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We were both breathing heavy and something that felt suspiciously like tears gathered behind my eyelids. I didn’t know how to deal with this. I was tired of everyone in my life playing me to their own tune.
“It seems like things would be a lot easier if I just walked away from you both.”
“You’ll want to before this is finished. But there are some things you can’t control the outcome of. Prophecies are like that.”
“Wait, what do you know of prophecies?”
“Enough. They’re not unique to your people, you know. Just take my advice and be careful. You won’t forget me when you’re with him.”
Noah was already talking like Julian’s claim on me was a done deal. I belonged to no man, and hormones were the last thing I wanted to add into the mix of this disaster. I had to stay away from Julian, plain and simple. My thoughts were so deep I didn’t catch all of Noah’s words, but I managed to mutter a goodbye before I hung up.
I still held the cell phone to my ear, listening to the empty distance between us. I turned it off completely and dropped it back in my purse. My life had taken a decidedly weird turn somewhere along the way, and Noah was a distraction I didn’t need.
What I needed was to clear my mind, to think of some way I could defeat Julian and get what I wanted without dying in the process. I opened the dresser drawer and grabbed one of the nightgowns I’d brought with me and headed into the bathroom. I laid my clothes on the counter and piled my hair up on the top of my head and secured it with a clip.
The bathroom mirrored the bedroom in decoration. Black marble veined with streaks of white dominated the room. The faucets were gold and delicately curved—the towels blood red as they draped over the towel rods like a sacrifice.
Hot water poured from the faucet as it filled the tub, and I added perfumed bath salts into the water, watching them dissolve into cloudy bubbles. I slid into decadence as the steam rose around me and fogged all of the mirrors. The heat felt like heaven against my weary body, and my inner dragon writhed with pleasure against my skin.
I nodded off a couple of times before I realized the water had turned cold. I pulled the drain and climbed limply out of the tub, my bones practically liquid with exhaustion. I dried off quickly and rubbed scented cream over my body. I slipped a thin nightgown the color of violets over my head and shivered at the coolness of the silk.
I’d only been thinking of falling face-first into the bed when I walked back into the bedroom, so it took me a minute to realize something wasn’t quite right. Dozens of tapered candles glowed from candelabra around the room. Champagne chilled in a bucket next to the bed. A glass flute sat on the nightstand, filled with a liquid full of fresh bubbles. I looked at the door and saw it was still locked. Not that something as flimsy as a lock could keep Julian out. I’d learned that lesson at the hotel.
The black peignoir I’d admired lay across the bed, and my pulse sped with yearning. It was all but transparent with straps that tied into bows at each shoulder and a plunging neckline. On top of the nightgown lay a single red rose.
My breath exhaled nervously as I thought of Noah’s vision.Willpower. I was here to do a job. Not to fall prey to a powerful dragon. I was determined for Noah to be wrong. He had to be wrong.
I grabbed Julian’s not so subtle gift and took it to the window. The material was impossibly soft and delicate as I clutched it between my fingers. I opened the window, relishing the icy cold wind that allowed my mind to snap out of its haze. I let go. The gown fluttered down three stories onto the garden below.
I snapped the window closed and walked over to my dresser, stripping off the nightie I’d put on after my bath. I dug through the drawer until I found the most chaste gown I’d packed—a high-collared, white nightgown that fell all the way to my ankles. I was going to be hot as hell all night long, but at least I felt a little more protected from Julian’s gaze.
I turned around and spoke to the room at large. “I am not one of your ‘monsters’ to command, Julian. I am the Enforcer, and it would do you well to remember it. You will answer all of my questions eventually. And so help you gods if you really are The Destroyer. Because I will kill you.”
The laughter in my mind slithered up my spine like a caress.
Sweet dreams.
And then the voice was gone, and I knew I was alone again.
I was far from tired, but I went over to the bed and pulled back the covers, knowing I was going to be sweltering under so many layers all night. I got into bed and punched my pillow a couple of times for good measure before closing my eyes and ordering my body to relax. I realized I hadn’t bothered to blow out the candles as soon as I saw the soft flicker of lights behind my eyelids.
I said a few choice words and pulled back the covers, getting out of bed to blow out the candles when the room went dark. The smell of wax and smoke lay heavy in the air. I waited to feel Julian’s presence, but there was nothing.
I closed my eyes and tried my hardest to think of anything but Julian.
ChapterThirteen
Ifinally found sleep as the gray light of dawn began to creep through the windows. It wasn’t long after when the dream began.
The blood-red throne at the head of the great room was still impressive in size. The chandeliers weren’t lit, but there was light coming from somewhere because I could see the throne clearly, even though the rest of the room tapered off into nothingness.
My dreams were always real, but something about this one was even more so.
I wore my white nightgown, and the black granite was cold beneath my bare feet as I walked into the room. I practically floated up the small set of stairs that led to the throne, and I ran my fingers across the soft red velvet.
They came away smeared with blood. Hot, like only freshly spilled blood could be. Now that I’d touched it, the sweet coppery smell was unmistakable, and my mouth watered with need. I jerked my hand away and wiped my fingers on my gown—the stain bright crimson against the snowy white fabric.
“Your true powers are alive in your dreams. Why would you not make them just as potent while you are awake?” a seductive voice asked from the shadows. “Your humanness stifles your dragon. Your need to feel all the things they do is making you weak.”
