over. I use the opportunity to escape.
“You’re going to pay for that!” he snarls.
I dive into the rover, gripping the handle of Lilly’s blaster firmly before he jerks me back out by my ankles. My head hits the door as he slams me face-first against the panel. The world tilts and spins dizzyingly. He once again pins me against the frame with his larger form.
Using all my strength, I twist onto my back and jam the blaster’s barrel into his chest. “Get off of me,” I growl through gritted teeth. “Or I swear, I’ll shoot you!”
A shadow passes overhead, blocking the light of the sun. Squinting toward the sky, I gasp when I see a hulking creature fly toward us.
Noticing my expression, John turns, following my gaze, and releases a shrill cry. “What the hell is that?”
A massive talon swipes out, throwing him off me. He hits a nearby boulder with a sickening thud before sliding to the ground in a crumpled heap.
I stare at the creature in wide-eyed shock. It’s a light gray dragon straight from the old Earth legends, a myth made manifest before my eyes. It circles before landing in front of me. In a whirl of dust and wind, it transforms into a man covered in pale, gray scales that shimmer iridescently beneath the sun.
Stunned, I freeze as he reaches out to cup my cheek. His scales are unexpectedly soft against my skin. He studies me with a piercing gaze, his ice-blue, vertically slit pupils contracting and expanding as he stares down at me.
My head is still spinning and a part of me wonders if I’m stuck in a fever dream.
Tall, white horns spiral up from his head. My gaze travels over his face. He has a proud, square jaw and masculine bone structure. A long, jagged scar cuts from just above his left brow to the top of his cheek, and I wonder how he didn’t lose his eye to this injury.
Instead of diminishing his beauty, the scar lends him a dangerous, masculine edge. Not that I should be thinking about that while he eyes me like I’m his next meal.
He’s taller than any human I’ve met and his shoulders are broad. His abdomen and chest are built with layers of rippling muscle. A strange,
