16. Bree

16

Bree

The ice had penetrated to my very core.

I supposed it made a certain kind of sense. I had an Ice Drake living inside me, after all.

At the moment, drifting along like this was pleasant. Letting the drugged fog win. Much better than facing what awaited me out there.

They would find me, eventually. But with any luck, it would be too late. Victor couldn't torture a corpse.

Yet something niggled at me. Not some thing . Some one .

Bree. Wake up!

No. Absolutely didn't want to do that. But then, the first convulsive shiver shot through me.

Ice Drakes couldn't be cold, could they?

Hellfire. Stop wallowing. Wake up!

The urgency in his mindvoice penetrated. Caliel was usually grumpy. Right now, he sounded panicked.

Despite my wishes, awareness slowly penetrated in fragmented bits and pieces. Cold air chased across my bare legs, and I began to shiver in earnest. But my upper body was encased in heat. Rock-hard, and folded around me.

I blinked, trying to clear the fog. Wind blew my hair across my face, but through the whipping strands, I saw a strong jaw in a handsome face—and eyes that glowed through their darkened irises.

I shook all over now, and the arms around me tightened, pulling me more firmly into his lap. "Hey," Riggs said. "Stay with me, Breana. We're almost home."

Home? I struggled to turn my head—and saw huge wings rising and falling. We were riding a blue-scaled Dragon.

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

"Caliel and me."

He hesitated. "I had a vision that you were in trouble. I saw you being chased in the mountains."

It confused me. "Have you had visions before?"

He sighed. "Only if you count pink-iced pastries."

My mind groped for the relevance and gave it up. "Well, it was good that you did, or—" I shivered.

The arms tightened. "Did Victor send them? I saw a woman with white hair."

"Aurora. Yes, they were sent by Victor." I was shivering so hard my voice shook. "The Wyverns were at one time Centaurs, like me. I grew up with them. Used to consider them family."

"Family?" The incredulity in his voice spoke volumes.

"Yeah," I said. "Emphasis on ‘used to'."

Another pause. "I'm sorry."

We'd saved his family, but they were strangers to him. I couldn't decide which was worse, really. At least I had memories of happier times…

Riggs dropped one leg into the water. Although he tried to angle, the movement collapsed me back more fully into him—and I felt something rigid poke into my back.

It seemed he was warming up in more ways than one. A flush of heat shot through me. I was suddenly very aware of the strength of his big body, of the hard muscles of the arms now holding me more gently…

Cara interrupted my carnal thoughts by sighing and sitting back. The steam off the bath had formed curls in the shorter strands around her face, and she pushed them back as she met my eyes. Why did she look so concerned?

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Does Caliel still talk in your head?"

The question confused me. "Yes." Then I frowned. "Although he's been quieter, lately, I think. We really haven't been connected for very long. Why?"

Her mouth straightened. "He seems weak to me. Weaker than he was when we healed Riggs."

My pulse pounded. "Is he okay?"

She sighed. "I don't know, really. There is no precedent for inserting one life essence into another. It shouldn't even be possible, but Isobel found a way."

Caliel? Are you okay?

Define okay. I am living in another's body.

I sensed a certain elusiveness in his answer, but when I mentally pushed, he skittered away. The healing has fatigued me. I need to rest.

Cara must have read the alarm in the look I shot to her. "It's okay, Bree. Perhaps this is normal. Are you taking crystal dust?"

I bit my lip. I had been while at the stronghold, but here I'd been more focused on finding my cycle powder than crystal dust. "I haven't now, for a bit."

She rubbed her temple. "I have been remiss on this. With everything going on, I've been distracted. Iskar needs crystal power to help Marcus control his Storm Drake, so it only follows that it would also help Caliel." She pushed herself to her feet and eyed Riggs. "You should be taking it, too."

"I'm not a Dragon, anymore," Riggs said quietly.

"You can't shift to Dragon right now," she corrected. "But you are still, physically, a Dragon. And you need the dust to survive." She fixed him with a stare.

"Okey-dokey. I get it," he said with a sigh.

She gave a single, brisk nod. "Stay in the bath as long as you like. The water is heated. I will wait for you two in the kitchen."

Silence fell after she left. Then Riggs asked, "So this Caliel. Is he like another person living inside you?"

"Yes." My thoughts were chaotic. What if Caliel was—what, fading? My heart ached as though it were pierced right through. In a short time, he'd become like a part of me. The thought of him disappearing was unbearable.

"So—he talks to you?"

I sensed how hard Riggs was struggling to grasp the concept. "Isobel inserted his life essence into mine, so that he could control the other things that live inside me. So he's all there. At first, he resented it, but lately—lately, we've come to an agreement."

Silence from Riggs. I felt safe and warm enveloped by him in the bath. It was more than that—it was as though I belonged there, with him. But my thoughts were filled with worry about Caliel. Who had, unhelpfully, retreated down deep when I desperately needed words of reassurance.

At least he'd stopped trying to embarrass me in Riggs's presence. But that thought brought more concerns—why wasn't he? Was it a sign that Cara was right—he was fading?

"I dreamed of you," Riggs said.

My attention snapped to him. "You did?"

"Yep. Only when I tried to reach for you—a Gryphon slammed down between us and blocked me."

My mind spun. That Riggs had dreamed of me… well, I rescued him, so that might make sense. But what was up with the Gryphon?

