The blinding light faded as quickly as it had come, and within seconds, the magic in the air had dissipated. Adrissu crouched at the bottom of the array, watching the human-shaped cocoon of clay as if his life depended on it.
Then—he heard a grunt, an exhalation of breath, and a hundred tiny cracks as Kian pushed his way out of the dried earth. One arm broke through at his side, then another, then he was pushing himself up. His head popped out first, eyes wide and eager, uncertain—Adrissu was already condensing himself into his elven form, so he could help pull the human out of the cocoon and onto his feet.
Kian sat up and immediately winced, spreading his legs further apart. Where the slight swell of his breasts, small as they were, had once been beneath his tunic, now there was only a flat plane.
Kian looked down at himself for a moment, blinking and hardly breathing. Adrissu stared at him with wide eyes, his breaths coming in rapid, uncontrollable bursts. He was okay, wasn’t he? It had worked, hadn’t it?
Finally, Kian glanced up to meet Adrissu’s eyes, and he laughed, a smile of disbelief spreading across his face. Even the structure of his face seemed different now—not so much that he couldn’t recognize him, but this close Adrissu could see it easily: a wider jaw, thinner skin around his eyes, a thicker brow.
“I think—I think it worked,” Kian laughed, his voice coming out lower, and he laughed again. “Oh, gods, is thatmyvoice?”
A slow, nervous smile spread across Adrissu’s face despite himself. “I—Yes, I think it is.”
“I did it,” Kian continued giddily, then immediately reached for the hem of his shirt, stripping it off in one quick motion. “Gods, Adrissu,look—”
His chest was flat and sprinkled with light hairs. Kian lifted a hand to touch his chest—and immediately yelped, hands flying away from his skin as if he’d been burned, and his smile died just as quickly.
“Ouch,fuck,” Kian hissed, touching himself gingerly again, before pulling away. He hesitated for a moment, tension building in his face, then glanced nervously at Adrissu. “It—It hurts.”
“Where?” Adrissu said quickly, looking him up and down. There was no sign of bruising or bleeding, no outward sign of anything that could cause pain. He carefully pressed his hands to Kian’s belly, well below his rib cage; the human shifted uncomfortably, then hissed as Adrissu pressed harder.
“It stings here,” Kian groaned, gesturing to his chest. “And yeah, that hurt—but don’t poke me so hard, fuck.That’swhat hurt.”
Adrissu looked him over once more, but nothingseemedamiss. Kian was silent, looking down at himself as well. After a moment, he said in a smaller voice,
“Maybe it’s just that the skin is new. Like a scab, you know? So it’ll go away in a little while.”
Adrissu had no idea if it would. Maybe Kian was right. But Starck’s ritual had caused him such constant pain that he eventually died of it. Maybe that brief beat of silence had been enough to throw off the entire process. Kian was the experiment, so all they could do was guess and hope.
“You’re right,” Adrissu lied through his teeth, smiling weakly down at his mate. “Of course it will.”
Chapter Eleven
Theybothsleptdownin his lair that night; Adrissu would need to hold him tightly to bring him back up to the tower, but Kian couldn’t tolerate so much contact against his skin, biting back a cry the moment Adrissu lifted him with his claws. So he had remained behind as Adrissu went back up and gathered up some food, bedding, and fresh clothes, with instructions for Vesper to alert him if anyone came to the tower—not that he expected visitors—before descending once again. Kian was laying down right where Adrissu had left him, but sat up slowly as he descended.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a bathroom in here, do you?” Kian asked, flashing him a nervous smile. Adrissu frowned, shaking his head. He was rarely in his lair long enough now to need one, and as a dragon, he could just soar out over the ocean to do his business and return; of course, that would not be possible for Kian in the state he was in now.
“No,” Adrissu said, turning. They still had some hay and a bucket from when they’d kept a whole menagerie of animals in one of the other chambers. “I’ll bring you a bucket, but I think that’s the best we can do for now.”
“Sorry,” Kian called after him. Adrissu waved him away—it was the least of his worries now.
When he returned with a bucket and placed it in the corner, Kian dropped his pants immediately with a giddy smile, and Adrissu smiled back despite himself.
“Look,” he laughed, wiggling his hips so the soft, perfect cock between his legs bounced with movement. He winced even as he laughed, but continued resolutely. “Gods, this feels so surreal.”
“Definitely real. I see it,” Adrissu chuckled, kissing his forehead. Kian grinned up at him, then moved toward the bucket. Adrissu turned away to give him privacy, but after a moment, the human yelped in pain again.
“Fuck, fuck,fuck,”he hissed, prompting Adrissu to turn back around, worry spiking in his chest again. The low whimper that escaped his throat nearly drowned out the sound of him relieving himself; his back was turned to Adrissu, but he could still see the tension in his shoulders.
“Are you alright?” he asked softly, feeling idiotic even as he asked it. Kian was obviouslynotall right—was obviously in pain—but Adrissu was helpless. What else could he do?
“Hurts,” Kian grunted, remaining motionless over the bucket for a long moment. “Fuck. So much for pissing standing up.” He gave a single bitter chuckle, but Adrissu watched him silently as he pulled his trousers back up gingerly, his heart thundering in his chest. There was nothing he could do to help, but he hated how hopeless it made him feel.
“You should rest,” he finally said, barely above a whisper, as Kian turned to face him again. The human nodded, his meager smile falling away entirely. He laid down where Adrissu had set up his bedding, his eyes staring up into the darkened ceiling for a long time. Adrissu watched him silently; there was nothing he could say.
Kian was not in any less pain the next day—if anything, he seemed to be worse, wincing anytime something made more than feather-light contact on his torso. But he could not remain down in Adrissu’s lair forever, so he bundled himself up in a thick blanket, and Adrissu held him as gently as he could. Still, he cried out in pain as Adrissu flew upward, groaning with every beat of his wings.
He was shaking when they made it back up to the tower, legs wobbling as he stumbled up through the trap door and into their sitting room.
