Ailis wanted to get back to discussing the dragons, but by the look on Lennox’s face, he wouldn’t share any more for the moment. She drew in a breath and released it, letting him change the subject. “You’ve seen that I can teleport.”
“Can every Fae do that?”
“It takes practice to master the ability. Not all Fae can do it.”
“And the doorways? Can everyone create those?”
She nodded. “They can.”
“Why have the doorways if you can teleport?”
Ailis grinned. “Why walk if you can fly?”
Lennox laughed, the sound bouncing around the area as his eyes sparked with humor. The way his face lit up made him even more gorgeous, if that were possible. “Tell me more,” he pressed.
“I can create just about anything I want with my magic.”
“Show me.”
She held out her hands and made a miniature of the stream. In the next instant, a plate of her favorite dessert replaced it. Then she made it vanish.
His eyes glittered with interest. “What about when we first met? The iridescent balls you held.”
“We use the orbs, along with weapons, in battle.”
“Show me,” Lennox urged.
CHAPTER FIVE
The new body—and assault of his senses—was playing havoc with Lennox. His palms wouldn’t stop tingling. The need to touch everything was so vast and crushing that it took every bit of willpower for him to concentrate on Ailis.
Then there was the confining nature of the clothes. He despised them and their restrictions on his body. They were too tight. He couldn’t understand how anyone would willingly wear them. Lennox shifted his shoulders. He stood because he hadn’t gotten used to the fact that he no longer had his wings or a tail. He had always looked at the world from a certain height. Being this close to the ground brought so many things into his awareness that hadn’t been there before.
Lennox swallowed hard and locked his eyes on Ailis. She helped him to focus. Grounded him when he longed to rip off the clothes and return to his true form. To stretch his wings and take to the skies so he would never forget who he was. If he could figure out how to communicate with her as a dragon, he’d do just that. But it wasn’t possible. He had no choice but to stay in this form.
At least until it became unbearable.
She stood, wariness in her eyes. “Are you sure?”
His mind went blank. Why did she ask such a question? What had he said? Ah, yes. He had asked her to show him the iridescent balls he had seen in her hands. Lennox nodded. “Aye.”
“You’re not worried I’ll attack?”
At this point, he almost wished for it—any reason to return to his dragon form. He pushed away from the tree and set his palm against it instead, gripping it so tightly the bark cut into his skin. Lennox pulled his hand away and looked at the blood welling up from the tiny pricks. Almost instantly, the wounds mended before his eyes.
He curled his fingers into a fist before spreading them wide. He was able to do the same in his true form but had talons to contend with. In this shape, he could fist his hand into tight balls. It wasn’t as if he didn’t feel things as a dragon, but his scales prevented the kind of contact he achieved with skin.
Lennox put his hands on either side of his face and felt his cheeks, jaw, and mouth again. Then, he slid his hands into his hair. It was smooth and cool to the touch. And long. He touched his ears and then moved to the soft material covering his chest, running his hands down his stomach as his gaze lowered to his bottom half. He lifted his toes in his boots and saw the leather move.
The sound of water caught his attention once more. He strode to the edge of the stream and peered over to look at his reflection. Instead of the white eyes he had always seen looking back at him in the water, they were a soft shade of pale green.
He didn’t recognize the face staring back at him. Not the eyes, the nose, the mouth, and certainly not the hair. The absence of silver scales was as bewildering as his missing wings and tail. He knew he could return to his true form, but that didn’t halt the wave of apprehension that flooded him.
He was a dragon.
Yet he was something else, too—at least for the moment.
“Lennox?”
He jerked at the sound of Ailis’s voice directly behind him. He knew he shouldn’t let her see his panic, but he couldn’t seem to dredge up the will to care.
“What can I do to help?”
He shook his head, unable to find the words.
She lowered herself beside him. “Give it some time. Allow yourself to get used to this new body and everything that comes with it.”
“I doona think I can.”
“Then don’t.”
He swiveled his head to look into her red eyes. Dragons had all kinds of colored eyes, and he assumed the Fae did, too. “I must if we are to converse.”
She gave him a soft smile. “No one said everything had to be done today.”
Lennox briefly squeezed his eyes shut as he shook his head and looked away. “I can no’ leave you alone. I doona know what the others will do if they find you.”
“I’ll stay out of sight.”
He looked her way once more. “It is more than my kind you need to worry about. There are plenty of animals who would believe you food.”
“Is there somewhere I can hide?”
The first thing that came to mind was his mountain. No one would dare enter it without his permission. Yet he hesitated to bring her. However, there was no other place he could ensure her safety. He could tell her to leave, but oddly, he didn’t want that. There was still much more he could learn about the Fae. Much more he needed to learn.
His gaze returned to the water. He bent over the bank and lowered his hand into the gently flowing stream. The tiny hairs on the back of his hand swayed in the current, causing ripples of awareness to move up and down his arm. He wouldn’t be experiencing any of this without Ailis. And while Lennox wasn’t sure if he enjoyed the new form, he couldn’t deny that it allowed him an alternative view. And all knowledge was beneficial.
He withdrew his hand from the water and watched the droplets roll across his skin and plunk back into the stream. “There is a place you would be safe.”
“Then I’ll go there. Tell me where it is.”
“You should know it’s where I live.”
“So…you’ll be close if something happens.”
“Aye.”
He sat back and spread his hands over the moss-covered rocks, the plants spongy beneath his palm. It was so different from when he had walked across them as a dragon. He had barely felt the mats then. Whereas now, it was all he could feel.
Lennox stood and faced Ailis. “It is some distance away.”
“Then we’d best get started.”
He watched as she turned away. “I willna be walking.”
That drew her to a halt. She jerked her head around, her midnight locks fanning out as she did. “Point me in the right direction. I’ll get there.”
“There’s an easier way.”
Her brows furrowed as she shifted to face him. “I hope you aren’t suggesting I ride on your back.”
“I doona want anyone to see you, and they certainly would if you did that.”