I would much prefer to wake with you in my arms. I can bring you to my home this evening, and you can share my bed here.
She sensed a hidden trap. He could feel her moving through his mind, touching his thoughts. It took her a few moments before she realized what she was doing and how easy it was. She grew even quieter, withdrawing farther from him.
Well?
He prompted her, mocking male amusement brushing at her teasingly.
You’re so charming, I guess I can’t resist you.
Deliberately she sighed.
I should, but I don’t think I can. I prefer to sleep in my own bed and have you here with me. Take your time coming up with a good reason for slinking off like a hound dog in the middle of the night, or day, or whenever you left. But make it good and somewhat believable.
Byron laughed. He began to move, floating upward, finding the chimney and slowly, without effort, drifting steadily toward the night sky.
You want to stay in your own home where you feel you have the power. Do not think I do not understand that is what you are doing.
Antonietta gasped.
You’re flying. I feel it with you. You’re flying through the air, aren’t you? I want to do that. I am floating, gliding really. It is a pleasant sensation. Not nearly as pleasant as sharing your bed. Pretty words aren’t going to get you out of trouble. Sure they are.
He was openly laughing, happy.
Are you on your way back to me? If so, you can take me flying tonight for your punishment for leaving me all alone in this great big bed. You are still lying in those silk sheets without a stitch on.
The thought of her warm and soft and waiting there for him left him breathless. Just that she would want him with her. Just that she was thinking of him.
Do you, Antonietta? Do you think of me? Dream of me? Always. I have since the moment you came into our lives. You humble me. I will be there soon.
Byron shot into the sky, wings spreading wide as he took the form of an owl and circled over the sea, enjoying the way the moon spilled light on the choppy surface. He needed to feed. He was not completely healed, as he couldn’t afford to spend time in the healing earth when Antonietta was in danger. Even with Celt guarding her, Byron was uneasy separated from her.
She didn’t have a clue what he was or what he intended. He was now used to the strange barriers in her mind and could easily maneuver around them. Antonietta wanted him, even accepted him, but she didn’t think in terms of a future. Not ever. It didn’t enter into her realm of possibilities.
Spotting prey, Byron circled lower, a silent drop, eyes fixed on his quarry. As he settled to earth and reached for the man staring up at him with such shock, he smiled. Antonietta had a few surprises in store for her. Someone needed to shake up her tidy little world.
He drank deeply, allowing the rush to hit him, allowed himself the feel, just for a moment, of absolute power. It would be easy to give in to the whispers calling to him if it weren’t for her presence. Antonietta would call him back as she had unknowingly with her music in the past. He wasn’t as near to the edge as most of the hunters. Byron rarely had to kill, yet the pull to feel absolute power was strong, even with knowing right from wrong.
You’re feeling very sad.
Her voice startled him. He nearly dropped his prey. Antonietta sounded so close to him. So concerned. Quite gently, he closed the small, telltale pinpricks and eased the man to the ground.
A few moments ago you were so happy.
What’s wrong. Byron? I can come to you if you can’t get here. Tell me where to meet you.
Her voice, soft with concern, turned him inside out.
I am coming to you. I was just thinking of my kinsmen, some sadly lost to us. Hurry. I’m waiting to see you.
He took to the sky again, moving quickly toward the Scarletti palazzo. The rounded turrets drilled through the wisps of fog and clouds, a massive castle of stone and secrets. A ripple of awareness touched him. Another of his kind shared the skies with him. Female. Familiar. The owl came winging out from around the tower and rushed him, feathers nearly iridescent. Eleanor! His sister, gone from him many years.
Byron dropped down into the middle of the maze, signaling to his sister to do the same. He caught her in his arms, even as she shimmered into substance, dragging her close and burying his face against her neck. “How is that you have come to this place? I cannot believe that you are here, Eleanor. Let me look at you.” He held her at arm’s length, then pulled her close again. “I have not seen you for so long.”
Eleanor hugged him back hard. “It has been too long, brother. You look so good, so strong and fit. I was so frightened for you. We were still too many miles away from you when we felt you go down. I collapsed. Poor Vlad had to attend me. I wanted him to leave me and go to you, but he said he would not make it before the sun rose. I am so grateful another of our kind was close. I did not recognize him when you showed us your mind. Who was he?”
“I will admit I was grateful also. He was an ancient, with powerful healing blood. Dominic of the Dragonseekers.”
Eleanor drew back from him. “A Dragonseeker?” Her hand went to her throat in a purely defensive gesture. “I have not heard that name said in a long, long while. It brings back the memory of the ancient wars.”
“That is all a fairy tale, Eleanor,” Byron pointed out. “Much like the human stories of werewolves and vampires. No one has it right. They make it up as they go along. Maybe one or two people really saw a werewolf or a vampire, and they allowed their imagination to take flight, and the result is the silly stories they have now. I think much the same thing happened with our people and the stories of the wizards.”
“I wish it were true, Byron, but the wizards were very real. Our races were close at one time, worked together for the good of the planet. The wizards were powerful and great seers. They studied magic and the things of the earth, much as we did. Many of our safeguards for protection came through their knowledge. Many of our people studied with them. Unfortunately, power can corrupt.” She smoothed back her brother’s hair. Touched his chest to assure herself he was alive and well. “I do not recall that Dominic had much to do with the wizards, but his sister did. She was incredibly talented…” Eleanor’s voice trailed off, and she stepped back to study him with her dark eyes. “You look fit, completely healed, and it is a miracle. You look quite different. More powerful maybe, yet happy.”
“I have found her, Eleanor. At long last, I have found my lifemate. She is here, at this palazzo, the concert pianist, Antonietta Scarletti. She is an amazing woman.”
Eleanor flung her arms around her brother’s neck again. “I am so happy for you. You must introduce us. Have you claimed her? Have you told our prince? When are you taking her home?”
There was a small silence while Byron hugged Eleanor a second time, grateful he could feel the flood of love for her. Grateful he could look at her and feel. Antonietta had given him that gift. A priceless gift of emotions and vivid colors.
“Byron?” Eleanor looked at him with all-too-knowing eyes. “You have not converted her.” She made it a statement, almost an accusation, “We need every woman. You know we need women desperately. And you have suffered for so long. Surely your lifemate wants to be with you.”
Byron smiled, a wolfish smile, more a baring of his teeth. “She has the strange idea that we will spend time together, and then she will send me on my way.”
Eleanor studied his face. Her brother had an edge to him that had not been there before. “What are you up to?”
“Antonietta has to find her own way to me. She has lived a certain life, ruler in the palazzo, her family dependent on her. She also is safe there. It matters little in the palazzo that she is blind. Her life is set on a path, and she intends to follow it. She does not yet realize that her path is intertwined with mine. But she will.”