Not a command. A plea.
"I love you," I repeated. Stronger this time, more certain. "I choose you. Choose this. Choose Scalvaris."
His eyes closed. When they opened again, they were bright with something that might have been tears if Drakarn could cry.
"Zhara te kyvara." The words were formal, almost ritualistic. "My heart, my flame. You are everything I did not know I needed."
I didn't have the Drakarn words to respond properly. So I kissed him, tried to pour everything I felt into the press of my lips against his.
We lay there in the quiet, wrapped around each other. The heat from the stone seeped into my muscles, easing aches I hadn't realized I was carrying. Nyx's breathing evened out beneath me, his hand stroking lazy patterns down my spine.
"We need to tell the Council," I said eventually. "About the settlement. About the thousands of humans."
Nyx rumbled agreement. "Tomorrow. Darrokar will want a full report."
"Karyseth is going to lose her shit."
That earned me a huff of laughter. "The high priestess loses her composure over far less. This will send her into apoplexy."
The thought made me grin. I had no love for the woman who'd tried to have Orla executed, who viewed all humans as corruption incarnate. Watching her face when she learned there were thousands more of us would almost be worth the inevitable political nightmare.
"What do you think will happen?" I asked. "When they find out?"
Nyx was quiet for a moment, considering. His tail tightened fractionally around my leg. "The Council will debate. Some will see opportunity for alliance. Others will see only threat. But Darrokar is pragmatic. He will recognize the value in cooperation."
"And the humans? Runa's people?"
"That is for you to divine. The ways of humans are a mystery to me."
I ran my fingers down his chest in warning, like I was the one with claws. "Think they'll let me bring Kira out to see Larissa?"
"I do not see why not. The captain agreed to allow visitors." Nyx shifted beneath me, adjusting his wing so it draped morecomfortably over my back. "Your friend deserves to know her sister lives."
Kira had been slowly unraveling for weeks, the not-knowing eating at her. She'd thrown herself into her work, anything to avoid thinking about Larissa's fate. Having answers, even difficult ones, would be better than the uncertainty.
I made a mental note to talk to her first thing in the morning. Before the Council meeting, before the political fallout, before everything got complicated.
Just two friends, sharing impossible news.
My eyes were getting heavy. The combination of exhaustion, post-orgasmic bliss, and Nyx's warmth was dragging me toward sleep. I fought it, wanting to stay in this moment a little longer.
"Sleep,kyvara." Nyx's voice was a low rumble beneath my ear. "We are safe here."
Safe. In the heart of a Drakarn city, wrapped in the wings of a warrior who'd claimed me as his mate. Six months ago, the idea would have been laughable. Insane.
Now it was just true.
I let my eyes close. Let myself drift in that space between waking and sleep where everything felt soft and distant. Nyx's heartbeat was a steady rhythm beneath my cheek, his breathing deep and even.
This was home.
Not Earth, not the Nostos, not even the human settlement in the Broken Plains. This. Him. The warmth of his body and the safety of his wings and the certainty that he would tear apart anyone who tried to hurt me.
I'd never had that before. Never let myself want it.
Now I couldn't imagine living without it.
I’d been asleep for some time when the knock came.
