Regardless, I have no choice. I must go. And since I will not leave her alone, my wife must go too.
Across the room, Rosomon leans against the large window, looking out at the city. While I was busy with the maps, she watched something called a television and claims to be learning new words from that activity and reinforcing her understanding of others.
To me, the television is nothing but senseless noise.
She’s wearing the simplest of all the dresses I procured—the one I knew would be her favorite. Modest as it is, the garment clings to her backside in a way that makes me want to fondle the soft skin underneath and hold her warm body against mine.
Turning her head toward me, she smiles, drawing me toward her like a magnet. I slip in behind her, draping one arm around her body as we look out the window. Her sweet scent, reminiscent of berries, overtakes my senses. The top of my tiny wife’s head doesn’t reach my chin. She’s not unusually short for a human, but I am unusually tall—even amongst dragon shifters.
“What are you looking at?” I stroke her arm.
Her fingers trail over my forearm. “All of it.” Her chest expands with a long breath, pushing her spine against me. “I miss home, but even with all of its ugliness, this city is beautiful.”
Twisting her neck, she glances toward me. “If that makes any sense.”
Even from this height, on the twenty-third floor, when I look closely at the streets below, or into the windows of other buildings, all I see are the bad things—robberies, assaults, debauchery, the over consumption of spirits and other intoxicants. But, as I let my vision lose its sharp focus, the perpetual night of this city blurs into a mass of lights that does have its own allure. She’s right; taken as a whole, the City of Darkness is something far more palatable.
“I suppose it has its own kind of beauty.” I kiss the top of her head. “We should go.”
She turns in the space between my body and the glass, and looks expectantly into my eyes. “Did you find your hoard?”
I nod. “I believe so. It’s not too far, especially if we enter the park from the south, but we should bring your comfortable shoes.”
“Sneakers.”
I tip my head to the side.
“That’s what the comfortable shoes are called,” she says. “At least that’s one word for them. There are others: runners, tennis shoes, kicks…” She grins. “But sneakers is the word I like best. It describes what’s possible while wearing them. Sneaking.” She shrugs. “But so do some of the other words, I suppose.”
I love how quickly she’s learning, and how excited and eager she is to experience this world that must be even stranger for her than it is for me.
“Then go fetch yoursneakers.” I step back. “And bring your saddlebags. I’ll put them inside my bags. We’ll have a lot to carry back.”
CHAPTER 15
Zogar
“The sign says, ‘DANGER’.” Stopping, Rosomon tugs on my arm.
I glance down at her. “I’ll keep you safe.
“Do you even knowwhythe danger sign is posted?”
I consider lying to reassure her. “No. My best guess is that elves posted the sign to keep others out.” Even I don’t fully believe that. “But we must enter this park to reach my hoard.”
Her lips twist to the side. “Do weneedyour hoard? Eldrath offered you some coin.”
“I willnotbe in debt to an elf.” Nor to anyone. “It’s bad enough I accepted Lucian’s apartment.”
She startles. I raised my voice.
I pull her against me, hoping she’ll take the embrace as an apology, and that my strong arms will offer her a better sense of security. The park is heavily wooded, but the trail looks wellkept. It’s paved with clay bricks, and has lamp posts at intervals, which cast a yellow glow through the dim red-tinged light pervasive in this city.
“You’ll be safe with me.” I lightly squeeze her. “I promise.”
“What about you?” She slides her soft hand up my arm. “Who’ll keepyousafe?”
Bending down, I press my lips against the space between her pale, arched eyebrows. “You’ll keep me safe.”
