I attempted to refocus on my reading, as if the written words of the past had the answers I sought. But my thoughts drifted, and the words blurred on the page. I had the oddest impression of a path dappled with the late afternoon sunlight, moving ever faster beneath feet driven by frustration and a growing sense of panic.
Running. I was running.
I blinked. I was still sitting in the library. It wasn’t me who was actually running.
It was Riggs.
I pushed the books aside and rose, hefting the scabbard over my shoulder. Sid looked up.
“I’ve had enough for now. I think I’ll go for a walk.”
The Anisau eyed me. “Would you like company?”
I smiled at him. “Need some time to myself, to think. And I’m pretty sure Adilyn will have had enough sunsoaking for the evening.”
At the mention of her name, his eyes started to flash, and his craggy face split into a grin. “Go ahead. I’ll pack up the books,” he said.
Knowing he enjoyed returning them to their places on the shelves, I left him there and hurried out. Riggs’s footfalls rang through my mind as I rushed down the stairs.
My ability to sense such things meant something. And my heart backed it up, syncing with his own pulse as his feet rose and fell.
There was truth in it. Fate, calling me. This had to be more than a mere link formed when Caliel had healed him.
I’d heard stories of such links. Knew what it meant. Just hadn’t ever thought it would happen to me.
Or was it just wishful thinking? He was a prince, and if the sword was to be believed, soon to be much more. Logic insisted that I was not for the likes of him.
As I paused on the stairs, torn between my heart and my head, words dropped into my mind.
You and he share a destiny. The sword knows it.Caliel’s words were devoid of emotion, as if he recited from a book.
It twisted me up inside. He’d always spoken with such passion. Hate, at first. Then derision. But when it had altered to something so much more, I had embraced it, heart and soul.
Now, even that seemed to be fading.
If you ask me if I am okay, I will refuse to help in this endeavor,he threatened with a hint of his old zest.Now, get going.
I sensed that Riggs was flying now, pushing himself hard. I felt as though I stood upon a precipice, with one foot dangling over the edge. Torn between two men, one who was already a part of me, and one who might be destined to be.Are you sure?
Go, my little wind dancer,Caliel breathed through my mind.Catch him.
I hit the foyer at a jog that had students staring, wondering why I was in such a hurry. Now that I was launched, I couldn’t have stopped, even if I’d wanted to.
I burst through the front entrance and jogged across the meadow. What had driven Riggs out onto that path? Then my skin prickled. I stopped and turned.
In time to see four enormous Dragons take off from the roof. A single figure watched them go—and I knew who it was.
Tyrez.
Was that why Riggs was bolting into the forest?
The funeral,Caliel whispered.
It was tomorrow, and Tyrez was supposed to attend. It explained some of the angst, for sure. But what radiated from Riggs was filled with conflict.
I would never catch him if I were in human form. I ran along the path into the forest. Then I moved into the trees and tookoff my clothes. With all the shifters around, nakedness seldom raised brows. But it still bothered me to strip to my human skin in public.
With my clothes piled under a bush, I dropped to a knee and drew the sword. Not all the way—I wanted to be able to carry it once I’d shifted.
