“She’s a huge help,” Kitani confessed as I embraced my wiggling hound. “The girls woke three times, and Trix cuddled with them until they fell back asleep.”
Cody emerged from the cafeteria to wrap a long arm around Kitani and tousle the hair on Caty’s head.
“Have you heard from Sebastian?” I asked.
His lips tightened. “He’s checking out a lead on that Dragon.”
Kitani shot him a look before addressing me. “Did you hear that Aaron confirmed he was involved with grabbing our girls?”
I faced up to Cody. “Do you think Aaron was telling the truth?”
A muscle jumped in the big Sabre’s jaw. “Aaron knows his only chance of survival is to dump responsibility onto others,” he finally admitted. “And I wasn’t in the best frame of mind when I questioned him.”
“Did you believe him?” Matt asked.
Cody’s lips pulled back from his teeth. “At the time, yes. I’m not so sure now.”
Kitani leaned into him. “We are not thinking clearly about this. I told Cody we need to pull out of this investigation.” She glanced up at him with a frown. “Which should be old news.” The way her eyes flashed, she was giving Cody a piece of her mind.
The big Sabre’s eyes flickered as his gaze slid away from mine. “We’ve been kind of off balance. I agree, we need to take a step back. But Sebastian should be able to get to the truth.”
“I thought he would be back by now.” I looked down at the girls. “But you have two very good reasons for your suspicions.” If I was in their shoes, would I be able to give Talakai the benefit of the doubt? They’d almost lost their children.
I leaned over to pet Trix. “Did you want me to take her now?”
Kitani exchanged a look with Cody. “Would you mind leaving her with us? She really is helping with things.”
I smiled at her. “No, not at all. Let me know when to come get her. If you want to keep her for another night or two, that isn’t a problem, so long as she’s helping out.”
I didn’t think I imagined Kitani’s relief. It wasn’t just the twins that needed the distraction and unconditional affection Trix provided.
The welcome weight of Matt’s arm dropped around my shoulders. Perhaps that was a canine thing. Although I wasn’t sure a Dire would appreciate the parallels...
Love and unswerving loyalty. I knew that no matter what, he’d have my back.
And that was good. Because I also had his.
29
Talakai
Footsteps scuffed on stone. Coming my way.
My entire body tensed. It was a reaction that I fought, but it had become reflexive and beyond my control. Was my refusal to yield to my fate a good thing, or bad? Why was I holding on?
The will to live was powerful. As evidenced by my fellow prisoner. Somehow, the wingless Dragon was still alive. They’d strapped him into the other set of chains and left him there.
Considering what Xumi’s sons had put him through, I had no idea how he’d managed it. But on my own part, I had to acknowledge a stubborn, and surely futile, sense of hope.
Sebastian. He’d been there, right after Anna and Matt—I cut the thought off cold. It had only been a dream. I told myself that nearly every minute of the day, and yet, some part of me believed that he’d come for me.
Or that she would. Anna. Even the thought of her brought her citrussy scent to my mind, radiating a soothing balm across my tortured soul.
It distracted me, and it took a few moments to realize that more than one set of footsteps approached. My eyes slid to the captive Dragon. Were her sons coming to finally finish him off? Yet the energy signatures weren’t familiar... I closed my eyes, concentrating.
When I opened them again, I debated, for a moment, whether I was dreaming. The man that faced me was neither human nor Dragon. To my shock, he had Sebastian’s long, gray, braided hair, and his height, too.
Another Bellati.
