I flipped him off. “You saw me in one gym class.” Which was exactly the same as every other gym class I’d ever been to, but I could totally pretend I had some sort of athletic skills hidden away.
“So what’s the other path?” I looked between both of them, hoping it wouldn’t involve climbing.
Lexen took a few steps back, lifting his arms in the air and dropping his head forward. I stumbled toward him, worried about what was happening, but before I got more than a step, Daniel grasped my biceps, holding me back. A rumble had both of our heads shooting up. Lexen was staring at me, his eyes a pure shining white. All of the black was gone. What looked like white electricity was streaming across his body, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from his eyes long enough to see what was happening.
“I’m going to let you go,” Daniel said slowly. “Lexen’s having some problems sharing. But you have to promise you won’t go to him. He could hurt you if you get too close.”
“I promise,” I choked out.
Daniel released me, placing both of his hands in the air. He seemed to be silently communicating with Lexen. I was missing a lot of the finer details because I couldn’t seem to focus on anything but the Daelighter standing before me covered in white light.
An icy blast hit me, stinging my hot skin. Wings burst from Lexen’s back, huge and black, spanning out ten feet on either side. His skin took on a scaly texture as his body grew bigger, until he was almost twice his normal size. The white bolts of power that still ran across him slowly died off as he changed.
I swallowed hard, pressing my hand to my chest as I stared. “I’m starting to understand what he meant when he said he took on attributes of his dragon,” I spluttered.
Daniel snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. “This is the power of the Draygo people. There are not many of them left, and Lexen is the only one to be born an overlord. Which makes him extra powerful. He does this hybrid shift using Qenita’s energy, which means he is undetectable through the network. A power unlike any other.”
Shut. The. Hell. Up! Seriously. I just kissed a freaking dragon-man.
“Will he be able to fly us the entire way down?” My question was far tamer than my thoughts.
Daniel shook his head. “No. Technically, we should be dead to even exist here. The Cascading Justices drain the living, even Imperials. It’s why we mostly remain on the incubation level, where the network is the strongest and feeds our energy.”
This was all too technical for me, especially when trying to wrap my mind around being dead. “Lexen will be able to skip at least two of the levels,” Daniel added. “I can get us through the rest.”
I nodded, sucking in a few much-needed breaths. Lexen tilted his head, his movements less human-like than ever before. The last of the light across his body faded; only those flames in his eyes remained. As he stepped closer to me, I was surprised by the fact that I had no urge to run. It was just a twelve foot man, parts of his skin covered in white and black scales, with huge wings towering above us … no worries.
I examined his face, the same stunning and masculine features, a sheen of scales running down his cheeks and across his forehead. He still felt like Lexen to me … an amazing, beefed up, dragon version. I mean, who didn’t think dragons were cool? When he reached us, he swept me up into his arms, chest rumbling loudly as I sank against him.
Daniel was silently waiting, watching closely. I could tell part of him didn’t trust dragon-Lexen as much as he did normal-Lexen. I wondered why I didn’t have that same reservation. Maybe I was naturally stupid.
After a few moments I was adjusted to one side so Daniel could step in and grip onto the other, free side. Then, without any warning, Lexen’s wings burst out to their full lengths and we were flying.
18
I’d thought flying on the magic carpet was scary, but it was nothing compared to the sensation of soaring like this. Lexen’s powerful wings lifted us high and out over the flames below. I tried my best not to look down, because if I started to panic I would wiggle and he’d probably drop me.
I must have said something out loud about being dropped because Lexen let out a rumbly chuckle. “Trust me, little human. I’m not going to drop you.”
His voice was at least ten octaves deeper than usual, a hybrid of man and beast, just like his body. “When are you going to quit with the ‘little human’ stuff?” I said, needing to find a distraction from the possibility of falling into flaming lava.
There was silence, just the whoosh of wings and the roaring of flames below. “It doesn’t mean what it used to,” Lexen finally said. He left it at that, and I found I was satisfied with his answer.
I’d sort of known that already; his voice used to snarl over the word “human,” but now it was gentle. It had gone from an insult to a nickname.
“You two should stop fighting the inevitable,” Daniel said. I twisted my head, my heart aching as I stared into his tortured eyes. How could there be so much emotion in a pair of eyes? Seriously.
“What’s the inevitable?” I asked, voice barely audible above the crackling noise of fire and lava around us.
His lips twisted into a grin and I realized there was a deep dimple carved into his cheeks. Je-sus … Lexen had hot friends.
“Emma doesn’t understand our world,” Lexen interrupted Daniel. “She doesn’t understand what this sort of relationship would cost her. I … won’t do that to her, no matter what my draygone soul wants.”
A growl ripped from his throat then and I was startled enough that I jolted. “Can you maybe not speak in code any longer?” Annoying Daelighters. “Tell me exactly what you mean for once.”
His growls halted in an instant, and I almost died of shock when he answered me straight up: “Draygones have one mate – choosing someone who calls to their souls. It’s an eternal bond. As a Draygo, I have a draygone soul within me. It is what makes me different from other Daelighters.”
“Your dragon has chosen me?” I choked out, tears already springing to my eyes. I swallowed a few times, willing away the damp pressure. I’d always felt a link between us, so this explained a lot.
