“Then we need the mapping system.” Gillian looks up at me.
It takes everything I have not to draw her to me. Instead I close the gap between us, smoke billowing for a nova-second before I gain some control and instead suck down her perfect scent.
“Mine is not reliable. I will need to obtain another.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“It is something I will have to consider.”
The door closes behind us, and Gillian cocks her head on one side.
“What is that smell?” She lifts her head. “It’s like…water?”
“My personal aquium,” I explain, subconsciously lifting my hand to my neck and scratching.
“A pool?” Her eyes light up. “You have a pool.”
“I do not have a pool,” I respond, watching her expression change from delight to despair. “Wehave an aquium, and you can use it any time you wish.”
Gillian stares at me.
“I don’t have a swimsuit,” she says.
I furrow my brow.
“Clothes for swimming in,” Gillian clarifies. “I don’t have any clothes to swim in.”
A smile spreads over my face. “Neither do I.”
We stare at each other for a few more beats, and then her face changes, her lips curling up and her eyes closing as she slaps her hand on my chest and throws her head back in the most incredible of ways, a laugh tumbling from her with the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.
“I do not require clothing, Gillian. But I do need to shed my skin.”
Her laugh comes to an abrupt halt.
“All Sarkarnii shed, but when we’re in rut, the shed is worse, more urgent. And my shed has never been easy, even more so since we arrived on Vorostor.”
Gillian is still close to me. Close enough I can’t help myself. I take her chin in my hand, tilting her face up to mine.
“The wormhole which brought us here, the one I chose, even though my mapping was malfunctioning, changed some of us. Not all of us, but for me and my warriors, it made being a Sarkarnii just that little bit harder. Shifting from our Sarkarnii form isn’t as easy, but ending up in our Sarkarnii form is muchharder to stop. My shed is…difficult as is that of my warriors. Our flame is hotter but our accelerant burns. My flight lungs work better but my spines often refuse to retract.”
“That doesn’t sound like a change,” Gillian says, her voice hoarse. “It sounds like an enhancement.”
“Help me shed my skin, little mate. I won’t ask anything else of you,” I rasp. “But do me this one thing and I will be forever in your debt.”
GILLIAN
If you’d asked me what the oddest thing I’ve ever done was, not so long ago, I’d have said sushi. Mostly because I am not an adventurous eater.
Not helping an enormous alien who can turn into a dragon shed his skin. That was not on my radar at all. I’ve never even seen a lizard in my life, let alone touched one.
“Wh…what do you need me to do?” I ask, my throat going dry.
“I shed better in the water,” Dalox says. “I always have. With your assistance, I should be able to shed in one go.”
“Okay…are you going to be a dragon? Because I think we’ll need a pretty big pool if you are.” I stare up into Dalox’s burning eyes.
He hitches a lip in a way I feel like I’ve known all my life, a half smile, maybe even just a quarter, which softens his severe, handsome face.
