The dark gaze sought his.
Lucas pushed the hand toward the ground, reversing it so the acorn could touch the soil.
“I can’t do this.” The protest was barely a whisper. “I’m not just blocked from the core power. I can’t access the life energy, either.”
Lucas wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Use me; I know you can do it.”
Nikolai’s eyes flashed to his—he caught a hint of gray in the panicked gaze. “If this works, I could kill you.”
“You’ve saved me three times. Don’t think you’ll kill me now.” He hoped not, anyway. This was the ultimate test of whether their encounter was real, or just a dream.
He squeezed his fingers on the back of Nikolai’s hand. “Just try, Nikolai.”
The big man assessed him solemnly, the gray now swirling about equal parts with the black in his irises. Then he nodded, and closed them.
The hand beneath Lucas’s fingers flexed, and he became aware of a strange draining sensation, as though he held a morph beyond his capacity to do so. He shuddered, and held on. Nikolai needed to do this. If he stopped fighting Galeran, all was lost.
The big man took a deep breath, and the feeling intensified until it transformed from discomfort to pain. Lucas gritted his teeth. Just when it passed the point of being bearable, Nikolai pulled his hand away.
Lucas looked down upon a tiny seedling. Only two leaves, but amid all the death, the vivid green almost glowed. He swayed, but a strong arm reached out to steady him. And the hand closing around his bicep sent a trickle of energy back into him. Nikolai’s life essence, freely offered.
Lucas relaxed into the contact, sighed, and looked up at Nikolai.
For just an instant, Nikolai’s brilliant eyes glowed blue. Then he blinked, and they were just gray. But there was no trace of the black.
The big man smiled. “Thank you, Lucas,” he said.
“You can fight this, Nikolai,” Lucas insisted. “You have to.”
Nikolai nodded, but then he stiffened, as the surrounding ground heaved.
He shoved Lucas away, so hard he rolled before jackknifing to his feet. He spun to see chains shoot from the ground to wind like giant metallic snakes around Nikolai. The big man fought, but they dragged him down into the dark earth, an agonizing inch at a time.
Lucas ran to him.
“No, Lucas!” When the Morph reached for the chains, Nikolai stopped fighting. In an instant, they yanked him into the earth, and he was gone.
No!
Lucas shot upright in the bed. His heart thundered like he’d run a race. For a moment he stared at the tapestry on the far wall, before he collapsed on his side. He curled into a ball, wrapped his arms around his bent legs, and shook.
His anguish surprised him. Nikolai had saved his life, and he owed the big man. But this pain was a thing of the heart. It ached as though it was tearing in two.
As though stopping what was happening to Nikolai was more than just a matter of honor, or helping Aria to be with him.
Did he actuallycareabout Nikolai?
A firm knock on the door. “Lucas? Are you okay?”
Lucas fought to still the trembling. Only then did he realize he was clothed in the golden scale shorts. Had he done that in reality just as he had in the dream?
“Lucas?”
Having her in his bedroom would not help him regain any balance. “I’m okay, Aria.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you. Your energy is spiking like mad.”
“It was just a nightmare.”
