“A fascinating story, but I still don’t know why you’ve been stalking me.”
“I sensed the dragon magic beginning to stir a few months ago. At first it was nothing more than a brush across my mind. Like a caress. It woke me from my slumbers.”
Wynn rolled her eyes. Her luck really had gone south if she’d managed to wake this male from his hibernation just by walking around. What else had she woken? The question doubled the size of the knot in her stomach.
“What makes you think the magic has anything to do with the...” She bit off the word corruption. She didn’t want to explain why she was obsessed with the green goo. “Gabriela?”
“I didn’t at first. I assumed a dragon had escaped from hibernation.”
“Escaped like you?” she taunted.
“It’s my duty to protect my people.” There was an edge in his voice that hinted he didn’t like the direction of the conversation. As if he had something to hide. “Once I caught sight of you I realized that you weren’t a dragon. Which meant the power must have come from somewhere else. The most logical answer is that the magic was hidden in a relic that you possess.”
“Even if I did have a magical relic, it doesn’t mean it’s linked to Gabriela,” she insisted.
He shook his head. “The magic resonating inside you is old. The oldest I’ve ever felt.” He stepped forward. “Where is it?”
There was a sudden, crushing wave of compulsion, as if his patience had snapped.
Wynn sensed the magic slam into her, but astonishingly, she didn’t shatter beneath the blast. In fact, she managed to meet him glare for glare.
How dare he try to force her to bend to his will?
“It’s not here,” she said in cold tones.
“Then take me to it.”
“You’re not the boss of me.”
The magic vanished, along with the obnoxious arrogance, leaving behind a male who’d reached his limit.
“Dammit, Wynn, this isn’t a game,” he rasped. “Dragon relics are unique. The magic inside them can’t be used by demons or mages or witches. Those who try are eventually destroyed. But only after they are driven to madness.”
Wynn sniffed at the warning, acting like his words hadn’t touched a raw nerve. Was he right? Had she stumbled across an item that was infused with dragon magic and it was taking control of her? And were the nightmares a form of encroaching insanity?
“You’re trying to scare me,” she said.
“If I wanted to scare you, then I’d threaten to torture the information out of you.” It wasn’t a warning. Just a plain statement of fact. He was physically stronger than her, even in his human form. And if he decided to shiftinto his dragon...well, she would be toast. Literally. She couldn’t squash her instinctive shudder and he clicked his tongue. “Wynn, I have no desire to hurt you. Or to see you hurt,” he assured her. “All I want is the statue.”
She forced herself to meet his fierce gaze. He was right. This was no time for games. She needed to return to her search for the source of the magic plaguing her. And she needed to do it without Azh breathing fire down her neck.
“I don’t have it.”
“Then where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wynn.” Her name came out on a low sexy growl.
Heat swirled through her, but she pretended her toes weren’t curling in response. “I truly don’t know, I swear.”
“Then how are you tapping into the magic?”
“I’m not,” she insisted. “I have no idea what it can or can’t do...wait.” Wynn’s protest faltered as she felt a familiar tugging inside her. As if the skipping stones were being activated. “What’s happening?”
Azh’s brows snapped together as he reached out, clearly intending to grab her arm. “Don’t you dare leave.”
“I’m not doing this. It’s the stupid dragon magic. It keeps doing weird things.”
