It is the only way.
He wasn’t sure he trusted the voice to have Aria’s health at heart, but he didn’t have any alternative ideas. So he swallowed, and nodded.
When he stepped close, she looked up at him. “It would be best if I touched it,” he said.
Her eyes widened. “Okay.”
He closed his eyes. The collar emitted warmth as he reached for it, and the moment he made contact, her life essence flooded through him.
And set his world aflame.
Touching the collar linked him as directly to her as if he’d contacted skin. In an instant, his essence interwove with hers, plunging deeper and deeper until it was almost a merging of souls.
Aria gasped, and he sensed her awe at the power of what linked them. Awe, and something more powerful... His heart raced as her life essence swamped him with images that he fought to understand. He trembled beneath the barrage, until he let it go—best to let them drift through him and away, acknowledging they existed without attempting to put them into context. He saw a hulking gray-skinned figure that had seemed prominent in her life, and another, with blue scales—another Dragon shifter? Then multiple images of her learning to fight, from vantage points that offered glimpses of her growing into adulthood. And more of the gray-skinned creatures, only not so fondly remembered—one image featured her sinking her talons into flesh. Through it all were sweeping impressions of soaring through the air on golden wings...
Focus! Focus past the images. They mean nothing.
Nikolai gave himself a mental shake. Much as a part of him longed to delve into her life, he needed to free her from Demeti’s prison.
Follow the energy. Do you see it?
Nikolai saw it. The collar had woven invisible tendrils into her very essence. He studied them carefully. If he just grabbed hold and yanked, it might be too traumatic and tip her into shock.
Do not yank. You have to push them out.
Nikolai swallowed. Removing them would require a finesse he wasn’t sure he could achieve. But he had to try. He took a deep breath and focused on pushing at the tendrils until they moved.
At first, they refused to budge. He grew frustrated and pushed harder.
That’s it. Tap into your anger. It gives you what you need. Your power lies with darkness.
Darkness? His energy altered from green and blue, through yellow and to red. And then, finally, to black.
Not far off, thunder rumbled as clouds scudded across the stars.
The collars were created from life energies, but they weren’t in themselves evil. They were only a tool for it. Their tendrils recoiled from the darkness as though scorched.
Aria shuddered and almost collapsed as they pulled free. Nikolai supported her until the collar cracked open and fell to land at her feet.
He eased her down to the cold stone and took a deep breath, then struggled to alter his energy back to the green of healing. It took him a bit to do so, but he gently traced the raw places within her until they closed over.
Once they were healed, he lingered, reluctant to pull free. And in that instant, her essence synced with his as though they were born to be together. He sensed her wonder, and it filled him with an incandescent kind of joy. He let it overflow back into her...
Aria uttered a small sound between a sigh and a moan. “Oh,” she said in a breathless voice. “That feels amazing.”
“Is she okay?” Lucas hovered over them, suspicion radiating from him.
“I’m more than okay.” Aria gazed up at Nikolai, and something naked and borderline sinful pulsed through his fingers, igniting his every nerve.
Enough. You need to disengage. Now.The voice almost sounded angry.
Nikolai took a deep breath and removed his hands. “It worked.” His pulse jumped like a startled gazelle.
You have more power than you know.Approval, now, in the voice.
Flushed by his success, Nikolai took a moment to catch his breath.
Lucas stared from him to her, and his dark brows drew down. “If I turn you loose on my collar, I don’t want any funny business.”
