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"You think they're plotting against him?" I frowned. They certainly had no love for the city, but there was more to this, I was certain of it.
"I'm not sure. Until I find out, we need to pretend we're strangers."
That would be easy enough, I hardly knew him, but his presence was strangely comforting. "Do you know where we're going?"
"Elgar mentioned something about a mountain hideout."
I guessed that from the direction we headed. "I've never met a spy before."
His teeth flashed again. "You probably have, but they didn't let you know it."
"I suppose so," I conceded. They'd be a pretty crappy spy if they went around telling everyone.
"I should go. Remember what I said and know I'll be watching. Where I can keep you safe, I will."
I almost asked if he could cut Helene and Luther's throats so we could both escape.
I bit back the words. Whatever they were up to, it was bigger than little ol’ me. Knox would refuse, and rightly so. Besides, I wasn't bloodthirsty enough to murder in cold blood, or ask someone else to do it.
"Why should I trust you?" I asked.
He hesitated. "You don't have a choice?" he suggested. "But you can. I swear that on my life."
Considering he was spying in the heart of the enemy, according to him, then his life might not be worth much. It was better than nothing. At the moment, it was all I had.
"Right," I whispered. "Thank you."
The flap closed with a soft whoosh of canvas.
The darkness closed in on me. It pressed down hard, like it might cut off my air.
I forced slow breaths in and out. My power was still out of reach.
I curled my hands into fists and went back to sleep.
When I woke an hour or two later, I found half moons in my palms from my nails. A trail of blood trickled down to my wrist. I wiped it off onto my bedroll and stared.
It glowed for a moment. Barely, but enough for me to be sure I saw it.
Had that happened before and I hadn't noticed? I didn't pay much attention to my blood unless I was badly injured. Even then, I wrapped it and left it alone to heal.
"Maybe I'm part dragon," I muttered to myself. That was ridiculous, of course, I had no scales or wings. Some days I had the temper of one, such as now, when I remembered the bond and yesterday's events.
Dragon shifter maybe?
That begged the question—could anyone tell the difference when the shifter was in dragon form? Maybe the dragons weren't dragons at all.
"Time to get up." A hand tapped the top of my tent. Luther, I presumed from the voice.
"What if I don't want to?" I asked wearily.
"You can be made to get up." That was Helene. "And tonight you'll sleep in the open, with no tent."
"Near a swamp, with biting insects," Luther added.
Sadists.
I grimaced and crawled out through the flap.
