Page 9 of Pets in Space 10

Landry leaned against the rail of the back deck and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Cap’s old skiff disappear around the bend. The low whine of the outboard motor trailed off like a dying mosquito in the humid air.

The ripples left in its wake shimmered beneath the slanting morning sun, but even that golden light couldn’t quite break through the low hanging fog that clung to the water’s surface nor shake the chill prickling down his spine.

Beside him, Harmonia stood silent, arms wrapped around her waist. Her braid fluttered gently in the breeze.

She stared after the boat with a furrowed brow, her profile etched with quiet focus and something else — concern.

Landry could feel it in her posture. Not fear, exactly — something older. Deeper.

Anticipation. Dread. Determination.

A combination of all three, maybe.

The stillness was broken by two soft splashes below the deck. Water lapped against the wood. He looked down in time to see a pair of dripping water dragons clamber up from the river like overly enthusiastic house cats. A second later, tiny claws scrabbled at his jeans.

Lilypad and Pug.

Pug tugged on his pant leg while Lilypad gave Landry a sideways glance before weaving around Harmonia’s ankles.

Harmonia dropped into a graceful squat. “What is it?” she asked softly, brushing water from Lilypad’s fin with her fingers.

The dragons launched into a rapid exchange of squeaky chirps, guttural trills, and soft clicks, their eyes wide with urgency.

Lilypad’s tail flicked, her wings fluttering with anxiety as she waved her claws in dramatic arcs, while Pug attempted to impose order on what had become a squeaky shouting match.

Landry blinked.

Then froze.

Because he understood them.

Not just tone, not just vague intuition like with a pet — but words. Concepts. Language.

They were speaking.

“Wait,” he murmured, frowning as he tilted his head.

“You… you’re talking. Like… full-on talking.

I mean, syntax. Inflection. Sentence structure.

” His brow furrowed. “Are your vocal folds that complex? No, you’d need a multi-chambered resonance system — maybe something with a crystalline larynx or — ”

He broke off when he felt a sudden, burning glare.

Lilypad.

Tiny. Wet. And clearly offended.

She slowly turned her head toward him, eyes narrowed like she’d just caught him insulting her grandmother’s cooking.

“Well, excuse us for not fitting into your neatly labeled Earth taxonomy,” she snapped, wings bristling.

Landry’s mouth opened. Then closed.

Then opened again.

“You can… you just… did you just — ”

Pug rolled his eyes. “This planet’s species clearly don’t evolve very quickly. Harmonia, perhaps you should consider mating elsewhere. Preferably somewhere with brains.”

Harmonia jerked upright like she’d been slapped with a wet fish. “W-what?! I — Pug! That’s — not — I mean — I wasn’t — ”

Landry’s face went crimson. “I’m not — I mean we’re not — dating or mating or whatever you — look, I’m a biologist, okay?! I was just trying to process how you talk! You’re lizards!”

Lilypad gasped.

“Did you just call us lizards?” she hissed, her tail whipping side to side in outrage.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Landry groaned, dragging a hand down his face.

Harmonia’s voice came out a little too high-pitched. “They’re dragons, Landry. Sacred dragons on some worlds. And incredibly sensitive about taxonomy.”

“I can tell,” he muttered.

There was a long, awkward silence.

Harmonia’s cheeks were pink. Landry’s ears burned. And it wasn’t helping that Pug was clearly entertained by their discomfort.

Finally, Landry cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. “So… uh. What exactly were they — you — saying before?”

“We were telling Harmonia that there is something in the water,” Lilypad sniffed.

Pug nodded. “It was a serpent from our world, but different.”

Landry frowned. “A serpent from your world?”

Harmonia knelt again and gently laid a comforting hand on Lilypad’s wing. “How was it different?”

“The serpent that attacked our clan followed us, but it doesn’t feel like the serpents from our world. It is different. It feels evil.”

“How did you travel from your world to this one?” she asked.

Lilypad looked at her brother before reaching into the pouch on her stomach and pulling out a gold ring. Landry heard Harmonia’s startled hiss as she took the ring the water dragon held out.

“One of father’s rings, but — there’s a strange magic emitting from it. It’s not his spell,” she murmured.

He frowned. “What does a ring have to do with this? Is it like that ring the Hobbits found that makes you go nuts?”

“What is a Hobbit?” Pug asked.

“How can a ring turn you into a nut?” Lilypad scoffed.

