“As long as you leave them alone.” I hissed. My vision was blurring with the effects of the drug. But Caliel had managed to slow it down, anyway.
I glared at Victor. All I felt for him now, was hate.
He scanned my gaze. “Remove the net,” he told the Dragon, who pulled on the cord holding the net closed, and it fell free.
I scrambled to my unsteady feet. My hand curled into a fist.
Use the sword!Riggs’s desperate shout broke through my wall.Maybe it can take him, if he’s not in his Drake or Dragon form…
I shut him down again, because Caliel’s idea had taken root. We needed proof. And this was the best way to get it.
Riggs’s presence was like a mental subconscious scream, but I stood like a rock as Victor turned his head sideways and gestured to someone behind him.
“Bring the cloak, and the collar.”
At first, I didn’t believe who walked out from the trees. The pure fury shooting along the link with Riggs almost drove me back to my knees.
Tez.
Emerging from the steam to hand a bundle of thick fabric to Victor, his expression as he regarded me was cold and remote.
As if we had never met.
As if he had never cruised through my dreams.
Be careful who you trust, he’d said. Had he, even then, planned to be part of this?
“Take the sword,” Victor told Tez.
No.This sword was not for them. But what were my options if I was going to see this through? So I held still as Tez threaded the scabbard strap off my shoulder, and angrily stifled the zing of sensation as his fingers touched the skin of my neck.
Victor draped the cloth over one arm and took the weapon from him to examine it. Even with the hilt re-wrapped in leather, the quality of the sword was obvious.
“Nice fuckin’ sword.” The deep voice echoed from beyond Victor, and another figure strode out of the steam. I stared at the powerful form. Why did it seem like I somehow knew this hulking man? He wasn’t a Dragon. His hair was so blond, with dark streaks running through it, framing a ruggedly handsome face with prominent cheekbones. Unusual, and strangely riveting.
I tensed when Victor held the scabbard in one hand, while his other closed over the hilt, and then he pulled. The muscles in his forearm bulged, but the sword would not budge.
“It must be glamored,” the hulking man said. “Can only be drawn by the owner.”
Victor glared at me. “Can you draw it?”
I sketched a shrug. “I was only carrying it for my trainer. It isn’t mine.” But even as the lie rolled off my tongue, I realized that Tez knew the truth…
To my shock, he didn’t say anything when Victor handed the sword to him. “You try.”
A quiver ran through me from Riggs. If Victor got one look at those runes—he’d know that was no ordinary sword.
Tez’s eyes met mine, and I couldn’t fathom what stirred deep within them. Then he closed his hand on the hilt, and pulled.
Nothing happened.
“Doesn’t like me either,” he said.
I stared at him, and through my confusion, I experienced the first stirring of hope.
Tez likely just wants the sword for himself,Caliel grumbled.
I flinched when Victor came at me with the collar. With that on, there was no way I could shift form to anything larger than my human. I kept my chin raised, and my eyes firmly on his, as he closed the restraint around my throat and then pulled the cloak over my head.
