Page 161 of Balance

He moved to his knees, pressing my palm to his chest. “Because that’s what you’vealwaysbeen, in every life. You’re the embodiment of everything that I want. The way you see the world, and your ability to inspire loyalty from the people around you. You’re what I’ve always wanted to be. That’s why, even though you can easily become stuck in your own head, I’ll always be here to bring you back to earth.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Julian

Fight

“I hate to say it.” Damen’s breathing was heavy as he wiped his forehead with the back of his arm. “But I’m getting really tired of killing that thing.”

I hated to agree with him, but so was I.

It’d been an hour since we’d left the Snallygaster. This time, Titus had ripped off its limbs while Damen had done the beheading. However, if the pattern held true, it would soon return to life once more.

At least it stayed dead longer each time we killed it.

On the downside, it was becoming harder to kill.

“Let’s keep moving.” I sheathed my weapon and grabbed one of the bags. Our best bet was to put some distance between the monster and us. We would look for Bianca and Miles along the way, sleep when necessary, and repeat the same pattern over again after the monster caught up to us. “Have we heard anything from the others?”

“No.” Titus was frowning down at the phone. “I’m going to shift, to try to listen. Maybe this time I’ll get something.”

“Don’t bother.” Damen sighed, cracking his neck. “I just sent both Kasai and Kiania. If they couldn’t find her, then you won’t. Since she’s connected to Bianca, Kiania’s range reaches further than your senses.”

“Not all of them,” Titus muttered, taking off his shirt.

“What do you mean?” I asked, more focused on his statement than the strange way he was removing his clothes. He never cared about undressing before shifting before. “Whatothersenses are there?”

It was a rhetorical question, and I didn’t really expect him to answer. However, when he turned his face from us, his neck turning red, the alarms in my head sounded.

“Titus,” I said slowly, my voice capturing Damen’s attention as well. The onmyoji lowered his arms and raised his eyebrow. I ignored him, focusing on the dragon. “Whatothersenses are you using to track Bianca? Is that why you keep shifting?”

The dragon’s shoulders squared, and his voice was tight. Guilt radiated from him. “I’ve never had a mate before.”

A wariness filled me at his defensive behavior. “We know that—”

Damen was already analyzing the dragon’s behavior. “Something’s different this time. Maybe because she’s your mate?” he asked as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Titus shrugged. “Kind of.”

“Well—” Damen was relentless. “What is it?”

“It’s not important.” Titus wouldn’t meet our eyes. “I need to talk to her first. We haven’t had any time.”

My conscience tore between continuing this conversation or allowing Titus to keep his secrets. If it was something between the two of them, prying would be an invasion. We’d all agreed to stay out of each other’s business.

But what if what he was hiding could help find them?

“Titus…” I started, but the dragon snapped, tossing his prized shirt on the ground.

“I can hear her thoughts!” He kicked at the dirt. “I don’t know why. It never happened before, but after we got here, I could suddenly hear her!”

Damen frowned, giving the dragon a disapproving look. “And she doesn’t know?”

“When would I have been able to tell her?” he asked, waving his hand in a circle at the treetops. “We’ve been outhere, dealing with all this.”

Well, it wasn’t unheard of for mates to communicate telepathically, so I guess we should have expected this to happen. And it made sense. Titus, as the Xing, would probably emulate all the qualities of the strongest shifters.

Which meant that Bianca’s idea of privacy was going to change considerably.