“Duck,” the deep voice replied. “Even if she takes out a wall—where is she going to go?”
A pause. “Point.”
The bird chirped at her and vanished in a cloud of ash. Dani stifled a sneeze. What the hell had that thing been? Since when did birds vanish?
Maybe she was hallucinating.
She had to get out of here. The stone ledge was about fifteen feet wide in the center, tapering at each edge. Clutching the sheet close to her chest, she leaned over...
Dani couldn’t see the ground. Only clouds. She swallowed. How far up did one have to be for clouds to bebelowyou? Certainly, too far for a Dire to jump.
The deep voice continued. “I’ve got guards stationed at the ramps.”
Dani noted the comment. There were ramps. Useful when you were above the clouds.
A snort from the other speaker, then something about flinging vases and flowers? And bowing to “thirteen years of wisdom,” before the comment, “Just don’t prove me wrong.”
Leaning forward so she could hear, Dani flinched as a huge form appeared almost right beside her. It had launched from the ledge near her own. She cowered against the wall as it swept past.
A Dragon. Purple, like the one she’d buried during the battle. But who had he been talking to?
Dani skittered back from the ledge just as a footstep sounded from outside the bedroom door and the knob started to turn.
She froze. Then she did the only thing she could—she ran to the bed. The sheet snagged on the bedframe, and she shrugged out of it before jumping within and pulling the draperies shut. Hidden by the soft fabric, she called upon her beast. As her form writhed painfully, she gritted her teeth and peered through the crack where the two pieces of fabric joined.
It wasn’t a Dragon that entered the room, but a man. A huge man with long, dark hair. Gleaming blue and green scales ran over his legs and hips, extending up over his chest. His arms were bare and covered in Dragon tattoos that seemed familiar. When his hair moved, metal glinted in his ears.
Was this the man from her dreams? The details blurred in her memory. When he’d landed near the river, he’d been too far away for her to see all this.
One temple now bore a livid scar that looked fresh, almost like a burn.
Her mind flashed back to the Dragon towering over her at the cemetery, and to the pulse of raw power that had nailed it—right across the temple. She inhaled hard—the man’s scent was strong, but not like a Dire’s. Or a Sabre’s. It wasn’t musky like a mammal, but at once sharper, yet more subtle. Almost metallic.
Her heart did an odd flutter. What was it about the way he smelled?
She got an eyeful of the scale suit. A suit that hugged him like a second skin—because that was exactly what it must be, she realized.
The scales covered him, but revealed every contour. Of which there were many. Some she had to rip her gaze away from—surely there had to be some degree of enhancement involved...
Focus, Dani.Remy had said the Dragons were trouble. Mind you, he was hardly one to speak. Remy had been a total bastard.
But she’d faced this Dragon across a battlefield. She’d thrown things at him. Large, damaging things.
He wasn’t likely to forgive that.
Dani’s gaze narrowed as she peered through the curtains. He was carrying a tray with a pitcher and a cup, but the door remained open behind him. If she could distract him for a moment—her Dire form was crazy fast. She could outrun him, no problem.
Dani’s gaze slid past him to the shelving unit along the wall. It was filled with books. Not as heavy as she’d like. Textbooks would be better.
But they’d have to do.
* * *
Tyrez balanced the tray on an arm as he unlocked the door.
The bed curtains were drawn. He’d left them open. And the sheet lay on the floor outside them.
Tyrez paused, listening for signs of wakefulness.
