“We don’t have long,” Willow says.
“We, as in you or us?” I ask.
“Both. This isn’t our realm to linger in. The power of this meadow and its creatures are protecting our presence, but after a while, the ripple of our arrival will be felt. That’ll cause you problems you aren’t ready to face.”
The five of us shift, and her men mimic.
I examine each of them as Willow tilts her head toward Tillman—the big one—and he leans closer to her. No words are exchanged between them, but somehow, that movement causes the other three men to relax their stances.
A fraction.
“Do you people always just pop out of others’ hot springs unannounced?”
“Riven.”
The four of us whip our glares toward him, and he shrugs with his nostrils flared.
“What? It’s a legitimate question. I’m going to be pissed if I have to worry about them showing up when I’m taking a swim.”
“Do you make it a habit of swimming in water that you don’t know the first thing about?”
“Caspian.” Willow sighs.
“What? It’s a legitimate question. Isn’t that right?”
The sarcasm in his tone makes Riven scoff.
“Just that one, thank you very much.”
The corner of Caspian’s lips twitches, but his gaze continues to roam over Riven, then it shifts to Kyzen. It holds his the longest before moving to Amick and Creed. He measures each of them as though he’s trying his damnedest to figure out everything about them.
Willow shakes her head as she turns her back to us and steps through her men. They—well, and us—watch her every move as she sinks to her knees and reaches her arm back into the hot spring.
My eyes widen as the water stops spinning and the power snaps out of the atmosphere. Neither she nor her men react whatsoever, while the five of us stare in shocked confusion.
“That’s not a hot spring,” Amick mumbles.
“It obviously is,” Riven argues.
“No. That’s a portal.”
Willow nods and smiles. “Very good, God of Knowledge. We won’t be leaving the way we came. We’ve got another location we need to visit before heading home.”
“Okay, little wanderer, I’ve been patient like you made me promise. Can I say something now?”
She glances at him with a tender grin. “Go ahead, dragon.”
Dragon?
I thought his name was Draken.
He stretches his arms out wide, taking a step toward us as if one of us is about to embrace his ass in a hug. My men all tense while my arms shoot out.
“V,” I call, attempting to latch onto him, but he ignores me.
He hoots and purrs as he flies around Draken’s body. His feathers caress his arms, and he nuzzles into him once he finally lands on his shoulder.
“Oh, man. Two hundred and twenty-five years is too long. You look and feel amazing. You haven’t aged a day,” Draken cheers as he presses his forehead against V.
