That he had this power over life and death shook him. Once triggered, it was something he didn’t seem to be able to control.
Control comes with practice. And the woman is nothing. Just a useless distraction. You have a destiny to embrace.
The voice was insistent, but he ignored it.
The woman’s emotions pulsed erratically as she followed him. Why could he sense them? Usually he interpreted such things on a low level from an individual’s energy, but this—at times they were so clear, it was as though they were his own.
She was far more beautiful in real life than she’d been in his dream. Intoxicating, like a drug. Or at least, what he imagined a drug would be like if it worked on him. But he’d never experienced the kind of euphoria that coursed through him when she met his eyes.
His fingers itched to touch her.
The inner presence pushed, insisting the woman was unimportant. Nikolai gave himself a mental shake to disperse it, and from beneath his hair, Mai squeaked.
The persistent voice wasn’t right this time—every cell of his being believed the woman was important. But why? His experience with women was nearly nonexistent. Yet one look at this one and his entire body ached.
Such obsession made little sense. And after what he’d just done—he had no right to touch her.
Her concern for this Lucas person pulsed from her, an emotion he couldn’t deny. She was right to be worried—her friend was dying. There was very little of his life essence left.
They emerged at the top of the first flight of stairs, but he crossed the landing and kept climbing, following the faint traces of the dying man. Or Morph? What the hell was a Morph? His mind spun at too many revelations in too short a time. From white-haired portal walkers that threw energy, to Dragons that spent part of their time as beautiful women, and voices that spoke in his head. Was he losing his mind?
If everything he was experiencing was real, then he’d have to admit that Dragons were real, and that one was hiding inside the beautiful woman who followed him. How was that possible? Some insects were capable of changing from an initial form to a completely different one, but that was a natural, and slow, process. Nothing in his experience explained what he’d seen her do.
If he were honest, although the discovery that Dragons were real rocked his world, the fact she wasn’t human only added to his intrigue.
Ngubi had suspected that Nikolai wasn’t human, and now, Nikolai believed it to be true. Not that he had an explanation for just what he was, or what he could do.
The Dragon looked as human as he did. But she wasn’t. She was every bit as beautiful, however, as she’d been in his dream. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he would do whatever it took to help her.
Where did this Lucas fit in? As he squeezed past three dead Dires on the stairs, he confessed he had no idea.
The Dires’ features were contorted even in death. There wasn’t a mark on them. The knot in Nikolai’s gut twisted tighter.
Mai chittered at him as they climbed. The little shrew’s warm presence was soothing, a tiny bit of normality in this strange new world. A normality he clung to, as the life essence he followed flickered—Nikolai began to run.
Lucas would die, unless they could find him in time.
Nikolai burst onto the second level landing. He had to shove the door open against another Dire body. It led him into a hall, this one lined with wood beneath his feet, and plaster on the walls.
There. The room at the end—it was locked. Just like the dungeon below, Nikolai’s desperation, and impatience, fed into the burst of raw energy that sent it flying.
The space beyond was ornate, with a huge poster bed in one corner and artwork prominently displayed—including sculptures of various species engaged in what appeared to be sexual acts. The walls were lined with contraptions that mystified Nikolai.
A slim young man hung from chains in the center of it.
Nikolai froze. This close, the fading life essence was as unmistakable as the image that flashed through his mind. This was, indeed, his Lucas.
He was naked, and blood dripped slowly from his body to pool on the floor beneath him. But that wasn’t what was killing him. Too much life had been drained from this place.
But it hadn’t been Nikolai that had done all the damage. His heart twisted as he surveyed the wicked slices on the smooth skin.Chained and beaten.He raised his hands and the black fog shot to the metal links. They shattered, and he caught Lucas before he fell.
The young man was alive, but barely. Nikolai closed his eyes and searched—but there was not enough life energy left around him to do what he needed to do.
There is more. Much more. You only have to reach for it.
He knew all about it, now. But he’d cut himself off from it, to stop the destruction. Dare he tap into it again?
Lucas would die, if he didn’t.
