Then she’dleapt off the bed and called him a freak. A goddamnfreak.
He breathedslowly in and out and controlled the shift. The last thing heneeded was to go full-on dragon in his tiny bedroom and break thebloody roof—thatched roof repairs cost a fortune these days.
Nix glanceddown at his hand, watching her ice melt, then sizzle on his palm.He hadn’t meant to hold her so… so desperately, but he thought sheknew what she was. He thought she remembered the life they’dshared.
He’d missedtheir lovemaking too. Not for one moment had he imagined thisevening would end with the most incredible, soul-consuming sex he’dhad in centuries, but then, it had always been like that betweenthem.
Everythingshe’d said, everything she’d done, all suggested she knew him. Thescent of magic that percolated in the air the moment he saw her inthe pub, her sense of déjà vu, her recognition when he’d shown herthe old photo in his lounge; he assumed she knew of her dragonnature. Nix recalled her words before he’d carried her upstairs.We know each other. You’re like me.
So why had shefeared him when he’d gazed at her through his dragon eyes? It wastheir thing, showing each other their dragon eyes just before theyclimaxed. It used to turn her on no end, and him too—why had itterrified her so much she had to scramble off him, leaving him highand dry?
Not that he wasin the mood now.
He’d ruinedeverything.
He shouldn’thave forced it; he shouldn’t have shown her the photo of them inthe 1920s. His wishful thinking back then had got him nowhere, andnow that same thinking, embedded with false hope, had lost him thebest chance he’d ever had to break the sorceress’s curse.
Kat, she calledherself in this life. She wasn’t his Katarina. This Kat was abeautiful woman looking for some fun, and there was nothing wrongwith that, but beneath the surface, she feared the truth. She wasnot ready to accept her dragon.
He glancedaround his bedroom, noting her jeans and top still on the floor,and a shoe too.
A bittersweetsmile tugged at the corner of his mouth—she’d bolted from theircottage so fast she’d forgotten her clothes. Fond memories warmedhis heart, of how they would soar through the sky, their wingtipsclose, before shifting back to their human form to run nakedthrough the woods, giggling like a couple of schoolchildren.
Phoenix drew ina sharp breath. What the hell was he thinking? He had to find her.Kat, Katarina, whoever she was in this life, the fact remained—hestill loved her.
His heart wentout to her when he’d watched her fight the changes and deny thetruth. Katarina clearly didn’t know her true identity or howpowerful she could be.
He’d let herleave, and now she was alone in the woods, at night, withoutclothes, except for her lacy knickers. She’d probably got herselflost, like the day her dog Toby had runoff. Once she accepted herdragon nature, she’d have an impeccable sense of direction, ofcourse, but right now, she wasn’t ready.
What if,fuelled by her fear, she wasn’t able to control the transmutation?What if she’d shifted into her dragon? She’d called him a freak—hecould only imagine how terrifying it would be to her. What if shehurt herself or someone else?
His stomachcinched. No matter what had happened between them or what shethought of him, he couldn’t leave her to face the truth alone.
Nix ran downthe stairs to his front door, readying his dragon.
A blast of coolair filled his lungs as he flung the door open. Once outside, hetransformed into his dragon and took to the skies in search of hissoulmate.
He soaredthrough the night air, using his enhanced vision to comb thelandscape beneath him. Nix circled the woods that surrounded hiscottage. No sign of her, but he hadn’t expected her to be near thecottage by the way she’d shot out of there faster than an Olympianathlete. Flapping his powerful wings, he followed the path that ledto his pub and circled overhead.
Since it waspast midnight now, his manager, Adam, had closed the pub, andeveryone had presumably gone home to their beds, including thedickhead Katarina had punched.
Nix focused.Where was she?
Maybe shehadn’t resisted the change and had morphed into her dragon afterall.
With a downwardthrust, he flew higher and searched the skies instead.
He looked forhours, covered acres of terrain and sky. He flew over the town, itsdim, orange lights glowing below. Hidden from sight by the magicveil, he combed street after street looking for her, but it was asthough she’d disappeared off the face of the earth.
His wings grewheavy and tired. He was a fool to think he could find her. He’d lether run from what used to be their home, and he hadn’t stopped her.Hell, he didn’t even know where she lived.
The familiar,soul-crushing despair returned full force, dragging him into anabyss blacker and deeper than anything he’d known before, and thistime he hadn’t the strength to haul himself out.
Nix’s wingsweakened more, and he dropped a good twenty feet.
He had to faceit.
He’d lost hisbeautiful, fun-loving soulmate.
How long couldhe keep doing this to himself? The sorceress’s curse had proved toopowerful yet again. What was the point in pining for Katarina anylonger? He had to let her get on with this life where she calledherself Kat, to live it out until her next reincarnation, and thenmaybe they would find each other again…
Phoenix shookhis head. No! Not this time. He would not allow that flickerof hope to take hold again. He had his life to live too.
It was betterto forget her forever.
The earlymorning sun peeked over the town buildings as Nix headed home, hisheart as heavy as his wings.
Finally, helanded back at his cottage. Even the sight of his home, bathed inbright yellow sunlight, the place where he usually found peace, didnothing to lift his soul.
With a heavysigh, he went inside.
He tried not toallow it, but his gaze flitted to the picture on the wall. Insilence, he took it off its hook and carried it upstairs, pickingup Katarina’s stray shoe on the tread as he went. He ground histeeth, refusing to think of how it got there.
He placed thepicture
