Page 102 of Tears of Gold

Harper groans, and the sound stirs the wickedness within me. I haven’t teased him nearly enough since he got comfortable with us. A shiver passes through me as the inner dragon vibrates, eager for action. I thought the shadowy beast would return to hibernation, but it now watches everything I do.

All of my senses are heightened as if I’m always in hunt mode. I can pinpoint half a dozen birds in the surrounding trees, a daring squirrel nosing around the bunker, and a rabbit nibbling grass just within the tree line.

Twenty feet below my boots runs a natural underground watercourse, and the turbulence in the air suggests the northerly breeze is about to swing west. But most powerful in my awareness is the curly-headed man across from me.

I can smell his delicious earthy humanness and the hot, dry smell of his foreign blood. The static of his humble qi buzzes faintly as he wakes it and the musk that is his own skin, tinged with Ava’s and even Erritt’s scent perfumes the air. Despite his grizzling, the rogue’s pulse quickens with anticipation.

I tear two branches off a tree and strip the twigs to form poles before throwing one to Harper.

“Let’s try some staff work to warm up.”

“Fine,” he grumbles.

From the corner of my eye, I see Erritt begin the first phase of his training regime. After his stretching steps, he’ll begin pattern dances that allow him to practice fighting on his own. It might be a bit soon for him to start battle moves, but he hates being babied so I leave him be.

I swing my hastily made staff in Harper’s direction. He grimaces as he blocks half-heartedly. I follow up with a second strike, and his gaze focuses. The sound of our staffs clacking fills the glade, and I step up the pace.

When we both have a light sweat up, and our muscles are warm, I throw my pole down.

“Ready to stretch your qi?”

He grimaces. “My mind says yes. My body says no.”

I chuckle. “I can fix that.”

I strip off my clothes and drop them in a heap. With a happy sigh, I drop my human limits and expand to my real size. I take a moment to stretch luxuriously. Being at the academy can mean going weeks at a time between feeling my own body. Usually I don’t mind it so much, but the itchiness has definitely been getting worse lately.

Harper backs up as I stalk towards him. A rumble begins deep within my lungs and vibrates out my throat. My prey’s eyes widen, testosterone and adrenaline pouring off him.

“Time to swim,” I growl and leap forward.

∞∞∞

Half an hour later, I drag Harper, spluttering and coughing, out onto the creek bank. Erritt joins us, shaking his head.

“I can’t believe you actually drown him!”

Seeing Erritt here, Harper and I both glance up the hill toward the cabin.

“Relax, I put a barrier around the house. She’s safe. But seriously, if you do this often, how come his lungs aren’t a mess?” Erritt rests his hand on Harper’s back as he heaves out water.

Transforming to human, a sigh escapes me as I throw myself down on the bank. “That’s actually something I’d like to know. I only intended to do this once or twice to spark his qi awareness, but he’s never had any real side effects. Thinking about it, have you even been sick since you’ve been on Exerin-Mi?”

Harper wipes his leaking mouth with one arm and shakes his head. He settles down next to me, his long legs akimbo and rivulets of water running from his soggy curls. Even Ava’s had a cold, but this guy seems indestructible.

Erritt’s brows knit together. “When was the last time you were sick?”

Our rogue shrugs. “Dunno. Can’t remember. I used to be sickly as a little kid, I think. But since we moved to Earth—” He purses his lips, thinking, then shakes his head again.

Erritt runs a hand over Harper’s shoulder. “Your bite looks completely healed.”

Harper tucks his chin to see. “Oh, I hadn’t even noticed.” He prods the faint white line on his tanned skin with two fingers. “Yeah, it doesn’t even hurt.”

Looking over, I watch Erritt stare into the distance. He gets that faraway look when he’s figuring out a tough physics problem or composing a delicate message for a tricky royal situation.

“You really don’t know what your non-human half is, do you?” Erritt finally asks.

Harper grimaces. “Would everyone just stop asking me about it already? Fuck! It’s probably less than a quarter anyways, and I can’t use more than a bucket of qi!”