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Yeah, well, neither was I.
Doesn’t make sense,my dragon complained.You sleeping here, wishing you could be with her, while she’s up there, doing the same.
Was she? And anyway, some things weren’t that simple.
No, it’s just you making them complicated,my inner breast grumbled.Humans make no sense,
Maybe not, but Erin was supremely sensible — and staying away from me was a smart decision. For both of us.
Doing my best to clear my mind, I settled in for a long, sleepless night.
Chapter Eighteen
NASH
At some point, I woke — proof that I had actually fallen asleep — though not to the sound of Erin’s alarm. Something else. I rolled to my side and peered around. It was still dark — around midnight, maybe, when even the crickets had turned in for the night. Erin hadn’t drawn the curtains on the front windows — no need to in a place this remote — and I could make out a couple of bright stars.
I sniffed the air, because I’d been woken by a noise. What?
A high, warbling howl broke out in the distance. Then another, and another in an off-pitch chorus that carried through the night.
Coyotes. I sank back, listening. What were they singing about? Love, life, and longing, or something less profound?
Whatever the subject, the rising and falling tune drew me out of bed and onto the front porch. I pulled on my jeans on the way and threw the blanket over my shoulders. Then I stood quietly, carving peace out of the night the way a miner extracted gems from solid rock. That was a new habit of mine, ever since…
I frowned. Ever since Angelina.
Every breath I puffed crystalized in the cold night air. I raised my arms, tempted to shift, fly, and revel in a perfect night. I closed my eyes, picturing myself soaring over mesas, slalomingbetween rock formations, and skimming over the creek. Erin could fly with me, and—
The door creaked behind me, and I whirled, dropping my arms.
“Hi,” Erin murmured, blinking like a sleepy cat.
Joy, then inexplicable sadness hit me as the fantasy evaporated. Erin couldn’t fly. Not as a dragon, at least, and not on nights like these. She would never know the thrill of a barrel roll or the tickle of wind under her wings. She would never glide at my side…
I gulped, forcing the sorrow away. “Nice night.”
Her feet were bare, her body wrapped in a flannel robe. Together, we gazed out over the landscape, neither uttering a word.
After a while, she gestured toward the cliffs. “Even without magic, it would still feel magical out here.”
I knew what she meant. Vortex and Harlon aside, there were a hundred reasons not to sell this place.
“Oh,” she exclaimed. “Were you, er…getting ready to go for a run?”
No, I’d been thinking of flying. But, shoot. Erin thought I was a wolf shifter. Why the hell had I let her believe that?
Let me show her,my dragon begged.Right here, right now. She’d like me. She likes flying, right?
Yes, but she’d hate me for lying.
You didn’t lie. You just didn’t correct her when she assumed.
Something told me Erin wouldn’t see it that way.
“Just looking at the stars,” I bluffed.
Erin chuckled. “When we were little, we thought the stars were closer here than anywhere else in the world.”
