The Dragon Legion Collection(33)

Katina smiled a little, affection in her eyes. “Your emotions are easier to read. Maybe I’ve changed, too, but I feel closer to you now, not just when we’re making love.”

A lump rose in Alexander’s throat. Could the darkfire give him a gift? He knew it could, just as he knew it could snatch away any delight for some caprice of its own.

He cleared his throat, knowing that Katina waited for the rest of the tale. “As soon as Drake had the crystal in his hand, the light of the darkfire within it began to brighten and pulse. It would flare to brilliance and when its light faded, we would find ourselves transported, through space and perhaps through time. We weren’t sure what was happening, but we lost many men along the way. The fourth time, it deposited us near the village and I knew where we were.” He frowned, staring at her hand, and his voice dropped low. “Drake said they would wait, but the crystal lit once again.” He glanced up at Katina. “I ran away from them, to ensure that I was left behind. I had to see you.”

He saw immediately that she understood. “You think it will collect you again. You think you will be taken back with your company again. It’s not just the Pythia’s judgment that concerns you.”

Alexander took a breath and said his fear aloud. “I fear the price of my transgression will be losing you all over again.” He tightened his grip on her hand. “I don’t know how to endure it.”

To Alexander’s surprise, Katina framed his face in her hands and smiled at him. Her eyes shone brightly, as if she might cry, but still she smiled. “Then let’s make every moment count, Alexander. I’ve waited eight years to feel your body against mine again, and once was never enough for either of us.” She brushed her lips across his and her voice turned husky. “Love me, Alexander,” she urged. “Love me as if we could be parted at any time. Love me with a vigor that will give both of us something to remember.”

Alexander couldn’t argue with that.



* * *



They came to Delphi three days later, Katina’s love for her husband bolstered by three nights of thorough loving. Katina walked beside Alexander, her hand clasped in his. She felt closer to him than ever and more in love than she could have imagined. They whispered to each other at night, exchanging secrets and confessions, learning more about each other and their powers. He’d told her stories of all he’d seen and she’d told him of all the gossip from the village. They explored ideas of what they might achieve, as well as exploring the pleasure they could give each other. Katina didn’t want this interval to end.

But all the same, she wanted to know Alexander’s fate.

She could feel his strength returning and his body healing, but worried about the spot on his chest that was missing a scale. Even in human form, it was red and angry-looking. Worse, it didn’t seem to heal. She didn’t like the possibility that he was uncertain about the yellow dragon, either.

And she wasn’t looking forward to the Pythia’s pronouncement. That one woman could hold their entire future in her hands seemed unfair, but Katina knew Alexander would do whatever the Pythia demanded of him.

She dreaded the reappearance of the darkfire, too.

Theo had awakened on the second day and walked a bit more each day. He was still weak, but made steady improvement.

They reached Delphi late in the evening and should have waited until the next morning to visit the shrine. Katina couldn’t imagine how she would sleep, knowing that judgment was so close.

“Let’s go now,” Alexander said. “In case we aren’t too late.”

As soon as he made the suggestion, Katina was in full agreement. They immediately began the ascent to the shrine, Lysander walking ahead of them and Alexander carrying Theo.

Katina glanced up the hill at the white columns on the sanctuary of Apollo’s shrine and felt Alexander’s grip tighten on her hand.

They climbed to the shrine of Athena Pronaia at Marmaria first, giving honor to the goddess even as they marveled at the beauty and ancient power of the place. High above them towered the twin peaks of Mount Parnassus. The land spilled below them, dropping steeply to the Gulf of Corinth. It felt, on this journey just as on the last one, to be a place outside of time, a place where gods might walk alongside one.

Or maybe where two beings with unusual powers might find a way to make a future. Katina stood with Alexander in the round Tholos temple, with its three circles of columns and looked over the site with awe. She felt serenity well within her, a confidence that all would come right and that the gods would hold her and Alexander in the palms of their hands. There must be a reason for them to have their abilities and to be together. There must be a way they could aid the future.

She remembered the Pythia’s prophecy and wondered how Lysander might save the earth.

“My pottery,” she said, stopping for a second in her surprise that they’d missed the obvious.

Of course, she hadn’t known his secret then.

“Your fire and earth, like the prophecy,” Alexander said.

“But what if that’s not it?” Katina said, her excitement rising. “What if there’s a reason I was never any good at it?” She tightened her grip on his hand. “What if you’re the fire I need?”

Alexander looked at her for a long moment. “In the future, the Pyr are each said to have an affinity with two elements. Each mate has an affinity to the two elements her Pyr lacks.”