Aria interpreted the spasm that crossed Cara’s features as regret. “He is too powerful to be free,” she said softly. “The repercussions of him losing control are significant.” She regarded Aria. “But if you convince him to come to me, I might be able to intercede on his behalf. I have reason to believe he can be salvaged. Not all of my people are so inclined.”
Aria stared at the Watcher. “What do you mean? What do the others think?”
Cara’s lips straightened. “Some believe he should be placed in a situation where he can do no harm.”
Before Aria could push for clarity, Lucas interrupted. “How do we contact you?”
Aria shot him a glare. No way she was letting Nikolai anywhere near these people.
The Watcher’s steady gaze passed over her. “If he doesn’t come to me voluntarily, I won’t be able to help him.” Cara reached into her cloak and pulled out a knife.
Lucas pushed away and Aria’s hand tightened on her tail spike, but the Watcher merely smiled and sliced off one of her braids. She handed it to Lucas.
His fingers stroked the crystal woven into the white hair. “What will this do?”
Cara stood. “Nikolai can track me using that. Hold on to it until he is ready. My primary residence is in the human realm.” She nodded to Aria. “I sense a connection between the three of you. I hope it will be enough to convince him that this is the best recourse.”
Aria crossed her arms. “We can talk to him. But no promises.”
Lucas’s mouth straightened, but he said nothing as Cara left the room. Aria remained frozen until she sensed the gateway activate, and Cara’s energy presence was suddenly gone.
Lucas began, “Aria—”
“Not one word,” Aria hissed at him.
Lucas bravely tread where many feared to. “I think we should use the gate and get the hell out of here. This is their mess, so let them clean it up.”
Her heart twisted. “You’d leave him to them? They want tocagehim, Lucas. To treat him like he’s a criminal. But he just did those things to save us. His intentions were good.”
A muscle twitched in Lucas’s jaw. “They want to train him, and keep him in his home realm. That is hardly a cage.”
Aria’s panic increased. Nikolai and Lucas didn’t get along, but did he really want Nikolai restrained? “Cara wants to train him. She said that others had different ideas. The entire thing smacks of a trap. They need us as bait.”
Lucas’s steady gaze measured her. “Why do you feel such a bond with him? You hardly know him.”
“He saved our lives,” she pointed out with a growing sense of desperation.
“It’s more than that, isn’t it?”
Yes. Yes, it was. But Aria wasn’t about to admit it. She shrugged, the gesture unusually spastic. “I don’t know. Nothing’s stopping you from going. But I’m staying with him.”
A figure appeared at the door—a guard. “You two traveling through the gate tonight?”
Lucas looked at Aria and sighed.
“No,” he said, his tone resigned. “But we’ll be back.”
22
When Nikolai closed his eyes, he could feel her. Aria. She and Lucas were holed up in a barn. Not far away, now.
It wasn’t just her energy he could sense. He’d been getting glimpses of her, too, and it took him a while to figure out that he was seeing through Lucas’s eyes.
Just little flashes. But how could he be seeing through another’s eyes?
He could also sense their tension. How they stayed well apart in the old loft, the silence stiff between them. What had happened to cause that? Lucas had a prickly nature, and from what Nikolai had glimpsed when he removed the collar, the man had his reasons. But there had been a connection between the Morph and Aria, something that now seemed strained.
Mai emerged from under his hair and squeaked at him, blinking her bright-blue eyes. The little shrew was stuffed full of the abundant swamp insect life, and her body heaved with a contented burp.
