Lian gave him an odd look. "Um, okay. Sure."
"You don't believe me." He shouldn't be surprised. Lian had told him he wasn't a believer.
Lian shrugged. "I don't have a lot of experience with goddesses. The one time a goddess spoke to me she appeared in person. I don't know about the more subtle influence of a goddess."
His mate's easy disregard of the goddess's intervention unnerved him. "You know I am the speaker for the goddess." It might not be the time or place, but the compulsion to straighten things out between them rode him hard after his imprisonment.
" I know," Lian assured him.
A wave of energy slammed through him, before his eyes his wrists and ankles healed from his mate's magic.
"Thanks," Nevair said.
Lian cupped Nevair's face. "You don't need to thank me, I'm your mate."
Nevair shrugged. "Doesn't mean I can't show my appreciation."
"I can think of a lot of better ways to show appreciation," Lian's wicked smile made Nevair wish they were alone.
A policeman entered the cavern, his face serious. "We captured your assistant. He's insisting to talk to you before they take him in."
"Milot's detective has information that points to Tres being at least partly responsible for poisoning the dragonkin," Lian said.
"Really." Nevair wondered if he'd really known Tres after all. The boy he'd grown up with had turned into a man he couldn't recognize. "Let's see what he has to say."
Acid boiled in Nevair's stomach as his dragon growled. Neither of them appreciated betrayal in any form. The sight of Tres in handcuffs, not that different from Nevair's shackles, made his inner beast give a happy snort.
"You think you're so important, Nevair, but you're not. The goddess doesn't love you above all others. She should've chosen me!"
"What are you talking about?" Nevair asked, truly puzzled.
"All you dragonkin think you're so special, but the goddess doesn't care about you. You only think so. Everyone always thought I had a crush on you but I kept hoping you'd find a mate so I could kill him and destroy you once and for all. All you dragonkin are so smug thinking you're superior because you can turn into a beast. The kids at school used to mock me because I had a dragon name. No more!" Tres turned a venomous glare towards Lian. "I call for the goddess rite!"
Everyone in the room gasped, everyone except for Lian. Nevair knew his mate had no idea how much trouble he was in.
"What's he talking about?" Lian hissed.
Nevair had to swallow back the bile rising in his throat before he answered. "If a person finds the mate of the Pontifex less than ideal, they can call for the goddess rite. It hasn't been used in over six hundred years. It means the goddess has to approve of my mate, personally."
"What does it entail?" Lian asked.
Nevair licked his lips, working hard to push the words out of his chest. "They set you on fire and hope the goddess will save you."
"Forget it!" Lian shouted. The horror on his face twisted the pain in Nevair's chest. Lian grabbed Nevair's shirt. "Nevair, I can't heal myself. I-I can only heal others."
Fear froze Nevair like an icicle.
Tres laughed, a loud maniacal sound. "Once it's called, you can't refuse. You will be tested, heathen!"
The police gave Nevair a pitying look as they hauled Tres away. At least his former best friend wouldn't get to see the horror he had brought upon Nevair's life. Unfortunately, even if accused of a heinous crime, it didn't take away from the fact Tres called for the goddess rite.
Nevair wondered if he could get Lian out of town before anyone thought to grab him.
It'll be fine.A female voice whispered in Nevair's head. He hoped the goddess was speaking to him because otherwise he had finally lost his mind. Considering the past few weeks, anything was possible.
Lian pulled out his communicator and Nevair saw him pulling up flight schedules. He didn't blame him.
"Come with us sir," one of the policemen said in polite tones while wrapping a hand around Lian's upper arm.
