“How would you know? Do you watch the garden at night?”
“Sometimes,” I admitted. “It’s not as if I’m sleeping much these days.”
A hush fell between us, but his scowl remained.
“How did you know where I was?” I asked.
His jaws worked as he clamped them before he replied, “I smelled you.”
“You smelled me?”
I would’ve laughed if he didn’t look so cross, if he hadn’t just reminded me how vulnerable I was in a world of dragons. Their senses were so heightened, it would be nearly impossible for me to escape this city.
“Did you think I had taken my chances and run away?” I backed into the trunk behind me, leaning there and looking up at him.
I wanted some space between us, my pulse pumping faster at the way he looked tonight. Not from fear, but another emotion I didn’t want to feel. He was dressed in a simple short tunic, a jewel blue thatmatched his eyes. It wasn’t as stately or fine as togas I’d seen him wear before. But with his scowl, his feet set apart, his gaze intense, I could see him on a battlefield facing an enemy. Fierce and formidable.
I couldn’t imagine this at our first meeting or even at Euphemia’s shop. He’d seemed so… civil. Even though he didn’t appear like the other old senators, he’d had easy mannerisms that hid the beast beneath.
But now, I could see his dragon. As a matter of fact, the otherworldly flicker of the fiery beast was staring at me now through his pretty eyes.
“You are angry because you thought I’d run away,” I stated.
He didn’t reply, and he didn’t move. He was so close now, I could smell the spicy, vanilla scent of myrrh. Then I noted that his beard had been trimmed cleanly, so close I could see the outline of his strong jaw. He’d been to the baths.
“Afraid your little bird will escape before you can use her power?” I asked coldly.
He took a step closer. I should’ve felt threatened with him towering above me in all of his masculine fury. But I didn’t. It was strange.
“I was afraid for yourlife, Lela.”
I smiled. “I doubt that.”
His ice-blue eyes flared brighter and a rumbling growl vibrated in his chest. His dragon rode him hard. I bet his dragon was pretty, like him.
“You believe I’m lying?” His voice was deeper, more dangerous.
“All men lie to get what they want.”
“You’ve simply been living with liars too long.”
“As if by choice,” I snapped back. “Are you telling me you aren’t lying now to everyone else, hiding with your conspirators to orchestrate a coup against the emperor?”
He didn’t reply. I went on.
“Why? So that you can become the new emperor and rule over all? Do you honestly believe you can gain the throne and not become corrupt by it? Not become the exact same monster you want to kill?”
“I amnothinglike that creature.” His voice had dropped even deeper, his beast edging his skin as he fisted his hands.
I’d been on the other side of strong men’s fury. I knew the pain they could cause. But I wasn’t afraid of Trajan. He’d not once caused me harm or treated me the way Valerius had. And those letters from his sister, the care he had for them, told me more about him than anything else. Even his conspiracy to kill the foul creature who ruled as emperor of Rome made me see him differently. I wasn’t afraid of him, but that didn’t mean I could trust him.
“Why are you pushing me?” he asked, body still tight and coiled, waiting to strike, most likely.
“To show you what you truly are,” I said coolly. “You think you’re different than the men you want to kill. You’re not.”
I waited for him to hit me or grab me, but he didn’t move. I suppose I was pushing him, just to see if he would react the way Valerius would have. Some masochistic thrill to prove that I was right. All Roman men were the same.
Rather than grow more angry, his expression shifted to sadness. Then I was the one suddenly incensed.
