Rowan joined her and knelt beside her, resting his hand on her shoulder in a companionable way. “You’re deep in thought, milady.”
Even the texture of his voice was different. Was it this place? There were moments, like now, that the Trolls’ compound reminded her of the fabled Scottish story, where a village had been frozen forever in gentler times and awakened for weddings and celebrations once every hundred years. A part of her wished for the enchantment of such a place.
She covered her hand over his, welcoming his warmth. “This is the first time you have called me ‘milady.’ Are you aware of its meaning?”
He settled next to her, his gaze traveling toward the cityscape of downtown Seattle. Skyscrapers shared the skyline with the city’s iconic Space Needle. Vibrant blue waters framed the shore while ferryboats and sailing vessels traversed the Sound at a leisurely pace.
“Renegade told me the title “milady” means one thing in the human’s world and quite another one in ours. And when attached to a female Wizard it signifies that she is not only the leader of the female Wizards but the head of the magical community. A heady responsibility. No wonder the Talons and the Grey Council tried to weaken the influence of female Wizards.”
She had spent the last few hours focusing on how Rowan had changed. Now she realized she had as well. When he drew attention to what her title stood for, she realized she no longer felt weighed down by the mantle of responsibility she wore. “I’m not alone in this struggle. Many stand with me.”
“Spoken like a born leader who understands the value of giving credit to those who are fighting at your side.” He tore hisgaze from the city to look at her through his dark glasses. “I’m starting to feel unworthy just to be in your presence.” A muscle throbbed at his temple. “Why me?”
“You asked me the same question on the island. Do you remember?” She kissed his cheek, struck by how right just being near him felt. “My answer is the same. How could I not?”
He kissed the tips of her fingers, his voice so low she had to lean in closer. “You are a gift I don’t deserve.”
She snuggled in his embrace as he put his arm around her shoulders. Words held power, and there was one that hovered between them, a word that would bind them together more powerfully than their brands ever could. It had gone unspoken, and Morgan struggled to keep her silence. She could not be the first to say, “I love you.” Before those words were spoken, she must find the strength to tell him of their son.
Love was an emotion female Wizards welcomed and embraced. It would be an easy thing for her to tell Rowan she loved him, had loved him from the first moment she first saw him all those long years ago, and would love him with her last breath. She knew he cared for her, perhaps more than he realized. The burning question was how deep his feelings ran.
Would he choose her above his duty to the Talons and the Grey Council?
Rain, as soft and warm as a spring day floated from the sky. It was a phenomenon of Mother Nature that she could give both sun and rain at the same time, as though reminding the Earth’s inhabitants of her sense of humor.
Rowan pulled Morgan to her feet. “Not crazy about rain. Fire and water don’t mix. Let’s go inside.”
His words, casually spoken, were like an arrow. She felt their weight but tossed them away. She wouldn’t read more into them. She couldn’t.
She wove her arms around him, tilting her head back to see him more clearly. “It is not raining that hard. This is what the Irish call ‘a soft day.’ You cannot really believe the old fable that a Fire Wizard’s core extinguishes if submerged. The rain feels wonderful.”
“I don’t fear my core’s pilot light going out, if that is what you mean. Fire Wizards just don’t like water.”
“I’m a Water Wizard. Are you afraid I’ll summon a tidal wave and drown you?”
He smiled. “Thanks. I wasn’t thinking about that until you brought it up.”
A crack of thunder followed by a silver streak of lightning heralded a downpour. Sheets of rain bounced off the lake, causing small whitecaps and bringing with it a cold breeze. Rowan pulled the collar of his jacket around his neck. “On the bright side, I won’t need a shower.”
As much as she enjoyed the rain, his expression was so pitiful she relented, reaching for his hand.
He shrugged away, shoving his hands in his pockets and hunching his shoulders. “Oh, no, you don’t. I’ve changed my mind. You’re right. This is a great day. I’m having the time of my life. Never felt better. Don’t know why I didn’t ever stand out in the pouring rain before.” He held his arm out, turning it over. “That’s interesting.” Steam rose from his outstretched arm and shoulders and fogged his glasses. “Do you think I’m melting? It’s going to be hard to track down and punish those responsible for killing the female Wizards if I’m a puddle.”
Smothering a laugh, she grabbed his hand. “You are impossible. We are going to the wagon.”
“Thank the gods,” he said, kissing the back of her hand. “My suggestion is that as soon as we’re inside, we shed these wet clothes.” He winked. “At last, a perfect reason for getting soaked to the skin.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Back in cloud-draped Seattle, the sun was losing its hold on the day as rain the shade of tears flowed from the sky. Obscured in the waning light, Stryker, in his dragon form, glided over to the small balcony outside the rooftop apartment where he had first shapeshifted from human Wizard to Dragon.
Hovering over the balcony, he shapeshifted from Dragon to human and dropped soundlessly onto the balcony. Since he was a full-grown Red Dragon, it would not have been able to hold his weight without the shift. Inside, the apartment looked warm and inviting, with shelves of books and containers of daisies, fresh-faced pansies and deep purple violets. It reminded him of a mountain stream in summer, all greens and blues, with its shore dusted with wildflowers. A stark contrast to the snarl of traffic and pedestrians below.
Humans shouldered past each other, avoiding contact and afraid to get too close. For the last few days he’d tried to make sense of this world and its people. They were a mystery to him as he watched and learned. At times he tried to access the life he had had as a human. The memories were difficult to hold onto for very long, possibly compromised by his near-death experience. It was as though he had slept for a thousand years and woken to a time he did not understand. When he tried to locate any of his kind, he found no trace of them in the Puget Sound area. But the need to reunite with those like him burned in his soul. Had they retreated to the North or South poles, or had the Wizards succeeded in exterminating them?
The Water and Fire Wizards who had been in the apartment were gone. Only the woman they had called AJ remained. He heard her humming in the kitchen. His hearing was scary good, and he chalked it up as another perk of being a dragon shapeshifter.
He had been kidnapped and brought to the apartment. That was the only explanation that made sense. But why would Wizards kidnap him if their goal was to wipe out his species? Was he the last of his kind and they meant to keep him as a pet? Or had Dragons regained strength and numbers, and the Wizards meant to discover their location through him?
