My last recollection was of squeezing my naked human body up beneath the silty overhang along the shore as Victor’s goons hunted for us. I had no explanation for how I’d ended up in Riggs’s arms riding a Dragon, but I huddled close to his warmth as the fog in my body and brain threatened to take over and sink me deep once again.
Just be patient,Caliel said.Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Rome?
It is a city in the human realm
My legs were so cold.Not asking for a city, but scales would be nice.
I’m too busy keeping us conscious to give you designer apparel,Caliel grumped, sounding much more like his normal self.
I wasn’t totally naked. My body was encased in a black, long-sleeved shirt. Big enough that it hung past my thighs. Which explained the expanse of smooth human skin I was cuddled up against.
Skin that danced with art—Dragons, beautifully rendered, hugged rock-hard muscle. I reached out a shaking hand, to touch…
You must be feeling better,Caliel grumbled.Time for a good gas expulsion.
Don’t you dare!
There was no response—of any kind—as I traced the Dragon in full flight that spanned Riggs’s big pectorals, admiring the way the skin shivered beneath my touch. In fact, he was covered in goose bumps.
I looked up into eyes gleaming metallic. “You’re cold.” The words refused to come out as more than a mumble, and I swayed as another wave of dizziness hit.
His arms tightened around me. “We’re almost back. Just hold on.”
My shivering increased until I had to clench my teeth to stop them from clattering. The blue Dragon—was it Talakai?—lowered in the sky, and when I craned my neck, I saw the academy building looming ever closer.
He didn’t take us to the roof, but dropped alongside the building until he hovered in front of a balcony.
Cara stood on it, her hair blown by the gusts coming off his wings. Riggs’s body clenched as, carrying me, he leaped off the proffered forelimb and then over the railing.
He landed neatly beside Cara.
“Hurry. I have a bath prepared.” The Watcher led the way into the suite.
I wanted to protest that I could walk, but it would have been a lie.
Yes. Just lie there in the arms of Mr. ‘Powerful and Gorgeous’. Nice to know his muscles have a use.
I thought Caliel was being uncharitable, considering Riggs had pulled us out of the hole we’d been hiding in. My fogged brain struggled to connect the dots. How had he known we were there?
Stop worrying and let me work.Why did I get the feeling Caliel knew the answer? If so, why wouldn’t he tell me?
Cara led the way into a spacious bathroom. It held a huge tub that steamed gently. I started to push away from Riggs, expecting he would put me down…
But he stepped directly into the bath and sank us both into the bubbles, clothes and all. Nestled me between his long legs, folding them up around me.
The water was fragrant, like she’d put perfumes into it. The heat stung my chilled flesh, but I welcomed the pain. Perhaps I would live, after all.
Don’t be melodramatic. Of course you will live.But the relief in Caliel’s tone belied the words.
Then Cara placed her hand on my arm, and her warm energy penetrated throughout me. Caliel fell silent, but I sensed her reach for him, to help push the darted drug out of my body.
Riggs lowered his head against mine, and his warm breath gusted across my cheek. “Better?” he murmured.
“Much,” I whispered. He’d been cold, too. “How did you find us?”
“Us?” he asked