"I wonder if it was Caliel," he mused.

"Maybe you conjured him up?" I couldn't remember when I'd told Riggs about Caliel.

"Maybe," he said, but he didn't sound convinced. "What does he think of me?"

This was venturing where I didn't wish to go. "I haven't asked him," I hedged. Although considering the involuntary eruptions and the general grumpiness around Riggs, I had a pretty good idea.

My mind returned to my main worry. I had to try to help Caliel. If the crystal dust would strengthen him…

I started to get up. The wet shirt clung to me. It wasn't disguising much in this condition.

As soon as I thought about them, scales erupted over my lower half. And beneath the shirt, my upper body changed to fur. I didn't sense Caliel's influence until it spread to my chin and fingertips.

It was reassuring, in a way. I sighed, and struggled with the shirt. Riggs helped pull it off.

"Neat trick," Riggs stated as he noted my new apparel. "Here, hold on." He steadied me as I stepped out of the tub. When I wobbled, he started to rise.

The emerging abdomen streamed water, and my eyes dropped—if I saw what was about to emerge, I couldn't be held responsible for the consequences.

Better to avoid it altogether. "I'm good. No, really. I will be fine. I feel much better. Stay and enjoy the tub." I waved him back.

He hesitated, but with what I'd felt poking me in that water, he wasn't in any condition to stand without considerable readjustment. And I managed to make it to the washroom door without falling flat on my face.

Cara was bustling around in the kitchen. When I emerged, she gestured to the table, and I gratefully lowered myself into a chair. Then she plunked a jar in front of me.

"Take as much as you can stomach," she ordered, handing me a spoon. She walked to a cabinet on the wall and opened a drawer to pull out a crystal on a cord. Took a moment to add another, and she brought them to me.

When I placed the cord over my head, she said, "I'll get some food in the oven."

The fine crystals tingled as they went down. Guilt permeated me. I'd been told to take the dust, but I'd let that lapse since Isobel's death. I'd never forgive myself if it had affected Caliel.

Cara interpreted my expression. "Worrying about it won't help," she said. "We are in uncharted territory."

"Has the Gryphon inside Marcus gotten weaker over time?" I asked.

The Watcher grimaced. "I don't know. Iskar seemed strong, last I inquired. But he and Marcus are just friends."

When I raised a brow, she hesitated, before asking, "Just how close have you and Caliel become?"

Was she asking—my face flushed bright red, and I couldn't look at her.

"I thought I sensed something." She sighed, and glanced toward the hall, and the bathroom. "There may be more at work here than we think," she said quietly. "For now, take the crystal twice a day, two heaping spoons each time. We'll get you topped up, and then see, okay?"

I nodded.

The Watcher broke a bunch of eggs into a bowl and handed it to me, along with a whisk. "Beat those up, would you?" She placed a brick of cheese and a grater down beside me. "Add that, too." She returned to the fridge and rummaged. "I think I have some meat strips in here."

As she withdrew with the strips in hand, she said, "I think it is time you told me about Victor."

My gut clenched. "What do you want to know?"

She looked over, and the sympathy in her eyes almost undid me. "Whatever you can tell me."

I swallowed. And then, to my surprise, I told her. Everything. About how we'd grown up together. His recruitment by Isobel. How I'd believed…

The entire sordid tale, and it didn't take nearly as long as it should have. My life, summed up in ten minutes.

Sort of embarrassing.

Then I told her about the Trinity. She froze until the strips started sizzling, and then pushed them around before asking, "Describe them to me."

I did. And then I dropped the bombshell. "I think that twisted Torshin, Finn, fathered them."

The fork clattered to the table. Cara placed her hands on the counter and leaned on them. "Are you sure?"

"Caliel thinks so, too."

"And you saw Victor meeting with other underlords?"

"Yes."

Cara reclaimed the fork, and I fell silent as she pushed the meat around again. "The realms may never recover," she stated, "from the evil that Sorceress has unleashed upon them."

Isobel. She was talking about Isobel. "Finn was at the heart of all that she had started." Why was I defending Isobel? Wasn't I over that?

"It is Isobel who gave that Torshin access to the Liberi power." Cara sounded as though she spoke through gritted teeth. "She has only enhanced his ability to destroy. He is evil incarnate."

The truth settled on me like a blanket. I wasn't defending Isobel—I was defending my choice to follow her. Because evil was a good word for those three not-children. As for Victor…

Well, the word fit him, too.

I beat the eggs until they were frothy, and then set them aside and began to grate cheese.

Riggs emerged from the hall, clad only in a towel around his waist, with his skin still damp from the bath, and all his tatts—and muscles—on glorious display.

Wow. I dropped the grater into the eggs.

One corner of his mouth quirked up as he addressed Cara. "Do you have anything I can wear?"

How could she not even look up from frying the meat strips? She pointed back to the hall. "Second door on the right. The closet has spare clothes. You two can eat, and then you'd better get back to your dorms. We're going to have to dredge up a cover story for you."

"Thanks." He might not have scales, but his voice still rumbled. He turned and disappeared down the hall, offering me a spectacular glimpse of the muscular back and the upper curve of his butt above the towel.

"I'm ready for those eggs," Cara said.

I ripped my eyes away. She wasn't looking at me, but I was pretty sure she was smirking.

So I fished the grater out of the bowl and decided that was enough cheese. But as I rose to take it to her, my mind danced with Dragons…