They weren’t full-sized Dragon wings, but as I stared, he shook first one, then the other. Water flew off the iridescent blue membranes. A few drops splashed me.
“Hey.” My protest was automatic, an attempt to regain some much-needed balance.
Whatever I gained was lost the instant he locked his gaze with mine. Those metallic eyes, so alien, and yet so beautiful, pierced straight through to my soul. And my heart did a curious little flip.
WTF?I’d just been moaning in the arms of my dream Matt, and now I was panting over the Dragon, too?
He scrubbed a big hand through the spikes of his damp mohawk. “Did I get you wet? I apologize.”
Coming hot off that dream, the comment implied more than I’m sure he meant it to. I swallowed and lifted my chin. “Only a few drops. Did the storm force you in?”
One corner of his sculpted lips twitched upward. “I love flying in storms. But getting hit by lightning is a bit of a downer.”
“You got hit by lightning?” my voice squeaked.
“Almost.” He tweaked an arched brow, and his nostrils flared. He suddenly froze, and his eyes glowed sapphire. They slid from me, to down the hall, and back.
I trembled. No way he could guess that I’d just had the gal’s equivalent of a wet dream.
Or could he? Damned shifters and their noses. Or was he wondering if I’d also seen Darius and Aaron?
Why would it matter if I had? I clutched my soap and towel closer to my chest. “Just going for a shower,” I stated, edging past him. I tried to ignore how his gaze followed me as I waved over my shoulder. “See you in the morning, Talakai.”
I didn’t look back until I pushed open the washroom door.
The Dragon was still standing in the hall, staring after me, while his wings dripped a pool of water onto the polished floor.
20
Sebastian
When I stepped through the gateway, the brisk wind blew my long, steel-gray hair across my face.
I pushed it away with irritation. Re-braiding be in order if I be going to become an instructor. But would this next phase of my existence take me further from my destined path, or put me back on it?
Time would tell.
I be greeted by the dawn—and by Cara. Accustomed as I be to Watcher energy, I never ceased to marvel at the power of hers. Calm and soothing—it pushed up against mine.
Laced with the anger and aggression that be my heritage as a male, my own reached for it. The two did not merge, but rather wove around each other until they found the balance point. I be death to her life. Nature had designed us to work together.
For just an instant, I remembered another Watcher, with whom I had dared hope would form the most treasured—and rarest—of the Liberi bonds.
The soul bond.
I shut the memory down almost as soon as it formed. It belonged in the past, and best it stayed there.
Pulling my energy back from Cara’s, I breathed in the life of this place. After being restricted to our home realm for so long, the ability to experience others be still invigorating. The castle, framed by the lake and meadow, be an attractive, peaceful appearing place.
Enjoying it be a privilege I didn’t deserve. For me, all three components of the Bellati code—control, honor, and integrity—be now tarnished concepts. And considering my involvement in recent activities, perhaps the Elders be justified in locking us up for so long.
Cara championed the Bellatis’ cause, arguing that the realms needed us. Her conviction be admirable.
I wished I shared it.
She tilted her head as she looked up at me. At nearly seven feet, I towered above her.
“You’re cutting it close, Sebastian.”
