At the end, Cara very kindly did not mention the sounds I’d uttered.
I’d just pulled my sweats back on when Vali and Havoc appeared through the foliage. Vali clutched an open book to her chest. She froze when she saw me, and something in her face sent a shiver through me.
“I think we’ve found what is inside you,” she said. “It’s something called a Storm Drake.”
Cara went very still. “That’s impossible.”
Vali handed the book to Cara, who took a long look, and then came over to me. When I stared down at the drawing, Iskar said something in an unfamiliar language. It sounded like a curse.
I read the concern in Cara’s eyes, and said, “So, this is what is inside me?”
“It appears so. The scales are pretty distinctive,” she replied. “Even though we thought the Drakes were destroyed over a thousand years ago.”
“But what does it mean?” I asked.
She grimaced. “For now, nothing. I will do as much research as I can while you are gone. Just go, and get them, and come back. We’ll tackle it then. In the meantime, do your best to avoid situations that might trigger it to emerge.”
Not reassuring, really. “And if I can’t, and it does?”
Her mouth straightened, and she said, “Then your purple-feathered inner counselor had better tap into his experience—and his wisdom.”
25
Rafael
As Riley lay beneath the covers, I leaned against the wall and looked out the inn window.
The building next door cast a heavy shadow across it. It wasn’t much brighter in daylight than it would be at night.
But the reality was I didn’t see the city at all. I shook with the power of what coursed through me.
Her scent filled the room. But so did mine. More powerful than it had ever been, and I couldn’t even begin to shut it down. My Satyr wasn’t interested in excuses, not with her lying only feet from me, naked beneath the thin blankets.
It shouldn’t have been so strong. After pumping energy to Riley, and trying to heal her, and then killing the man in the alley—I was depleted, and in need of a recharge.
If she’d been safe here, I would have left the room. Or tried to. I wasn’t sure my feet would have obeyed me.
Very few creatures could resist a Satyr in full heat. It was our main superpower, and the fact that I was only half Satyr hadn’t affected my ability to seduce. My Liberi blood only seemed to pump more power to it.
I didn’t want to do that to Riley. At least, not with the trickery of pheromones. Not when it might lead to her death.
I now knew of the damage I could do. And I was dangerous, especially when I was famished. It completely overshadowed the fact that I also didn’t deserve her. Not after what I had done.
I needed to leave. To find another way to fully recharge. And I couldn’t—not until Lucas returned, anyway.
I opened the window. There wasn’t much air movement, and the cool, damp breeze that drifted past me was hardly what anyone could call fresh.
So I stood there in the dimly lit, squalid little room, and focused on trying to reduce the output of my pheromones. Usually, I had some degree of control, but after a few minutes where I concentrated so hard sweat broke out on my brow, I conceded that they were determined to rampage out of control.
It wasn’t just the pheromones, either. My entire body ached with the need to have her.
It knew the truth. That she and I were fated to be together. But why would Fate send me someone so vulnerable to my power? And she would find out, eventually, all that I had done. The pleasure I had taken in others’ pain, to feed the fiend I hid inside. Why would she want me, then?
Why would anyone want me?
Riley had freed me from the woman who had caused it all, and for that, I would be forever grateful. But the best thing for Riley would be to let me walk away.
I managed to convince my feet to carry me to the bathroom to fetch her clothes. I laid them gently on the bed, and she didn’t stir. She wasn’t asleep, her breathing was too rapid for that. Curled tightly into herself, legs drawn up and arms around them, she seemed determined to ignore me. But the blankets trembled slightly.
