“They aren’t. My father lives in Tanzania. The only thing he shares with my mother, my sisters and me excluded, is a passion for animals. That’s how they met. My father came to Australia a few centuries before the white settlers, wanting to see for himself the wildlife that was so abundant here. My mother was shaman for one of the aboriginal tribes and healed him when he got himself into trouble with a tiger snake. He stayed for about ten years, but eventually they went their separate ways.”

“That’s rather sad.” I mused on how I’d feel if one of the other wyverns attempted to steal my shard-infested self from Gabriel. “I take it your mother is immortal, then? How can she be that if she’s not his mate?”

“She’s a shaman.”

“And shamans are immortal?” That puzzled me. I’d never heard of shamans being anything but mortal.

“Not technically. Shamans can walk in the Dreaming, though. My mother simply sends her spirit there when her mortal body wears out, and returns to the mortal world when she’s reborn.”

“Ahhh. Very smart. How many times has she come back?”

“Too many to count. That should be her camp up there.” His eyes glittered in the darkness of the car as the headlights picked out a small cluster of ratty tents. As the noise of the car reached it, a couple of people stood up from where they’d been sitting around a large campfire.

A little spike of nervousness gripped my stomach.

“You have nothing to be nervous about, little bird. My mother will love you,” Gabriel said, reading either my mind or the wary expression that no doubt planted itself on my face.

A tall, elegant-looking woman with skin the color of espresso beans strode forward, her smile when she saw Gabriel as warm as the waves of heat that still rose off the cooling dirt of the desert.

She called out a greeting and enveloped him in a huge bear hug, kissing him on both cheeks and examining his face for a moment before she allowed him to introduce me.

“You look well, child. You look . . . happy.”

“For that, you have May to thank,” he said, holding out his hand for me.

“I am Kaawa Mani. I have heard of you from my friends, child,” she said as she eyed me from the top of my head down to my dusty walking shoes.

“I’m very sorry about my appearance. We had a little accident with my clothing,” I said as she paused to note the fact that I was clad in only Gabriel’s shirt. “But it’s a great pleasure to meet you.”