I turned on my heel and stalked away before she could respond. Behind me, I heard Terra sigh, a sound of frustration and exhaustion that made guilt twist in my chest. I shoved it down.
She'd made her choice, aligned herself with the Council's decision. I didn't have to like it, and I didn't have to pretend I did. I needed to be alone. Needed to think without Terra's reasonable arguments or the weight of Drakarn eyes watching my every move.
The passages grew quieter as I moved deeper into the residential sections. Fewer warriors, fewer prying eyes. The sounds of the city faded to a distant murmur, voices and movement echoing from somewhere far above or below. Scalvaris was a vertical city as much as a horizontal one, levels stacked on levels, all connected by stairs and ramps and shafts that plunged into darkness. That darkness gathered in corners, thick and heavy.
My mind churned through possibilities, scenarios, plans that formed and dissolved like smoke. I could go to Ignarath myself. Stupid, suicidal, but at least it would be action. I could try to convince the other humans to pressure the Council. Unlikely to work, and it would just make me look desperate. I could wait, like Terra suggested, and trust that Darrokar would change his mind.
That last option made my skin crawl.
Halfway to my quarters, the skin on the back of my neck prickled.
I'd spent enough time in combat zones to recognize the sensation. Someone was watching. Following. The air shifted, a subtle change in pressure that my hindbrain registered even if I couldn't articulate what was different. The air felt different, charged with a presence I couldn't see but could definitely feel.
My hand dropped to the knife at my belt. The weight was familiar, comforting. The leather-wrapped hilt fit my palm perfectly, worn smooth from use. I'd sharpened the blade just yesterday, honing the edge until it could split a hair. I kept walking, listening for footsteps behind me, the scrape of claws on stone, the rustle of wings.
Nothing.
But the feeling persisted. A pressure between my shoulder blades, an awareness that I wasn't alone.
I stopped and tilted my head. "Who's there? I am not in the mood today." My voice echoed off the walls, bouncing back at me from multiple directions. The corridor was empty, shadows pooling in alcoves and doorways, but I knew better than to trust my eyes.
I turned and saw Nyx step out of the shadows.
He materialized like smoke given form, his gray scales blending with the darkness until he was suddenly just there. One moment the corridor was empty, the next he occupied the space like he'd always been there, like the shadows had simply been hiding him until he chose to be seen. Close enough that if his wings weren't held tight against his back, they'd brush my shoulders.
The sight of him hit me like a gut punch. My stomach dropped, then swooped upward, a physical reaction I couldn't control. Heat rushed through my body, starting low in my belly and spreading outward until my skin felt too tight. My pulse kicked up, hammering against my ribs in a rhythm that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with want.
My mind flashed back to the dream, unbidden and vivid. His tail sliding between my legs, the pressure and friction, the way my body had opened for him.
My thighs clenched. My core pulsed with sudden, unwelcome need. Slick heat gathered between my legs, my body respondingto his proximity with embarrassing enthusiasm. I could feel my nipples tighten beneath my shirt, sensitive points that ached for contact.
No. Absolutely not. I was angry, not aroused. This was not the time for my traitorous body to betray me.
Fuck, I did not need this right now.
"I don't see you for a month, and now you're stalking me?" The words came out more breathless than I intended, and I hated myself for it. Hated that he could affect me this much just by existing in the same space.
Damn it, why did I have to say that? The last thing I needed was for him to know I cared. Or something.
"I was away on a mission." He stood too close, invading the space most Drakarn kept between themselves and humans. His silver eyes held mine, unblinking, intense in a way that made my breath catch.
Up close, I could see the white markings that traced patterns across his gray scales, scars that told stories of battles fought and survived. His scent wrapped around me, smoke and stone and something sharper underneath. The heat radiating from his scales made the air between us feel thick, hard to breathe.
"I heard. You failed." The words were cruel, designed to hurt. Part of me regretted them immediately. Part of me wanted to hurt him the way I was hurting, wanted someone else to feel the helpless fury eating me alive.
He flinched. The movement was subtle, barely there, but I caught it. A tightening around his eyes, a fractional pulling back that he controlled almost instantly. His tail coiled once, then went still. "We did.Idid."
Silence stretched between us. I cataloged details without meaning to. The multiple piercings climbing his ears, the matte black paint on his claws, the way his chest rose and fell with each breath.
He was massive this close, broad-shouldered and built for endurance, designed to carry heavy loads over long distances. I should look away. Should step back, put distance between us. I couldn’t. I stayed frozen, caught in the gravity of his presence.
The corridor felt smaller with him in it. The walls closer. The air thicker. Somewhere in the distance, water dripped, a rhythmic plinking that counted out the seconds of our silence.
His tail moved, just slightly. A coil and release that drew my attention downward before I caught myself. The appendage was thick and muscular, covered in the same gray scales as the rest of him, tapering to a point that looked deceptively delicate.
In the dream, that tail had been everywhere. Wrapping around my ankle, sliding between my thighs, finding places that made me gasp. I had to ignore another wave of heat as it surged through me.
Focus. The mission. The missing humans. Not the way his scales caught the light or how his scent made my head spin.
