Page 35 of Dark Destiny: A New Thread in the Tapestry

Then Baruha said something about the foolishness of the young.

Sullha did not let go of his hands.

"Your eyes are glowing," she said.

"I know."

"They're very blue. Beautiful."

He wanted to smile, but then everyone would see his elongated fangs, and he didn't want them to see that, even though they all knew what he was going through.

"Thank you," he said instead.

Behind his eyes, seven minds stood very deliberately with their backs turned, holding a door shut on a room they could not stay out of entirely, no matter how hard they tried, but they were doing it well enough that he barely felt them. That had taken a lot of practice, and it still leaked occasionally, but they were getting better at compartmentalizing.

"Come and eat," Mattie called from the dining room. "It's from the Golden Dragon, so you know it's good."

The women moved past them.

Sullha stayed where she was for one more moment, holding on to his hands.

"Tomek sent you a message," she said. "He said to tell you to come to the village." She kept her voice light, but she did not quite manage it. "He said it's much nicer than the tall building."

Yaaf nodded. "Tell him we are working on it."

12

ESAG

Tula shook her head. "Not that one."

Esag looked down at the shirt. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's a little faded." Tula reached past him into the closet and pulled out a dark green one, holding it against his chest. "This one is almost new, and the color makes your eyes pop."

He rolled his eyes. "You say that about every color I wear."

"That's because you have incredible eyes." She patted his chest. "And I don't say it about every color. Just blues and greens."

"Fine." He pulled the shirt he was wearing over his head, dropped it on the dresser, then pulled on the one she handed him. "Better?"

"Yes. But tuck it in."

"I never tuck anything in."

"Today you are."

He knew better than to argue with her and tucked it in.

Turning to the mirror, he felt a sense of déjà vu. He remembered standing behind Khiann in Navhon's house, comb in hand, while Khiann fretted over a tunic that had grown tight across his chest. Esag had refused to hand over the comb, arguing that girls liked the tousled look.

He smiled at the memory. It had been much easier to argue with Khiann than with Tula, but as much as he'd loved Khiann, he loved Tula more.

Khiann would laugh when he found out that Esag and Tula were mated. Gulan's little sister, who had always been feisty and whom neither of them had paid much attention to. He would be even more surprised when he saw Wonder, the new, confident female Gulan had become.

Or maybe he would find it distasteful that Esag had mated the sister of the girl whose heart he'd broken five thousand years ago. To him, it was ancient history, but to Khiann it would be last month.

"You look worried." Tula came around in front of him, reached up, and pushed his hair back off his forehead. It stayed back for about two seconds before falling forward again, as it always did. "What is it?"