Page 9

A new group of people headed toward the shrine. Their voices drifted through the grounds along with the clicking of cameras.

Goddamn it.

I gathered the remnants of my magic and wrapped a glamour around my body. The effort nearly made me black out.

The air shimmered.

My enormous form blurred into thin air. Human perception would slide away from me.

Usually, my glamour could conceal me from a thousand staring eyes without effort.

Today, holding it felt like balancing a mountain on one claw.

Hurry up and go away before I bite all of your stupid heads off.

I breathed slowly.

The humans moved deeper into the shrine.

Then. . .a new scent cut through the scent of incense and old wood.

I opened my eyes.

And to my utter shock, my magic throbbed for the first time in centuries. The glamour rippled, making my outline flicker back into visibility for a second before I clamped it down.

What the fuck is that?

Colors bled at the edges of my vision—deep violet and old gold—the same hues my magic had always burned when something ancient called to it.

The air around my claws fractured.

What? Why did it do that?

I took in a deep breath and caught the scent inciting the change in me. The back of my throat burned with this alluring fragrance.

A woman? Warm skin. Magic. . .earthy.

That still didn’t explain why my own magic had throbbed and began to react again, moving through me low and insistent, surging and pulsing, humming even and damned near threatening to burst from my skin.

Where is she?

I lifted my head to search for her.

Pain shot through my neck.

I ignored it.

My nostrils flared.

The lush scent slid through the clearing.

My magic moved within me some more, vibrating in every cell and stirring deep within my bones.

I had barely enough spiritual energy to remain conscious, yet something inside me was being awakened.

What the fuck is happening?

Heat traveled beneath my skin.