Predictable. She wanted to hit him. “I’m aware of my own magic, thank you.”
“Are you?” He stepped closer, and gods, there it was again—the familiar current of awareness that made her skin prickle.
“My control is fine.”
“Your control is?—”
“Elder Tau!”
The voice cut through their argument, musical and warm, and Cassia turned to see someone approaching along the dock.
The first thing she registered was beauty. The kind that felt almost painful to look at—striking enough that it didn’t seem entirely real. The woman moved with fluid grace, her dark hair falling past her shoulders in waves that seemed to shift and flow even without wind. Her skin had a luminous quality, as if lit from within by something cool and pale. And her eyes?—
Cassia couldn’t quite determine their color. Sea-green one moment, silver the next, shifting with the light.
She wore flowing clothes in shades of ocean blue, silver jewelry catching the gray morning light, and she smiled at Aero with a familiarity that made something hot and ugly twist in Cassia’s gut.
“Nerissa.” Aero’s voice was flat. Neutral in a way that somehow conveyed profound disinterest. “I wasn’t aware you were in Haven Shores.”
“The Deepwater Courts sent me to observe the surge phenomenon. Similar mission to yours, actually.” The woman—Nerissa—stopped beside him, near enough that her shoulder nearly brushed his arm. “It’s been so long since we’ve crossed paths. Geneva, wasn’t it? The summit with the vampire delegations?”
“Thirty years ago.” Still flat. Still neutral.
“Has it been that long?” Nerissa’s laugh was like water over stones. “Time moves so differently for those of us who have plenty of it.”
Cassia felt suddenly, painfully aware of her mortality. Of the crow’s feet beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. Of her wild hair escaping its braid, the salt stains on her jacket, and the calluses on her hands from years of real work.
Nerissa looked like she’d never worked a day in her life. Like she’d never had to. Like beauty and grace had simply been handed to her at birth, and she’d spent three centuries perfecting both.
“And who is this?” Nerissa’s iridescent gaze finally found Cassia, assessment sharp beneath practiced warmth. “Your research assistant?”
“Research partner.” Aero’s correction was immediate. “Cassia Gale. She’s the local weather specialist.”
“Oh, how wonderful.” Nerissa’s smile widened, perfect teeth gleaming. “I’ve heard such interesting things about the weather here. So volatile lately. So dangerous.” Her attention lingered on Cassia a beat too long. “It must be exhausting, trying to manage something so unpredictable.”
The words could have been sympathetic. Should have been. But something in Nerissa’s tone grated against Cassia’s instincts, made her feel like she was being cataloged for weaknesses.
“I manage fine.”
“Of course, you do.” Nerissa touched Aero’s arm—a light, casual gesture that shouldn’t have meant anything. Her fingers rested against his sleeve, pale against dark fabric. “Aero, I was hoping we might compare notes on the surge patterns. The Deepwater Courts have gathered extensive data on oceanic anomalies. It might complement your atmospheric research.”
She was still touching him.
Cassia’s magic surged.
The clouds overhead thickened, darkening from gray to charcoal. A gust of wind swept across the dock, sharp enough to tug at loose rigging and make the boats strain against their lines. The barometric pressure plummeted—she felt it in her bones, in the sudden heaviness of the air.
Not now, she told herself. Not here.
But her body wasn’t listening. Her magic wasn’t listening. Something about watching this elegant, ancient creature touch Aero with such easy familiarity had bypassed every control mechanism Cassia possessed.
She wasn’t jealous. She had no right to be jealous. The dragon elder meant nothing to her—he was cold and clinical and treated her like a particularly interesting data set.
So why did her chest feel like it was cracking open?
“The weather,” Nerissa observed, glancing upward with a slight frown. “How suddenly it changes here. Is this a surge effect, do you think? Or something more… personal?”
Her iridescent gaze slid back to Cassia. The smile remained, but something in it had sharpened. A blade hidden beneath silk.
