“Carson.” Leftrin was decided on that. “He’s mine. Not a keeper, even if that dragon has claimed him. I’m not going to send a regular crewman off on this. I want to move on today, not sit here and wait.”

“Carson, then. Alone?”

“I’ll let him choose if he wants a companion. This is such a damn nuisance.”

“WHY ME?” SEDRIC asked the question quietly.

Carson glanced back at him, a puzzled smile on his face. “I thought by now you’d realize that I like to spend time with you.”

Despite his worries, Sedric found himself answering Carson’s smile. That response seemed to be enough for the hunter. He faced front again and dug his paddle into the water. Sedric copied him and tried to keep pace with him. The physical strength he had developed since he’d begun keeping company with the hunter surprised him. As for Carson, he’d complimented Sedric more than once on the developing muscles in his arms and chest.

Sedric glanced back, a bit uneasily, to watch the barge shrinking behind them. The boat had become the one point of safety in his life. It ran counter to all his instincts to be moving away from it in this tiny vessel, even with Carson guiding their way. A flash of silver caught his eye. “Your dragon is following us, I think.”

Carson lifted his head for a moment. Then, without turning to look, he gave a tight nod. “That he is.”

“Why?”