“Not bad,” Ash stated. “My first landings were much more dramatic. And you disentangled from those trees with admirable dexterity.”
Lucas had to stifle his annoyance. “You’ve been watching the entire time? I had a helluva time finding the ledge. Why didn’t you shout out to me?”
The Dragon shifter shrugged. “I have learned that even minor influences need to be carefully considered.”
Lucas’s jaws opened to debate with him, but then he remembered just who, and what, Ash was. Did leaving Lucas out there searching for an extra fifteen minutes really influence the future? Who really knew? Even Ash must guess a lot. And therein lay the answer.
Lucas couldn’t imagine having to consider every move you make as a harbinger of the future. Talk about a good way to embrace insanity.
He let the morph take him back to human, and immediately realized that in his worry over flying again, he’d forgotten a small detail—his clothes.
Ash smiled and handed him what Lucas had thought was a towel—it turned out to be a pair of sweat pants and a tee shirt. As Lucas pulled them on, he asked, “Are you ever wrong?”
Ash lost his smile. “The timelines don’t lie. But my interpretations are often wrong.”
Lucas regretted his question. “It must be difficult.”
Ash turned away, leading Lucas through the doorway. “It is.”
This cave was much larger than Cara’s. The living area offered a variety of furniture, most of it covered in cushions. Dani and Tyrez sprawled together on the couch. They separated as Lucas appeared.
Lucas glanced from them to Ash. “You know why I’m here.” It was a statement, not a question.
Ash nodded as he sat and gestured Lucas to a chair. “Yes. We agree it is the only way forward. The methods you have been forced to use—Nikolai can’t wait for the runes to be disabled in that fashion.”
Lucas couldn’t sit. Instead, he paced back and forth along the edges. “What have you seen?”
Ash’s gaze swirled with color. “Most timelines reflect cataclysmic events. Nikolai losing his mind, and Galeran continuing to use his body to wreak havoc across the realms. His target after Meiros is this one. The human realm.” His expression took on a haunted appearance. “It isn’t pretty. But others show Nikolai freed from the runes, but so damaged that he is as much a risk as he was with Galeran.”
Lucas’s guts were twisted into painful knots. “Is there no hope, then?”
Tyrez answered. “There is hope, if we act now. Ash believes you are the key.”
Lucas swallowed. Suddenly, his plan seemed ridiculous. “If my scheme is the only hope, we’re in big trouble. And it has all kinds of issues. First and foremost is finding where Galeran has hidden Nikolai. And then, even if I dangle myself as bait, I’m not sure Demeti’ll take me with him. He might want to play with me, but he knows what I am, and might be suspicious—another collar will end my initiative right quick.”
Ash folded his fingers together and rested his chin on them. “I have an idea about some of that. You do a pretty damned good imitation of me.”
Lucas shrugged. “I have your DNA,” he pointed out. “I’m a morph, it’s what I do.”
Ash fidgeted as he glanced toward Dani. She cleared her throat and spoke. “Ash and Demeti have a long history. Suffice it to say that Demeti would do anything to get his hands on him.”
Lucas looked from her to Ash. The young shifter’s features were frozen, but his eyes revealed much.
It hit Lucas hard. He knew that look. Had seen it many times in the mirror. It provided much insight as to the kind of warped things that had transpired between Demeti and Ash.
But his agile mind pushed past his own nightmares, to the potential this information offered.
Ash cleared his throat. “I have a time, and a place. But if we’re going to do it, we need to move now.”
Lucas’s heart accelerated. Suddenly, the pieces were all in his grasp, and the obstacles became something surmountable.
“Aria won’t approve,” he said.
“I’m betting Cara won’t either,” Tyrez rumbled. “We’ll bring them in on the plan once you’re in place.”
Lucas nodded. “Then let’s do it.”
* * *
