I stretched out on my bed and stared up at the ceiling.
The sword lay beside me. It represented the future. But what kind of future?
If Riggs was meant for bigger things, where did that leave us? If I wasn’t meant to be with him—why had the sword let me pull it from the scabbard?
It suggested that I was part of the fate it had decreed for him. That was the only thing reassuring me right now. Because I didn’t want to walk away from Riggs. The tales of other wielders filled me with dread—would he escape that fate?
And Tez—just who was he? My reaction to him was confusing. An attraction, but did it mean anything?
How could it, if I wanted a future with Riggs?
I’d expected all kinds of questions when Adilyn came in, but she flitted straight to her log, and a few moments later, the light went out inside. I guessed learning to swim was exhaustingwork. More likely, she had just been too preoccupied with her new matebond to even notice I had a strange bedfellow.
She was an aloof, but easy, roommate. Could she be more than that? After what I’d been through with Victor, I found her honesty refreshing.
There was something to be said for that. I almost wished she’d noticed the sword. I could use some brutal honesty right about now.
Caliel was remaining stubbornly silent. Despite me taking crystal dust at several intervals today, and braiding some crystals in my hair before I’d left Cara’s, he didn’t seem any stronger. I reached deep and immediately sensed the monster.
It was awake. Aware. And Caliel was all that stood between me and it.
I’d meant to ask Cara to help with it, but I had gotten distracted. But the sword had assisted Caliel in the past…
I pushed myself up on one elbow and used my other hand to pull the sword partly free from the scabbard.
The energy flowed through me, but the glow lit the room, and I glanced at the log before readjusting the sword so that it lay beneath the covers with me.
I sensed the thing within me stir, but the wall between me and it seemed to strengthen.
Is that better?I asked Caliel.
Yes,he replied, but his voice was barely audible.
Worry coursed through me.Are you okay?
Stop asking me that. I am busy.
I withdrew, but the hurt ran deep. He so clearly did not wish to speak with me. But I thought I’d try one last thing.Do you want to go flying?
No. This is taking all my concentration. So please stop talking.
Well, that was pretty clear. Brimming with tears, my eyes returned to the ceiling. For a bit there, I’d felt as though we shared something truly special. But now, it had all gone wrong.
I lay with an aching heart and thought of Riggs. Of his rejection of the sword, and all it stood for. Of my place, either with, or without him. And where did Tez fit into all this?
My fitful thoughts led to an equally fitful sleep. I drifted in and out—until something finally seized hold of me.
I walked through a fog. So thick I could see nothing, but beneath my feet was something very solid, like rock. I could hear what sounded like a restless crowd somewhere ahead, and the voices within it set my skin to prickling.
There was anger in the air. And fear.
I carried the sword. The sheath lay heavy against my back, as though I shouldered the weight of destiny. I scoffed at the thought, but it persisted.
Then, a breeze moved the fog aside, and I froze.
I walked along the edge of a cliff. Three moons shone fitfully down amid scudding clouds, but all three were there, and bright beyond them. Before me was a sheer drop, and below me?—
Below me stood Dragons.
