Caleb and I waited for the dragons to sit down first. Then, seeing that they’d left a space for us a few feet away from Jeriad, we sat next to him.

I wet my lower lip, trying to figure out the most diplomatic way to phrase my first question. “Jeriad, what do you mean exactly by wanting The Shade’s human females?”

His dark eyebrows furrowed. “Did I not tell you already?”

“You indicated that your species need females to help you procreate.” I gave him a small, nervous smile. “But I mean, a lot of things happen between a male and female’s first meeting and having a child… right?”

I watched him closely, gauging his reaction. The blood drained from my face as his eyes narrowed on me.

“What’s the purpose of that question?” he asked.

“I want to understand how you dragons work. Here on Earth, there are certain procedures for these things, while certain behaviors are considered unacceptable.”

Jeriad exchanged glances with his comrades. Then, to my surprise, they all burst out chuckling. Their laughter was deep—almost melodious—and seemed to well up from the very pits of their stomachs.

Jeriad faced me once again. “Tell me, maiden, what your… procedures are. I think we’d all take delight in hearing them.”

Taken aback, I began stumbling for words. “Well, our procedures are usually like this. A man and woman meet. They’re either attracted to each other, or they aren’t. Only if both feel attraction do they keep seeing each other. After some time, they either fall deeply in love, or they don’t. Only if both feel love for one another do they consider spending the rest of their lives together—which will often result in having children.”

I paused.

Jeriad raised a brow. “That’s it?”

“Mm.” I nodded. “Pretty much.”

Another wave of chuckling made its way round the chamber.

“You humans are backward creatures, aren’t you?” Jeriad smirked.

I widened my eyes at him. “Excuse me?”

Jeriad stood up and closed the distance between him and me. He placed his hands on his knees as he bent down until his face was inches away from mine. “Let’s put it this way, princess,” he said softly, “if there’s anything we dragons need to be taught while here on Earth, it’s not the artistry of romance.”

Artistry of romance?

Who talks like that?

I was relieved that he’d used the word “romance”, but left in a daze by the passion blazing in his eyes. The hairs on my arms stood on end as he looked at me, even as his proximity heated me up like an oven. Tearing my eyes away from him, I stood up myself and took a few steps back from him.

“Okay.” I let out a deep breath. “So, uh, we’re cool?”

He cocked his head to one side.

“I-I mean, we appear to be on the same page. In other words, you’re looking for love.”

A small smile crept across Jeriad’s lips as he nodded. “You have no idea, damsel, of the type of love we’re capable of… If you’d stayed in our realm long enough to meet our prince, one conversation with him would have been all it would have taken to drive you to forget this vampire.”

Caleb’s jaw tensed. My hands balled into fists as I felt them begin to heat up.

“If you’re still entertaining any notions that I am to be swayed,” I said heatedly, “I suggest you drop them now, dragon. Nothing, and I repeat, nothing, could replace this man in my eyes. Not a dragon. Not a werewolf. Not a god. Nor a whole planet swarming with all three.”

The warm light of the lanterns lining the walls flickered in Jeriad’s eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. “If you say so,” he said, a hint of amusement playing across his face. “We won’t waste our time in pursuing you.”

I paused, waiting for my body to cool down before continuing, “And—once you have courted and chosen your partners—would you want to take them back to The Hearthlands?”

“If our lovers so desired,” Jeriad said. “Now we’ve discovered a gate, we would certainly wish for our offspring to return there.”

“Okay.” I sat back down next to Caleb, lifting his arm and sliding it around me as I kept my eyes on Jeriad. There was something strangely charming about these dragons. Their words should have come across as arrogant and presumptuous. But somehow, they didn’t. I’d only gotten irritated because they’d made Caleb feel uncomfortable and, while I didn’t believe for a moment that their prince could make me forget Caleb, I couldn’t ignore the confidence that oozed from every pore of their skin. I didn’t doubt that they were expert lovers and would be capable of making any woman very, very happy.

The door creaked open behind us. I whirled around to see my parents enter the room.

“Hi, Mom and Dad,” I said, beckoning them over toward us. “So Jeriad and I have been having a little talk and we’ve come to a clearer understanding. They want to stay here and romance our single ladies.”

My father looked around at the crowd. “How many of you wish to stay?” he asked.

“I would estimate just one hundred of us to start with,” Jeriad replied. “Some of our group here with me now—ten or so—will return to inform the royal family, and come back again to the island with the prince—for whom finding a partner is a priority.”

One hundred dragons. That would provide us all with a nice amount of protection.