“No,” Gweneth said.“Save your energy.Just keep talking to us.”
Gweneth glanced at Ellard when Sheera popped from view.“You think the ship knew his location and captured him somehow?”
“Yes,” Ellard said in a low voice, his gaze on the bushy pink-and-green leaves of the surrounding trees.A faint breeze had sprung up, the scent holding a pungent bouquet, which didn’t agree with his feline.He sneezed.
Gweneth scowled at the mass of trees and plants.“I don’t like this.”
“Me neither.”Ellard studied their surroundings.Narenda’s star pierced the canopy, creating flickering shadows.Dead leaves crunched beneath his boots, and to his right, a bright yellow climber wound around a dead tree, a jarring contrast to the feathery pink-and-gray trunk.But no matter how hard he concentrated, he couldn’t hear birds, insects, or other animal life.Instead, a preternatural silence hung over the forest.
“I wish we had weapons.”
“At least we have your knife.That’s a start.”
Sheera’s head shimmered into sight, and Gweneth managed not to make a sound, although Ellard saw the way she clamped her mouth shut.Glittery tears ran down the woman’s cheeks, her panic evident.“I couldn’t see Leeam or the ship.”
“What about the force field?”
Sheera wrinkled her nose.“It’s like a bubble over the area.I could see the curve of it over the flat hill.The sky is a weird color outside.A muddy yellow with streaks of red.”
“You can see through the force field?”
“Yes, but it gives me the creeps.It’s like something rubbing my skin in the wrong direction, and the field saps my willpower.I want to reach out and place my hand on it.”Sheera blinked, her long eyelashes sweeping her upper cheeks.“Leeam said that wasn’t natural and we should keep away.”
“The field of debris has moved even closer.That would be why no one has come to search for us.That thing doesn’t behave like any storm I’ve witnessed before.We should get moving and explore the rest of the area.”Ellard commenced pacing.
“But what about Leeam?”Sheera asked.
Gweneth went to Sheera and put her arm around where she thought the girl’s shoulders would be.Her arm cut through air, and Sheera giggled, the sound a welcome mood lightener.
Ellard stopped, and Gweneth ripped her gaze off his muscular backside.Not quick enough, judging by his stern look before he addressed the Incorporeal woman.“Sheera, do you have any weapons?”
“No, but I can make them as long as I have enough energy.”She sent them a shy smile.“You produce tasty energy during lovemaking.”
“Good to know,” Ellard said in a dry tone that made Gweneth grin.“They know we’re here.They’ll return for us.The force field must be a trap to catch something.”
“Us or Sheera and Leeam?”
“Do outsiders know you come here?”Ellard asked.
“We have always lived with the dragon shifters.Until Ransom took over as chieftain, outsiders never visited our planet,” Sheera said.“We are a secretive race and don’t appear to strangers.”
“But you were very open with us,” Gweneth said.“We haven’t been here long, but already, we know a lot about your people.”
Sheera blinked out.“I need to conserve my energy.”
“That is fine,” Ellard said.“Remain close so we can protect you.”
“That is why you were given our secrets,” Sheera said.
Gweneth shared a quick look with Ellard.“Pardon?”
“We can read minds.It is how we are able to fashion what each recipient requires.Niran judged you both pure and good people and worthy of our secret.Your first instinct was to protect me.You helped join the search to find Leeam and me when we went missing.You fed us, and now you’re trying to keep us safe.That is why we gifted you with our secrets.Some seek to exploit us.”
It was the most Sheera had said since they met her, and her words rang with passion.
Gweneth thought about the dragons.“Ransom doesn’t have a mate.”
A tinkly laugh rang out.“No, but he is a lusty male.His energy is piquant and sustaining.All the dragons are lusty lovers.”
