“I want to move like you do,” I said.
He leaned against the crystal, strong arms resting on the rim. With the golden veins on the wall reflecting on his skin, and the steam rising up around him, he looked like a god. A god who kept staring at me with a curious, calculating glint in his eyes.
“NowIcan feelyouthinking.” I slid closer to him, my long dark hair a flowing curtain behind me. “What’s making you frown like that?”
He exhaled, running his thumb against his lower lip. “With you, I find myself in two minds.”
I rolled my eyes jokingly. “So you can blame me if you go insane. Great.”
He huffed a laugh, smile spreading.
“I love seeing you like this,” he whispered, shaking his head as if he couldn’t quite believe the view.
“Wet and naked?”
“Giddy. Pouting. Playful. Free.” His hand dropped into the water and found mine, intertwining our fingers. He brought it up and kissed a line down my wrist, turning serious. “The Dragon’s the only outsider who’s ever survived the bone-breaking ritual. You’re strong–”
“–and stubborn.”
“So very, very stubborn.” He grinned. “If anyone else has a chance of surviving it, it’s you. But the thought of putting you in danger hollows me.”
“Hence the two minds,” I said softly.
“Diametrically opposed. The ritual is painful. Pain I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy, let alone–” He licked his lips. “I know there’s no use trying to convince you otherwise if you have already decided.”
“Truly a smart man.”
“But I want you strong and happy andalive.”
“I want that too, shockingly.”
That ritual sounded brutal.
Dangerous.
But I kept seeing flashes of Dax vanishing underneath the ice.
My father, murdered perhaps mere seconds before I’d found him.
Tanthe Issa’s lifeless eyes, the poisoned arrow in her back.
Moving faster than the wind was an advantage I couldn’t ignore, especially with a war coming.
“I’ll think about it.Reallythink about it. And I might decide that I want to risk the ritual,” I said. “This is your formal warning.”
He exhaled loudly, resigned, but nodded all the same. “Good. This is not a decision to be made lightly.”
And I believed him. Because I had no reason not to, despite the weird shadows which still crowded his gaze.
“You’ll need to prepare for it. Your mind and body need to be completely relaxed and there’s no reason not to start now.” He pulled on my wrist, bringing my lips so close to his that we almost kissed. “Turn around.”
Chapter 12
Allie
“Are you sure you’re not related to this Solkar of yours?” I mumbled, barely coherent. “Your hands are divine.”
Ryker had barely touched that knot in my shoulders which had been nagging me more than Dax all day, yet he’d loosened it so fast, I wondered if he’d used his powers on me. But that was ridiculous–the tell-tale euphoria which followed him entering my veins was not there.
