But the movement drew her attention to her forearms and the silver markings on them. Her mouth went so dry her tongue stuck to the roof of it.
The marks ran from her fingertips almost to her elbows, and they emerged everywhere the sun touched her skin. As she examined them more closely, she realized they looked like…
Dragon scales!
The knowledge hit her so hard that she felt like someone had hammered a fist into her gut. She labored to breathe as she twisted her arm before her.
The light on her fingers grew brighter. She glanced down at her other arm, the one still hidden in the shadows, to discover it remained normal.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to steady the tremor in her fingers as she lifted her other arm toward the light. The second the sun touched her skin, that light flared to life at the ends of her fingers, and the scale-like pattern emerged on her flesh.
Breath coming faster, Lexi was nearly panting as she twisted her arms before her in awe. She may not have seen any changes in the bathroom mirror, but she couldn’t deny them now.
And she couldn’t deny what she was.
It wasn’t until then she realized that she hadn’t quite believed her dad or Sahira. Or not so much as she didn’t believe them; it was more like she was sure they had to bewrongsomehow. But they weren’t wrong, and she couldn’t live in denial.
She wasnotwhat she’d always believed herself to be.
And her already complicated life was about to get a whole lot more so.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Cole shiftedhis hold on the tray to slip the key into the lock and turn it. He opened the door and froze when he spotted Lexi with her hands raised in front of her.
The golden glow emanating from her hands highlighted the dark spill of wet hair tumbling down her back, as well as the sun-kissed hue of her skin.
It also revealed the markings on her arms and the golden aura radiating from her fingertips. He’d never seen anything so beautiful, but even as he stood there, admiring the power she emanated, terror crept into his bones.
The potion was wearing off, her arach powers were starting to reveal themselves, and no one was entirely sure what that would bring. He was certain what was happening to her would put the biggest target on her back.
Fuck!
He’d known this was coming after what Del revealed—well, not this exactly, as he never could have imagined the glow or what looked like scales on her arms—but he’d expected more time.
Although, he hadn’t expected to chase a dragon through the Gloaming or for her abilities to break through so soon. Now that they were, Lexi would have to go into hiding until she could get her powers under control.
And then, he realized she was standing in front of the window and the door was still open. With a muttered curse, he stepped into the room and kicked the door shut behind him.
Lexi’s head turned toward him as he set the food tray down on the dresser and crossed to her. His step faltered when he saw her eyes. Those beautiful, magnificent, and, he had to admit, a little eerie, eyes gazed up at him in awe.
For a second, he forgot that anyone could look up and see her as his eyes searched hers. Gone was the lovely green he’d come to know and love so well.
In its place was a shade of gold so deep it rivaled any metal pulled from this or any other land. And in the center of all that gold was a slitted pupil…
Just like those of the dragons.
That pupil told him more about the arach powers than anything he’d ever heard before. Turning away from her, he pulled the curtain from her hand and tugged it snuggly into place.
“Get away from the window,” he commanded.
Lexi kept her hands up as she backed away from the window. He pulled the curtain back a little bit to peer outside. Thankfully, he didn’t see anyone out there. That didn’t mean someone hadn’t seen her.
Gritting his teeth, he turned toward her. He wanted to yell at her, “What were you thinking? What were you doing?” But the words clogged in his throat.
Those questions would only be his panic talking, and that was not what she needed. She needed to be protected and given time to grow into what she would become; yelling at her wouldn’t help with that.
The lycan part of him didn’t agree, but thankfully, the more logical, dark fae part of him was in charge right now.
