Lucas’s eyes glared green fire at Nikolai. “Get out of my effing head.”
“I just have to heal the channels...” The glow around Nikolai altered and lightened to a deep turquoise, and then finally a blue as vivid as Mai’s eyes.
Lucas’s gaze widened as the glow suffused him. Having been through it, Aria had an appreciation for the sensations now flooding through the Morph. Not only that, the energy healed as it went. The deep, lasting cuts in his skin sealed over and vanished, leaving only thin, white scars.
Lucas held it together for a few moments, and then he wrenched away. Aria was pretty sure Nikolai had let him go. The collar fell free and rolled off the rocks to disappear into the bushes.
Breathing heavily, Lucas continued to back away. He refused to look at either of them before he spun and followed the collar’s progress down the rocks.
“Where are you going?” Aria shouted after him.
“Away.” Just before he reached the bushes, he waved an arm at her. “I’ll be back. Just give me a minute, okay?” He vanished into the bush.
“I can track him,” Nikolai stated. The glow receded from him until only his eyes pulsed in the darkness.
Movement from beneath his hair revealed the little shrew. She peered between the steel-gray strands, her whiskers quivering. Nikolai raised a finger to stroke her.
Aria stared off after Lucas. “I can take you one at a time to the town.”
Nikolai shook his head. “I need to lead them away, or they’ll find us too fast. Take Lucas, and see if you can track down that gate. The town is almost due east from here.”
East? Aria glanced up at the stars. Which way was east?
Nikolai pointed to a constellation in the sky. “Follow that. It should take you there. If you get lost, find and follow the roads cut through the forest.” He hesitated. “Are you okay to transform? Do you need more energy?”
She stared at him. “You used it to get the collars off, too. Where is it coming from?”
Nikolai gestured around them. “I skimmed it from the life essences.”
“Is that what you did before?”
His gaze skittered away. “Some of it, yes. But not all.”
Her gut twisted. “I’m good. I can’t get too big here, anyway, there isn’t room. And Lucas is light.” She regarded him in the darkness. “I’m not sure splitting up is a good idea.”
Nikolai’s gaze fastened on hers, and for a moment, the gray eyes shone. Her heart accelerated. “It will be okay. I will lead them on a merry chase through the forest. And nothing out here can hurt me.”
Aria took an involuntary step closer as she searched his expression for the truth. Was he just trying to get rid of them? He didn’t need them, and they were only a liability in his escape from the Watchers.
“How will you find us?” she asked.
Nikolai seemed to sense her hesitation. “The how doesn’t matter, just know that I will.” He smiled. It was a real smile, showing off his even white teeth, and it transformed the coldness of his features into something truly beautiful. He reached out a long finger to push her heavy hair off one shoulder. She was surprised to note that it trembled, ever so slightly. And with the gesture came a blinding flash of pure emotion.
She stopped breathing as he smiled. “In the last week, my life has gone from hunting springbok in the desert to traveling through a gate to another realm.” His own voice was hushed, as though he scarcely believed what he was saying. “Some things require explanation. You should be one of them, but somehow, you aren’t.”
“Oh,” she breathed the word.
He tilted his head as he looked at her. “There is something about you. Like we’ve known each other before. Some people believe in a past life. Do Dragons?”
“I-I don’t know.” She bit her lip. “Maybe—maybe it’s just pheromones.”
He tweaked a brow. “Pheromones?”
“Yeah, it could be. At certain times, my kind are irresistible. Apparently.”
The finger trailed fire along her jaw. “Irresistible describes it well,” he admitted.
He started to pull his hand away, but Aria grabbed it. She traced the long lines of his fingers with her own and then looked back up at him.
