Through the blood, I saw that a tattoo covered half of it, running from forehead to chin.
It wasn’t Talakai.
My knees almost buckled.
Matt straightened and moved between me and the body. “It isn’t our bloke. Just another bleedin’ underworld Dragon shifter.”
Our bloke.The Dire totally got it, that sense of belonging between Talakai and us. I shook all over as I wrapped my arms around myself, afraid to touch Matt, but also desperate to do so. So much blood...
I’d killed three men.
The big Aussie pulled me into him, bloody naked flesh and all.
“Easy, Angel,” he whispered. “It’s all over.”
This time, I lacked the strength to push him away. I nodded against the hard muscles and fought to hold back the tears. But if he’d let go of me, I would have been a sodden mess, lying on that blood-soaked flat roof.
10
Anna
The dawn streaked the Dragons’ wings with gold as they crossed the indigo sky.
Seen from the rooftop, it was a spectacular sight. I worried that they weren’t friendly Dragons, but Tyrez and the big purple guy seemed to be expecting them. At least, they showed no alarm as the strangers landed on the nearby rooftops and shifted to human before hopping over.
But as I sat on the parapet, I was immune to the million questions their arrival aroused in me. My shaking had stopped, and I welcomed the numbness in its place.
Matt stood over me. Or rather, paced back and forth in front of me. He’d managed to score another cloak, which made it a little easier on my raw sensibilities. But he’d refused to let me heal his wounds, and fresh off the slaughter of three men, I didn’t push.
It still stung, however, when he acquiesced to Cara’s healing touch. His eyes, now a normal human hazel, slid to me as the Watcher finished running her hands over him. And he read me like a book.
“Strewth, Angel, if I let you do this, you’ll be lying on the roof.”
It was true. His ability to discern my thoughts reminded me of the strange rapport Sebastian and I had shared. But then, the Dire had always been good at reading my moods.
Always? I hadn’t known this man for very long. Yet somehow, it seemed like forever. I felt something for him that I was afraid to define.
I’d almost killed him.
I dropped my face into my hands. Too much. This was all too much.
Warmth radiated off Matt as he sat down beside me. “Hey. It’s okay.” He put his arm around me, and I leaned into him.
“No, it’s not,” I insisted. “But at least the twins are safe.”
A tall form loomed over us. I knew whom it was before I looked up.
He was still covered in blood, but I could see the skin beneath it was whole. Well, whole if you didn’t count the scars, including a new one through his eyebrow. Bellatis must heal fast.
When I tried to meet his eyes, he avoided mine.
“I want you two back to the academy with the first group. Tyrez will take you.” Sebastian straightened, his expression aloof. “You have done enough. For your first mission, you did extremely well. I will write commendation reports for your records.”
Considering what he and I had just been through, it was cold and impersonal—and it stung.
But then, he knew I’d drained the life from two men tonight, and stabbed a third. Perhaps my kind of monster wasn’t really a fit for the Shade Academy.
As Sebastian fell silent, Cara dropped to a crouch before me.
