Page 131 of Brushed By Moonlight

“Careful!” she admonished, holding it like…like a priceless painting, I supposed.

Watching her made me grin, because her awe and wonder were a joy to behold.

Then my grin stretched, because she turned and looked at me in the same way.

Behold — something priceless. And it’s all mine,her glowing eyes said.

Shifter eyes,my dragon whispered.

Maybe even dragon eyes, I realized. Someday, I would work up the courage to ask.

Maybe even someday soon, because a night spent holding Mina made one thing perfectly clear. There was no way I could leave her. Not now, not ever.

I had one burning question that couldn’t wait, though. I just hoped it wouldn’t ruin a nice morning.

“If I let you ask me anything, would you answer something for me?” I ventured, figuring that was a fair trade.

She looked at me, going quiet. I steeled myself for something like,Depends on the question.

After some serious — and seriously scary — consideration, she licked her lips and said, “Remember what you said about not letting this mean something?”

I gulped hard. Had I really been dumb enough to say that?

But I had, so I nodded.

“I want this to mean something,” she whispered, looking at my hands, not my eyes. “I want to give it a chance, at least.”

My throat went dry, but I got the truth out. “I want that too.”

Her eyes jumped to mine, full of hope — and fear. Then she nodded. “I’m glad. Really glad,” she smiled shyly, then went serious again. “But if that’s the case, we shouldn’t need to make deals with each other. Just ask, and I’ll answer.”

My cheek twitched, because she was offering trust, raw and unguarded. Trust I would have to reciprocate. Both sides of that equation terrified me.

It scared her too. I could see that. And yet, she had enough faith in me to offer hers up like a tiny, defenseless bird. Something I could crush easily.

I swallowed hard, then nodded. “I wanted to ask about how you got into the library. The second time, I mean. Bene said he saw a sentry posted there.”

She knotted her hands together. “There was.”

“How did you get past him?”

More thinking, and finally, a nervous answer. “The same way I got past Henrik that night he was in my attic.”

I waited, because that still mystified me.

She put the painting aside, then motioned for me to sit beside her.

“Have you ever heard of shadow-walking?”

When I nodded, she didn’t say anything. She just looked at me, waiting.

Then it hit me. “Whoa. Wait. You can shadow-walk?”

She nodded slowly. “Sometimes. Also, he was distracted. And it was dark. And—”

“You can shadow-walk?” I repeated stupidly.

I didn’t know much about magic, but I knew shadow walking was a rare skill. Rare, as in one in a million.