From behind us came a whoop of delight, then suddenly Rhoan and Liander were all over us, hugging and kissing and crying.
It was the perfect way to start our new lives together. As a family, as a pack.
But as the call of the moon got fiercer and fiercer, and the thrum of the change began to tingle across our skins, Liander made the night just that little bit more perfect.
"Here," he said, and handed me a small photo.
I took it and looked at it, but wasn't really able to make sense of the odd black-and-white image. "What is it?" I asked, looking up.
"Those," he said with a grin that lit up his entire face, "are our babies. Riley Jenson, you and I are having twins. "
At long last, Keri Arthur's riveting
Myth and Magic series
continues with
Mercy Burns
Coming in Spring 2011
This stand-alone novel expands on the mysterious world of sea and air dragons as one young woman's quest to right a wrong leads her into more danger than she ever anticipated.
Read on for a special preview . . .
Mercy Burns
On sale Spring 2011
W e'll have you out in a minute, ma'am. Just keep still a while longer. "
The voice rolled across the gray mist enshrouding my mind - a soothing sound that brought no comfort, only confusion. Why would he say I shouldn't move?
And why was he saying it just to me? Why wasn't he saying anything to Rainey, who'd been driving the car?
Ignoring the advice, I shifted, trying to get more comfortable, trying to feel. Pain shot through my side, spreading out in heated waves across my body and reverberating through my brain. The sensation was oddly comforting even as it tore a scream from my throat.
If I could feel, then I wasn't dead.
Should I be?
Yes, something inside me whispered. Yes.
I swallowed heavily, trying to ease the dryness in my throat. What the hell had happened to us? And why did it suddenly feel like I was missing hours of my life?
The thing that was digging into my side felt jagged and fat, like a serrated knife with a thicker, heavier edge, yet there were no knives in the car. People like me and Rainey didn't need knives or guns or any other sort of human weapon, because we were born with our own. And it was just as dangerous, just as accurate, as any gun or knife.
So why did it feel like I had a knife in my side?
I tried to open my eyes, suddenly desperate to see where I was, to find Rainey, to understand what was going on. But I couldn't force them open and I had no idea why.
Alarm snaked through the haze, fueling my growing sense that something was very wrong.
I sucked in a deep breath, trying to keep calm, trying to keep still as the stranger had advised. The air was cool, yet sunshine ran through it, hinting that dawn had passed and that the day was already here. But that couldn't be right. Rainey and I had been driving through sunset, not sunrise, enjoying the last rays before the night stole the heat from us.
Moisture rolled down the side of my cheek. Not a tear; it was too warm to be a tear.
Blood.