Jim the dog—I’ll assume Kostya was correct about his name—followed us, bumping his nose into the back of my leg when I stopped suddenly at the front door. “What? Oh, yeah, you want payment. Um”—I switched languages and addressed Kostya—“the doctor wants to be paid. I don’t suppose you have any cash? Doesn’t matter if it’s wet or not.”

Kostya’s black eyes spoke volumes, none of which were the least bit helpful.

“Fine,” I snapped, pulling open my purse, which was strapped across my body. “You can owe me. Visa okay, Dr. Ek?”

It was, and after a couple of minutes, we found ourselves on the flagstone pathway that led across a tiny green lawn. The sun was still in twilight mode, leaving the trees beyond the road silhouetted against a hazy amber sky. Dark shapes flitted across the sky every now and again—bats out for the evening’s hunt. I drew in a deep breath, catching a faint note of lilac on the air, but mostly it was Kostya’s intriguing scent that filled my awareness.

I turned to Kostya and took his hand, giving it a firm shake before dropping it and saying in a bright, chipper voice, “Well, it was interesting meeting you and having my breasts squished against your chest. I hope your head feels better. I’m sure you can take the dog to your sister-in-law. You can donate the money for your doctor bill to whatever charity strikes your fancy. Good-bye.”

I turned and walked to the car, well aware that both the dog and the man were right behind me. I sighed when I reached the car. “You don’t have a car, do you? Fine, I’ll take you into town; then you can find your own way to wherever you’re going.”

“I will be tracked if I rent a vehicle. I will use yours instead,” Kostya said, then reached around and grabbed the keys from my hand, ignoring my protest to open the door and get into the driver’s seat.

“What the—Oh, you are not going to steal my car on top of everything!” I snarled, jerking open the back door and shoving Jim into the car before leaping in after him. And just in time—Kostya had started up the car before I could get the door closed.

“Where do you live?” Kostya asked.

“What? Are you insane? You actually think I’m going to tell you where my house is? You’re carjacking me!” I managed to get myself disentangled from the dog and sat up, considering how best to disable Kostya without causing him to crash.

“I’m not insane. I do not know where I am, but evidently you have a home here. We will go there, and then you will tell me everything I wish to know, following which I will return to my home and continue my quest to rid the world of all red dragons.”

Red dragons? Oh no, he was just like Terrin, believing in people who were secretly dragons. And if that didn’t scare the pants off of me, nothing would.

“You are so setting off my crazy alert warning bells,” I told the back of his head. I searched for something with which I could conk him on the noggin, but only halfheartedly—for one because it was dangerous to disable a driver in that manner, but mostly because the poor guy already had been walloped hard enough to leave a lump.

Poor guy? the sane part of my brain asked. Poor guy? He’s kidnapping you!

“Look,” I said in my most calming, reasonable voice, the one I found went really far in convincing Dr. Barlind that I had no more need of such heinous things as shock therapy and mind-altering drugs. “I know how it is when things around you get a little… intense. But kidnapping isn’t the answer. Why don’t you pull over, and we can talk about this. I’ll help you as much as I can, I promise.”

To my surprise, he pulled over to the grassy verge on the edge of the road. We were out of the tiny town, driving through the seemingly endless grassy pastureland where sheep and cows rubbed elbows with elk and reindeer. “I need a secure location from which I can evaluate the situation. I must determine if I’m being stalked or if they believe me dead. If they saw you rescue me…”

“They who?” I asked when he didn’t continue. For some reason, I felt a wave of empathy toward him, despite the fact that he wasn’t as sane as I first thought he was. “Are you implying that someone would have an issue with me pulling you out of the water?”

“They would likely kill you if they knew, yes,” he said matter-of-factly. “After they tortured you to find out what you know, of course.”

“Of course.” To my surprise, my empathy grew. I’d been in that poor man’s shoes, when no one believed me, and I knew well how much a sympathetic person could mean to one’s peace of mind.

“I won’t let them do either,” Kostya suddenly said, piercing me with a glittering look from those onyx eyes. “You have shown me kindness, and for that, I will not allow harm to come to you.”

“That’s very noble,” I answered, touched by his statement despite the unusual circumstance. I felt oddly protected, which wasn’t a wholly unwelcome feeling, although I could have wished my erstwhile protector had a few more wits about him.

“Will you take me to your home?” he asked.

I hesitated.

“I have sworn that no harm will come to you,” he said, correctly interpreting my unspoken concern. “That includes from me. I pose you no danger.”

“Well…” I bit my lip, weighing common sense with the understanding of what it was like to be cast adrift where no one would listen, really listen, to what it was you were saying. Kostya clearly had more than one screw loose in that attractive head of his, but that’s what others had said about me. I knew well what it was to have judgments made about me without having my voice heard, and I had sworn that I would never be in that position again.

Didn’t I owe it to deal with him as I wish I had been treated?

“All right,” I heard myself say. “It’s late, and I don’t suppose there’s a hotel or B&B we could park you at, so you’re welcome to spend what’s left of the night at my house. So long as you understand that should you attempt to assault me in any way, I will not hesitate to defend myself. And I know how to shoot my father’s guns.”

He made a face in the mirror. “I do not force myself on women, if that is what you fear.”

“It’s what every woman fears,” I told him, and got out of the backseat when he exited the front, holding the door open for me. I got behind the wheel, giving him a cautious look when he slid in beside me. I pulled back onto the road, saying, “There’s one thing I think you should know. I recently spent time in a facility for people who have a certain amount of mental confusion about life, and for that reason, I don’t put up with people who think it’s funny to poke fun at mental health, or the lack thereof. So you can just drop the references to dragons, dogs that can talk, and that sort of Alice in Wonderland crap because it’s not amusing.”