“I couldn’t reach him. He’s left his job and moved out of his home.”
“Almost like he’s running from something.” Her rheumy blue eyes widened. “Perhaps that something is looking for you too.”
“Perhaps that something is what you saw in the cards that will threaten our lives.”
She spread her hands. “But if you live, you will be very, very happy.”
“I love you, Harriet, but you’re a freak if you think that makes me feel better. Also a freak if you aren’t concerned. As my bonded servant, if I die, you die.”
“I do not think you will die. I think you will be—”
“Very, very happy. Yes, I heard you.”
Harriet’s lips thinned and she clasped her hands in front of her stomach. “Well, I find it comforting to be wrapped in the arms of fate and given a glimpse into the beyond. We are all adventurers on this journey called life. The wind is in your sails, Rowan. Can’t you feel it? Don’t you think it’s time to look to the stars to guide you? Even if you can’t change your course, they shine quite lovingly.”
Nick groaned and rolled over, grabbing his head.
“He’s waking up.” Rowan hurried to his side.
Harriet worked her fingers under the bandage on his neck and peeled it from his skin. “Voilà! All healed up. My work here is done. I’ll see you tomorrow at the gallery. I’m going to be late coming in.”
“Why?”
“Traveller council meeting. I hope you won’t need Djorji. He’s expected around the fire at Ember Fields as well.”
“I’ll make do. Say hello to the others for me.”
Harriet bowed her head before retreating from the room.
Nick’s eyes fluttered as he lay beside her in bed, and he let out a groan.
She rushed to his side. “Nick? Are you okay?”
His eyes opened fully and he blinked twice. “What am I doing here?”
“You passed out. You lost a lot of blood at Wicked Divine tonight.”
In a burst of movement, Nick thrust himself up and away from her, until his back was against the headboard. He licked his lips. “You had wings!”
She nodded. “Because I’m a dragon.”
He blinked at her, staring over her shoulders. Well, okay. If he needed to see them again, she would oblige. She stood beside the bed and again spread her wings.
Rowan might as well have been entirely naked for how vulnerable and exposed she felt showing Nick who she was. She didn’t have any more of Harriet’s forget-me potion to wipe this from his mind. She was baring her soul to him, trusting that he could accept who she was. And if he rejected her, it would be the worst kind of rejection. No misunderstandings or misconceptions. Nick would have seen what she was and called it garbage. Harriet was right. It was too risky. She was mad to tell him, but she was also helpless to resist her need to.
He stared at her unblinking, his face frozen in some stony expression she couldn’t read. The only thing moving was a vein in his neck that throbbed like it had a life of its own.
“Nick?”
His eyelids fluttered like butterfly wings. Then, slowly, he hung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, straight backed and chin high. He reached for her right wing.
At once she flinched away. “Hey! Ask me before you get all grabby hands.” Her cheeks burned. Wings to a dragon were intimate appendages. He might as well be reaching for her breast.
“Oh.” His gaze shifted toward the wall.
She took a deep breath. When he didn’t look at her again, she asked softly, “Do they disgust you?”
His gaze flicked up to her again, his brow furrowed. “No, Rowan. I think they’re breathtaking. Astonishing. Unbelievable. This is all…” He rubbed his head.