Harmonia looked up at him with a troubled gaze. “I need to test the magic contained in the ring to discover its origins. It resembles one of my father’s rings, but the magic doesn’t feel the same.”

Landry held his hand out to help Harmonia stand.

He swore an electrical shock flashed through his body the moment they touched.

His eyes widened, and he stared into her eyes.

Her beautiful, almond-shaped eyes were wide, and there was a slightly dazed, confused expression in them, as if she had felt the same jolt as well.

“I think they are getting ready to mate. His body temperature is rising,” Pug said, tilting his head with a curious expression on his face as he watched Landry and Harmonia.

“He’s changing color, too!” Lilypad snickered.

Heat rose into his cheeks at the dragons’ teasing. He cleared his throat and released Harmonia’s hand.

“This conversation needs to be… redirected back to the evil serpent thing.”

“Agreed,” Harmonia murmured, her eyes not quite meeting his.

“I think we should do some exploring,” he blurted, then added quickly, “See if we can find signs of whatever’s going on out there. I know the swamp better than most, and you…” His eyes flicked over her, softening. “You and these two comedians clearly sense things I don’t.”

Her lips curled into a small smile. “We make a good team, then.”

“Yeah,” he said, then coughed and turned away. “Just, uh, give me five minutes to throw on a fresh shirt and maybe some socks. Barefoot fieldwork sounds like a great way to meet a water moccasin, and I’ve had enough surprises for one day.”

He stepped back inside the cabin and let the screen door snap shut behind him.

The moment he was alone, he slumped back against the wall and dropped his head against the wood with a thunk.

What the hell is happening?

Dragons. Magic. Portals. And her.

With a captivating radiance, she resembled starlight contained within a human shell, her presence both delicate and intensely bright.

Her sharp wit, unusual style, and stunning allure made her unforgettable.

And smart. And those eyes — piercing, intense, and unnervingly deep, he swore they looked right through him, to his very soul.

He’d spent his life cataloguing reptiles and saving snapping turtles.

Now he was having some interdimensional fever dream where dragons judged his intelligence and talked about mating like it was on the table.

All while a gorgeous alien woman, her eyes shimmering with that mysterious humor, sashayed around in his clothes!

It's not on the table.

Is it?

His gaze swept over his bed. All he could visualize was stripping his clothes off of Harmonia and spreading her out across the messy, pale blue sheets. His fingers curled as he imagined wrapping her hair around his hands as he —

His mind and body felt brittle and on edge with need.

He groaned again and decided to shove his head under the faucet.

Cold water dripped down his face when he straightened and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

He grabbed the towel hanging on the bar beside the door, dried his face, and finger-combed his hair before he hurriedly brushed his teeth.

I’m going to need more than a cold face wash to put out the fire, he thought with a rueful shake of his head.

He released a long series of silent curses and tried to shove the images of her and him twisted in hot, sweaty passion into the file drawer in his mind.

The problem was the damn drawer in his head was stuck in the open position. All he could see was the way his shirt and jeans clung to her body.

And the way she said we. It was like it meant something. She didn’t flinch around the chaos — she belonged to it.

He didn’t know the last time he had found a woman so intriguing — or desirable. Hell, he couldn’t even remember the name of the last woman he had spent the night with!

He shut the water off, tossed the towel back on the towel bar, and muttered to himself, “Get a grip, Savoy. She’s an otherworldly mage.

You’re a guy with a boat and a cluttered fridge.

Do not fall for the sexy witch with dragons.

It’s not like you haven’t gotten laid recently.

Okay, it’s been a while, but not that long!

This is nothing. Just keep telling yourself that. This is nothing.”

And yet, as he pulled on a clean shirt and laced up his boots, he knew it was already too late.

He was falling — hard.

In a single morning.

And the worst part?

He wasn’t sure he wanted the feeling to stop.

***

Harmonia sat in the old rocking chair, the faded green paint flaking beneath her as she stared out over the water. One hand absently turned the ring between her fingers, the gold band warm with residual magic. But her mind wasn’t on the serpent, or even the urgency of the mission. It was on him.

Landry Savoy.

She closed her eyes for a moment, replaying the jolt that had raced through her when he touched her hand — like lightning captured in a whisper. Magic always resonated with magic, but this… This wasn’t arcane. It wasn’t an echo of power or spellwork.

It was him.