KASSIE ENJOYED THE RIDE NOW, her arms around Rumal's waist. The pangs of nerves she usually got when the horse galloped didn't happen this time and she laughed, feeling a thrill of excitement at the pace. Rumal laughed with her, urging the horse to run faster before allowing it to drop to an easy walk. The utter ease and confidence with how he rode felt intoxicating. While the horse recovered from the run, Rumal told her about his home life on Delanta. His family raised horses, which explained his obvious skill and until he'd linked with Ofelaan he had trained with his father and Uncle, learning how to break horses.'Our breed of horse is considered one of the top in the world,' Rumal's rich voice was full of pride.'Are your sisters training too?' Kassie wondered if women would be allowed to.'Vecina is, but Breena has decided she wants to be a messenger, so she's training for that instead.''How does that work? Being a messenger?' She remembered Melanite talking about it.'Breen
I HEARD SIAN GRILLING DARON about the magick shop but didn't turn, too busy studying a dress in the window of another shop. Something about it seemed wrong. But I couldn't place a finger on what. The dress, a lovely soft rose colour, had graceful bell sleeves with a mandarin style collar. It fitted the mannequin like a glove, but there was still something wrong about it.KASSIE NOTICED CAT FROWNING AT a dress in the shop down from where Sian gushed over a wand to the very happy shopkeeper.'What's wrong, Cat? Are you trying to memorize the pattern?' Kassie teased. Cat's head snapped round to her, her mouth dropping at Kassie's words.'That's it. How the heck did they do that?' she cried.ALEK PUSHED THROUGH THE CROWD of idolizing females and headed to Cat's side without thinking.'Do what?' He touched her shoulder, wondering what had her so excited.'There are no seams. It's not possible, how on Earth could you do that?'Everyone watched when she dashed inside the Tailor's,
I WOKE THE NEXT MORNING and lay there, feeling a horrible sense of loss followed by overwhelming fury.Why am I letting this bother me? So he'd turned out not to be who I thought he was; it wasn't the first time this had happened to me. And I liked being single. I loved it. No-one to have to report to or think about and I LIKED BEING SINGLE!Tears welled in my eyes and flowed down my cheeks. I stuffed the sheet in my mouth to stop any sounds. Why? What had I done?He'd seemed so sweet and thoughtful and I thought the chemistry was there. The weird pain in my chest wouldn't go away. It hurt to breathe. I curled into a ball and pulled the covers over my head. Yanking the sheet out of my mouth, I wept into my pillow. I couldn't decide what was worsethe sensation of loss or the feeling of self-deception at allowing a mere male to affect me like this.A STRANGE NOISE WHISPERED INTO her dream. Kassie thrashed about, wondering at the whimpering sound and woke disorientated, staring ab
ELENA WATCHED THE GIRLS RELAX further and further into their seats and continued.'I want you to become aware of your hands. With your mind's eye feel your way around and through them, until you are intimate with them.'LOI FELT THE TINY HAIRS on the back of her hands prickle when she traced over the skin in her mind, the creases and cracks, even the roughened edges of her nails. She focused her mind on them until she could see how the nails were woven together. Then moving inside, followed the veins and pricked at the nerve endings. Her fingers jerked and her muscles twitched as she tugged and probed at them. It's fascinating, she thought, I can truly see how my hands work. She pushed deeper until she came to the bones, seeing the cartilage between the joints and the tendons which fastened them together.ELENA SMILED AS SHE WATCHED their hands twitch and the frowns they wore while they studied them.'I can see you are aware of your hands, so I want you to focus on your heart.
THE SIGHT OF THE FOUR women shocked Sabyn when he and Daron arrived for lunch. They looked ages older and whiter than ice sprites. He gave Elena a concerned look.'They need to eat and rest, that's all,' Elena said reassuringly.Sabyn nodded and hurried over to help Kassie to the cloth, then Loi, both gave him a brief nod in thanks and fell to eating.DARON WATCHED, ASTONISHED BY THE amount of food the girls consumed. Elena must have expected it, he realized; she'd packed enough for at least twenty. The colour came back to their faces and they started to look more alert. Cat seemed to take longer than the others to recover. Perhaps she's weaker than them, Daron thought, surprised. Or maybe it's the result of Alek's behaviour toward her. He watched her then glanced at Sabyn who watched her too. They exchanged a concerned look.IT TOOK A BEWILDERINGLY LONG time to feel normal again. Especially after the rush you got from first handling the energy. The food began to make me feel
THEY CONTEMPLATED THE SITUATION IN silence. Sabyn now began to understand Alek's predicament, a little.'But that sort of spell can't force a person against their will?' Daron looked confused. 'So if there was, or is, a genuine attraction then it would mean-,' he stopped, looking a bit wild-eyed.'Yes. It would mean you've found your soul mates,' Elena looked amused at their dazed expressions. 'I find it rather strange that so many would kill to be in your positions, yet you all look terrified.''But what if we're not? ' Rumal asked.'Then it won't work out. In some ways this will be very similar to any other relationship you may have been in. The difference will be that this one should feel easier and give you a sense of completion or wholeness. Though as I have never found mine, how can I tell?'The men gave her unimpressed looks.'Oh stop that,' she snapped, her eyes flashing with annoyance. 'Be as childish as you like, but I will tell you this. Those girls did not cast that s
I MUST HAVE DOZED OFF because I jerked awake when Loushka's voice popped into my mind.'Cat! What are you doing here? Are you okay?' the griffon sounded astonished to see me.Not surprising I guess, but I wished everyone would stop asking me if I was okay. In my current state it brought on tears. I took a couple of ragged breaths before I could answer her. The other griffons regarded me curiously.'Come on outside and we can talk,' Loushka's voice sounded kind, causing more tears. Fighting the lump in my throat, I nodded to her and climbed out the pen.ALEK WATCHED WHILE LOUSHKA AND Cat walked out of the room. He had to fight the urge to go to her when he saw the tears slide down her face. A lump seemed wedged in his throat and he leaned over his knees, staring at the ground. It didn't feel right being apart. Maybe I am wrong.He stood and gathered his things. Might as well go back to my quarters. A talk with the guys might help and he couldn't stand being this close to her with
YAKOV WASN'T WRONG. I WOKE just before dawn and stretched hard in bed then relaxed. Huh. I actually feel like a run. The thought made me smile and I felt a buzz of delight, my first genuine smile in days. I got out of bed and slipped quietly around the bedroom, getting ready. The other three snored on, oblivious. Nnelg had slept over again and watched curiously. It amused me when he quickly turned his back on me as I changed; it wasn't every day I made a dragon blush. Audi and I slipped out of the room.ALEK PACED THE CORRIDOR, AGITATION rippling through him. Yakov said he'd strongly recommended Cat go for a run. He knew she'd do it in the morning but when? He'd paced this section of floor for a good half hour.What if she doesn't come? Then what? He gritted his teeth at the annoying butterflies he felt. I want to see her.Hearing a noise Alek froze and listened. It sounded like footsteps. They sounded light.Yes, I hear a dog. What do I do? His mind went to pieces on him when