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“Sure.”

“Okay, so if that’s the case, let’s discuss something else then, seeing as though I’m here.” He went to respond, likely to brush me off again, but I followed up quickly, “How did you cloak yourself? You do possess magical abilities with your dragon magic, not just the fire, however that magical aspect isn’t enough to thwart Kai’s. Not to mention mine, when I arrived here and employed a tracking spell as well in a bid to narrow down your whereabouts.”

He frowned in thought. “I don’t know exactly… I didn’t want to be found and I… maybe I drew on my Primal Celestial Resonance ability subconsciously or something? I felt it roll through me, but only briefly.”

Wow.“It sounds like you may have channeled it.”

“Channeled it?”

“You drew out the Celestial power itself and weaponized it, fused it into a cloaking spell enhanced with Celestial might.”

“I…what?Really? That’s… I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“That can be said of both your Command of Beasts ability and the Primal Celestial Resonance. There was an accidental first time for each.”

“I…fuck.”He tugged at his hair and turned from me, stalking across the room, then pacing and spinning, his distress growing by the moment.

And then it happened.

He finally started to let it out, to give the truth of how he felt.

“This isn’t agift! It isn’t special! It’s a motherfucking curse!”

“I absolutely disagree.”

“How can you say that? Kai told you, right? What a demented monster my grandfather was?”

“He told me every detail, yes.”

“Well, that’s in my veins, Ariana. I’m tainted! I’m… damned! Him and Draco corrupted my bloodline to create more like them, like that twisted union of theirs made flesh!”

“Celestial power runs in your blood. That’sit.You’re not Malrik. You’re not destined to become him or share his fate. You’re nothim.And certainly not just because you share similar power.”

“How… how can you be so sure?”

“Because Malrik was clearly a depraved megalomaniac. To an extreme level. Obsessive about it. He enjoyed inflicting pain and death.”

“I’m about power and might, too. You can’t deny that. No one can.”

“That’s your draconic nature.” I smiled, as I told him, “But as Kai has been so fond of telling me all our lives—we all have the ability to rise beyond our natures and even our upbringings, to carve out our own paths. They don’t define us in an absolute sense.” I moved closer to him. “And you’ve demonstrated that. More importantly, you’ve shown that you want to be more than that. You’ve softened for me when I’ve needed it. For Nyx, too.And even for Kai. Several times I’ve seen you not react on your baser urges or instincts and choose another option.” I reached out and grasped his hand. “You are very far from being your grandfather.”

He stared down at my hand on his.

I jolted as his grip abruptly tightened.

His eyes flamed.

That was all the warning I got before he slammed his hands into my chest and knocked me onto his bed on my back with a force that would’ve terrified anyone else.

But not me.

Never me.

I only felt the thunder of his need—and the beauty of being the one he reached for.

In the next moment, he was climbing on with a predatory look in his eyes that sent a hot thrill through me that couldn’t be denied even for a moment.

His hands came down either side of my head, while his thighs caged my legs in. “Goddess… I… fuck, I need you so badly right now.”