Nikolai must have sensed her angst. “Do not worry. So long as you are with me, nothing will hurt you.”
The comment, as powerful as an oath, sent a ripple through her. Who thehellwas this guy?
Carried by Nikolai, Lucas chose that moment to wake up. He started with a groan. Then, he went rigid as a board.
A millisecond later, he wrenched himself free from Nikolai’s grasp and flipped himself off the big man’s shoulder. His bare feet slipped on the thick moss covering the branch he landed on, but although he staggered, he managed to maintain an upright position. Barely.
Lucas was admittedly a mess, with his smooth brown skin covered in a combination of scars and half-healed nasty slices that looked like they’d been made by a flexible blade. They were barely visible through the dried blood he’d shed. The pants hung low on his hips and clung to his thighs. Even through the gore, it struck Aria as to just how handsome a young man he really was. Not Nikolai’s type of cold perfection, but with pleasing features and a sleek and graceful body.
Like a predator.
As one herself, she approved of the look. And unbidden, came a memory of what the pants now hid, which she’d got an eye full of when he’d been hanging in Demeti’s room. She ripped her gaze away and rubbed her hand over her face, grateful that she was already noticeably flushed by the heat and sweat.
At the moment, his beautiful eyes flashed emerald fire at Nikolai. “Who the hell are you?”
Considering the frequency with which she’d been asking herself that very question, Aria waited for Nikolai’s response with some degree of interest.
But the big man simply straightened and said, “Hello Lucas. I am Nikolai.”
15
Lucas’s world twisted and spun. He glared at the man who’d just had him slung over his broad shoulders like a sack of grain.
His demand for an explanation started with who? Who woulddareput his hands on him while he was unconscious and unable to defend himself?
All he got was a name. “I am Nikolai,” the big guy said.
A name alone wasn’t going to cut it. Because the man was exotic as hell—so tall, with long hair in that strange shade of steel gray, with eyes that matched. Like some bloody frost demon. And with the exception of a bloodstained shirt despite no obvious wound, he was frigging perfect, too, every inch of him. Maybe that was why the guy set off every alarm bell he possessed.
No. Wait. He’d seen this behemoth before. He was pretty damned distinctive, after all. Fog swirled through his memory, and ice traveled along his spine.
Couldn’t be. He’ddreamedof this dude? How was that possible?
It wasn’t. Lucas shoved the concept where it belonged—into the delete bin of his brain—and looked around. His bare feet sank into sticky mud. Why were they standing in the middle of a swamp? His mind raced, desperately trying to connect dots that actually made sense. “Where is Demeti?”
Aria answered. “Gone. Nikolai chased him off.”
Lucas didn’t look at her, but kept his narrowed gaze focused on the giant man who simply stood there. The features were so perfect the guy barely looked real. The only lively thing were his eyes; the rest remained as cold and remote as a statue.
Just like in his dream.
No. He refused to go there.
Aria’s words finally sank in. He’d chased off Demeti? “Just how did you do that?” Lucas demanded. “That Torshin uses life essences as playthings.”
Nikolai’s features never moved, but the merest flicker of black frosty gray of his irises. The knot in Lucas’s gut twisted tighter. The gray hair, the black drifting across those incredible eyes...
But... that had only been a dream.
Yet he’d dreamed of Aria before he’d ever met her. What if this latest was real, too? What if it wasn’t a dream, but avision?
Was what he’d imagined real? Lucas swallowed and went for it. “You can manipulate life energy too, can’t you?”
The sculpted head nodded slowly, but the eyes never left his. And the black moved across them again. Lucas shivered, and said, “Bellati.”
Aria glanced from Nikolai to Lucas, a frown marring her beautiful features. “What?”
“Demeti said he was going after a Bellati. That he wanted to add it to his zoo.” Lucas balanced himself on the balls of his feet. He needed to be able to move, and he mentally mapped the distance between himself and Aria. Not that it would mean diddly squat, considering what this creature could likely do. “I take it that stupid Torshin bit off more than he could chew.”
