In their place, a sense of calm. Of being part of a greater whole, and no more important than any other piece of it.
The glow faded. The Watchers turned their backs on him and walked away. All except Cara.
“Do you feel it?” she asked Nikolai. But he wondered about the sadness in her tone. “Open your mind. It is there, waiting for you.”
He closed his eyes and immediately sensed the life energy, more powerful than ever before. It connected every living thing to each other, and its roots went deep, all the way to the seething power he felt far below.
“It will ground you, Nikolai. Tie you to not only this realm, but any other you should choose to visit. It is a piece of you, it always has been. But you need to immerse yourself in it, and not just use it when it suits you.” She gestured to the Bellatis. “They will show you how to be a Unicorn. Run free, Nikolai.”
She turned, and walked away.
A tiny part of him wanted to protest, but the life essence washed over and through him, chasing the urge away. He turned to the Bellatis. One snorted, and shook its thick mane.
“Thou shall walk with us,” it said. Its accent was odd, but understandable.
Walk? Nikolai took a single, staggering step. This wasn’t his body. And yet, it was.
“Don’t overthink,” the Bellati said. “Just let thy legs move. Focus on walking forward.” The Unicorn moved away, swishing his thick tail.
Nikolai focused on following him. After the first few steps, he found his rhythm. And when the group moved up to a trot, he was able to go with them. His Unicorn body knew what to do.
The Bellati who had spoken to him shook his mane and took the group to a gallop.
Nikolai’s legs effortlessly matched theirs, his long strides eating up the ground, his lungs filling as they extended, and emptying as they folded beneath him. As his hooves flew over the meadow, the life energy flowed from the earth below, through them, and back again, in an endless, balanced cycle.
It filled his soul. And it was good.
For now,promised the voice inside.
30
Aria offered Mai a tiny piece of bagel.
The shrew wiggled her long nose and then gazed reproachfully up at her with her vivid-blue eyes.
“No, eh? Think we’re all out of meat. And bugs are in short supply when it’s this cold.”
Lucas breezed into the kitchen and opened the cupboard. His spiky hair was damp. She’d never seen a guy spend so much time in the shower. He also already sported his cloak, even though he had other things to wear now, and it was warm in the house.
Wild animals sometimes behaved in strange ways. It just added interest to Lucas as an individual. Weird, but tantalizing.
Tantalizing? Aria blinked. Where had that come from?
“Try this,” he suggested, handing her a jar.
Ariablushed, dammit. Like a sharding youngling. She avoided his eye by examining his offering. “Peanut butter?”
“Good protein source. People feed birds suet mixed with peanuts in the winter.”
“What’s a peanut?”
Lucas raised his brows at her. “A type of nut.”
“Well, I guessed that.”
“Then why did you ask?” He quirked a brow at her. “To be honest, it isn’t a nut.”
“You just said it was.”
