“Indeed. I wholeheartedly concur. Well done.”
“Th-that was…” Tristan trailed off, his blue eyes round like plates.
“So you’re a dragon too,” Morgan said. “Nice hair, by the by. All silvery and flowing, as if it’s waving in water.”
“Good kill,” Sorin grunted, taking his usual stance with legs braced, arms crossed over his massive chest.
Rui tried not to preen under her friends’ praise.
She was rather proud of herself. So proud, she could barely feel the puncture wounds in her torso made by Guinevere’s thorns.
“Well, Wolfe was the one who dealt the killing blow,” she demurred. “I just made doubly certain she was dead.”
Speaking of whom, where was Wolfe? She wanted to know what he thought most of all.
As if she conjured him just by thinking it, he pushed through the circle of friends who surrounded Rui and came to the fore, holding one arm with the other, his shoulder clearly in bad shape.
“You…”
That was all he rasped, his eyes intent as he took her in.
Rui tried not to fidget under his scrutiny, as he slowly, thoroughly, roamed his citrine eyes all over her, from the tips of her antlers to the end of her tail, which she tucked shyly between her claws.
What she really wanted to do was gnaw on the end of her tail in terrifying anxiety.
What did Wolfe think of her dragon form?
Was he disgusted?
Disappointed?
Betrayed?
She felt naked and vulnerable in ways she never did as a human woman. She knew she should have told him. She’d had plenty of opportunity. A part of him knew she was hiding something. She’d seen the hurt in his eyes.
But she waited too long. And now, he had to discover like this, in front of witnesses, in the middle of a battle to the death.
She held her breath as she waited for him to speak.
Say something. Anything at all.
Even if all he did was yell at her, berate her for not trusting him with the truth of who and what she was. She just wanted to hear his voice. The silence was deafening and damning.
Finally, he looked up into her eyes.
Truly looked.
She peered into his in return.
Bright, clear, glowing windows to his soul.
And all she saw was love.
Unconditional, boundless love.
There was pride as well. A thrilling sparkle in his eyes that spoke volumes. Without words, he told her how brave she was, how cunning and skillful in battle.
But one thought he did express out loud, in front of their friends: