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“The one with the potential mate in tow?”
“Yeah.” Amusement touched her lips as her gaze met mine again. “Apparently his name is Carwyn, and he’s a prime from the Western Districts.”
“Which doesn’t mean a lot to me.”
She sighed. “The Western Districts are a key agricultural area. His family owns one of the larger farms, but he’s keen to start his own herd.”
“So he’s a catch, in other words.”
“Yes. And it’s not the first time Mom’s tried to foist him onto me. But despite my repeated refusals to go anywhere near him, he’s quite persistent.” She snorted softly and half shrugged. “But for you, I shall walk into the den of pressure and useless hope.”
I smiled. “If you were just honest with your parents—”
“Don’t,” she said, her voice sharp as she pushed to her feet. “You don’t know what they’re like.”
After fifteen years of being friends with Ilianna, I did know what they were like. They weren’t the ogres she was depicting them to be. She was underestimating them. Or at least, underestimating her mom. Her dad was a stallion, and they did tend to have one-track minds when it came to mares and their uses.
But this battle wasn’t one I could help her with. I reached out and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry. And thank you.”
She smiled. “The things I do for you two—first basketball, now dinner. You owe me big time, girl.”
“Meaning you want me to take your place at the dinner?” I waggled my eyebrows at her. “I certainly wouldn’t mind getting to know a prime bit of stallion.”
She laughed and swatted at my shoulder. “Wrap Tao’s present. His mom will be here any minute.”
Tao’s mom was human, not wolf, but it was from her he’d inherited his fire-starting skills. His dad had been from the wealthy Neale brown pack, and Tao the result of a one-night stand. All wolves—even the half-breeds like me—were electronically chipped at puberty to prevent conception, but something had gone wrong—or right, depending on which way you looked at it—with the device that night. Tao’s dad had supported both him and his mother, but he’d died when Tao was nine. Tao had inherited his wealth on turning eighteen, and had been supporting his mom ever since.
Ilianna walked out, closing the door behind her. I contemplated the serpent-like dragon now decorating my arm, and wondered who the hell would send me such a thing …
My thoughts froze. Oh God.
Not my father.
Surely not.
And yet, everyone was so convinced he would contact me.
What if this was some kind of message?
How it could be, I had no idea. But then, I didn’t know my father. I didn’t know where he was, or what he was really involved in. For all I knew, this could be some important key in the research meant to bring an end to the gates.
I closed my eyes and gingerly rubbed my temple for several seconds. My head was suddenly aching even more fiercely than before, and it had nothing to do with the strain of the last few hours.
I didn’t need this extra bit of shit in my life. I really didn’t. And there was no one who could help me understand what this dragon—this Dušan—was.
Or was there?
Those symbols in the front of the book had resembled the tattoos on the back of my reaper’s neck. It was a long shot, but it was worth a chance. I took a deep breath, then said softly, “Azriel.”
He appeared in an instant, the heat of him filling the room. He was standing behind me, not touching, but near enough that the small hairs at the back of my neck rose in awareness. And with it came an awareness of an entirely different kind.
“Now what’s happening?” Ilianna yelled from the other room.
“Nothing,” I said. Although altogether too much was. Why did this man—this being—affect me so much? He was a reaper, damn it! Not what I’d call prospective lover material in any way, shape, or form. Even if the form was rather nice. “I just called Azriel.”
“The reaper?” Ilianna was suddenly standing back in the doorway. Her gaze flew past me and her mouth formed an O of surprise. “That is so not what I was expecting.”
“And just what were you expecting?” he said, his voice a low, almost amused rumble that vibrated through every part of me.
