• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“So long as I bear the shard,” I said dully.

She looked at me for a moment, then slid off the bed. “I know you’ve been worried that you’re losing yourself to the dragon shard, but has it ever occurred to you that the reverse might be true?”

“Huh?”

She padded over to the door, picking up the towel she’d set on the dresser. “I think the shard is changing you, May. But maybe you’re changing it, too. Maybe when it’s gone, you won’t be who you used to be. Maybe you’ll be who you were meant to be. And maybe you’ll change the dragon shard to be something more than just a piece of the heart.”

Chapter Eight

I puzzled over Cyrene’s bizarre suggestion for some time, until the sky started to flush with rosy light. Cyrene didn’t reassure me that Gabriel would love me as much when the shard was gone as he did now, but I realized I valued her honest reply more than any platitudes. I rubbed the small scar on my chest where the shard had entered my body, and stared out at the streaks of red and gold as they lit the horizon, wondering what Gabriel was doing, content, at least, to know he missed me as much as I missed him.

I went downstairs a few hours later, tired from lack of sleep and too much introspection. I thought I was seeing things when Jim ambled toward me from the dining room.

“Heya, Mayling. You look like you were pulled through Abaddon backwards on a porcupine.”

“Jim . . . didn’t you lose part of your fur?” I touched the side of its head that had been singed, then slid my fingers lower, to its chest, rubbing a large white spot. “And where did this come from? Is it paint? Dye?”

“Naw, I had Ash send me to Abaddon for a couple of minutes so I could get a new form, one with all the fur on it. You like?” The demon twisted around to examine itself. “The tail’s not quite as fluffy, but this form has the white spot, which everyone knows is a babe magnet. Oh, and look! Three white toes! Kinda racy, huh?”

“Very handsome,” I agreed. “I’m . . . er . . . sorry. I didn’t realize the lack of fur was bothering you so much. I hope you didn’t pester Aisling.”

“Jealous?” it asked with a waggle of its eyebrows.

“Certainly not.”

“Uh-huh. I can tell you’re peeved I didn’t have you send me to Abaddon, but you can rest easy, sweet cheeks—I had Aisling do it because she was up and trying to avoid the crazy lady, and besides, I wasn’t sure you knew how to do it.”

“Crazy lady? Oh, Drake’s mother?”

Jim gave a shudder and looked over its shoulder. “She’s in there now with Aisling. Drake is refereeing. I’m off for walkies with Suzanne. You wanna come? I’m prairie doggin’ a bit, but I promise not to pinch a loaf right in front of you, if you do want to come.”

“How very considerate. I think I’ll pass just now, if you don’t mind.”

Suzanne, István’s girlfriend, who acted as cook to Aisling and Drake’s household, emerged from a back room with a leash and a handful of plastic bags.

“Walkings time,” she said in a heavily accented voice. “You will come with us, May?”

“Not this morning, thanks. Jim, I’m sure Aisling already told you this, but in case she didn’t—behave.”

Jim rolled its eyes as it marched to the front door, Suzanne in tow. “Why does everyone think they have to tell me that? It’s not like I ever misbehave. . . .”

Thankfully the door shut on the demon’s complaining, although it opened again about two seconds later.

I took one look at the woman walking in, and felt a strange sense of relief. “Kaawa!”

“Wintiki!” Gabriel’s mother, a tall, elegant figure in silver and black linen tunic and pants, rushed forward to hug me. She had skin the color of rich milk chocolate, shoulder-length hair that was pulled back into a bun, and a smile that warmed me to my toes. I felt enveloped in comfort, wrapped in a cocoon that whispered to me of the wind and the sky and the creatures that danced in and out of the Dreaming. Kaawa was a shaman, of the earth, but transcending mere mortality to become something more, something wholly unique.

“I’m so happy to see