Elias spoke and his voice was hard and angry. "You’re a shapeshifter?"
"That’s the word used in this age, yes. I have the ability to transform into the image of another humanoid creature." Peter's expression never changed when he spoke. He stared straight into my eyes, but there was no life there, no emotion. Not even his eyebrows wiggled.
My breaths came out in short bursts, and I was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. "It was all a lie.” I sobbed. No tears came to my eyes, but my chest heaved, and the emotions wouldn't contain themselves inside of me anymore.
"I think you should tell us your story," said Anthony.
Peter blinked twice and spoke. "I've searched for the dragons my entire life. My people have searched for your lineage for the past thousand years. We’ve been tasked with eliminating your entire line, with wiping any dragon—Sárkány,” he spat, “off the face of the Earth. I found you, and I watched you, Riley. I watched you and Michael for years and tried to find a time I could take on Michael's image."
Tears finally sprang to my eyes. My emotions were such a mix of relief, rage, and grief that I could barely get words out through my sobs. "He was real?" I cried out.
"Michael Effler was real, Riley. He was your husband until the day he and your children disappeared." I slumped against Anthony, relief winning against the other emotions.
"I was so afraid that you were going to tell me that you'd been pretending to be Michael from the beginning," I said, tears and snot pouring out of my face. “I thought you were telling us he was never real.” A handkerchief appeared in front of my face. I cleaned myself up—fat lot of good it did since the tears wouldn't stop.
"The day your children were taken, I was watching from the woods behind your home. I watched them knock Michael out and leave him in the house while they loaded the screaming children into their vehicle. As soon as they were out of sight, I ran in your back door to Michael's defenseless body. I killed him quickly."
Bile rose up my throat as Peter dispassionately described murdering my husband. My relief disappeared and rage and grief warred. I felt hot, feverish. "Youkilled Michael?" Rage won.
"I have a spike in my hand that I stab into my victim's brain stem. It allows me to absorb their memories and DNA," he stated.
Elias moaned softly, his face a grimace of agony. I had a hard time putting my thoughts into a question. My mind buzzed with anger, and I was confused.
Anthony's hands were like ice against my arms. I looked down, surprised I could feel him through my shirt. When my gaze went back up, I realized my head was surrounded by smoke.
Anthony questioned Peter further, "You absorbed his likeness and memories, but you didn't completely get his memories, did you? You've been missing things here and there and blaming it on the potions."
"Is that even true? You were never in captivity, were you? If you weren't kidnapped, why did it take you five years to come back?" asked Elias through clenched teeth.
My brain fog cleared, and it hit me that Michael was dead. After thinking I'd found him again and spending time with this man in aMichael suit,knowing that he was truly dead hit me like I was hearing it for the first time.
I sat on the stone ground, in an Inca ruin in Bolivia, with an exact replica of my dead husband. I sucked in a deep breath, turned my face to the ceiling, and screamed at the top of my lungs.
When I'd gone through the portal and it activated my Sárkány heritage, it really had activated my magical side. As I screamed, my body grew hotter than it'd ever been. On the most scorching, muggiest Tennessee summer day, I'd never been so overheated.
Sparks flew from my mouth as I screamed out my grief. Anthony jumped back, and Elias gawked at me in fear. Only Axoular and Boudicca seemed unconcerned.
Fear coursed through my body when I saw the sparks, and it washed away the rage. My temperature cooled rapidly. I became exhausted, my head sinking to my chest, my entire body shivering and shaking. Goosebumps erupted across my arms.
Anthony sat down behind me, enveloping me in his embrace. I stared at Peter, looking at the details of Michael's features, knowing it would be the last time I’d see my first love, the father of my children, my husband's face.
"Why?"
He paused before replying. "I couldn't allow the portal to be opened. I searched for you for so long, Riley, but I don't kill unnecessarily. Michael was already going to be killed, I heard the thugs talking. He was to be taken back to your high council and be made an example of.”
Anthony stiffened behind me. “I suspected that was the case. They told us he died in the fight. If you killed him as he lay on the ground, unconscious, they must have thought they’d accidentally killed him.”
“I don’t understand why you needed my line? What did you care about the Sárkány or the portals?” I cried. “Tell me why you did this to me! Why did you ruin my life?”
“I didn't ruin your life, Riley. Whether I took on Michael’s image or not, he would've been killed, and your children ripped from you. That part wouldn't be any different. The only difference is you wouldn't have had this time with him. With me.”
“That time withhimwas cruel! How could you? Once you knew who I was, why didn’t you kill me if you didn’t want the portal opened ever again?” My anger built back up. “Why did you pretend to be my husband?”
“I had to know for sure that you were a dragon. I didn’t want to kill you if you weren’t. And then, when I got to know you, I… Well, I rather liked you. I didn’t want to hurt you if I could avoid it. I hoped against hope that we would get here to the portal, and nothing would happen when your blood touched the stone.”
He finally showed signs of emotion. He swiped his hand across his face, acrossMichael’sface. He looked weary and regretful.
“I should've killed you then. When I grabbed you and tried to stop you from leaving. We were the only two here. I should've ended it then. But I couldn’t do it.”
