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unexpected force.
    Afterward, he stood under the tepid spray for a long time,
trying to calm the grumbling beast still flexing and sliding beneath his skin.
It was futile, of course, trying to reason with it, but he couldn’t bring
himself to trust its instincts. Not yet. The whole thing was just too bizarre.
    Wyrmate. Go to her , it whispered in their shared
mental space.
    Yeah , Bane thought. Just two little problems with
that. First, she’s an idana. What if she’s fertile?
    This thought didn’t seem to faze the creature, so Bane
added, There’s something else. Darek thinks the same thing. He doesn’t like
it, but he thinks it anyway. Can’t you hear him?
    To his surprise, the beast was unconcerned. He’d expected a
jealous rage. Hell, he was a little jealous—less so than he would have
imagined, but he felt possessive all the same.
    Instead, it purred a single word to him in its deep,
rumbling tone, pronouncing the word slowly, as if explaining a new idea to a
child.
    Share.
    Bane leaned his head against his forearm and watched
droplets of water run down the white-tiled wall. You’re fucking kidding me ,
he thought. A creature of few words with no reason—ever—to argue a point, the
dragon did not respond. Typical.
    A mated warrior rarely survived the death of his mate. The
enemy knew this, which was why there were very few dracambri females left. Bane
and Darek had talked about it before—the “What would you do if you found your
wyrmate?” question—and they’d both agreed that mates would be a ruinous
liability. They’d be bound to their mates—biologically, spiritually, from crown
to toe, from horns to tail and everywhere in between. It had never occurred to
either of them that they would share a wyrmate. Possible? Yes. Likely? No. Fate
had one hell of a sense of irony.
    So what now? He turned off the water, grabbed a towel
and dried off. As he walked out of the bathroom, Bane saw Darek on the balcony,
leaning against the railing and gazing into the starry sky, gleaning what
solace he could from its glittering expanse. Even from this distance, he could
sense the restlessness of his friend’s soul. He felt for Darek. Before the war,
his friend had been popular among the idani. Although Darek had acted the part
of the ladies’ man, he’d considered many of his regular partners friends. When
the truth had come out, he’d felt massively betrayed.
    Bane sat down on the edge of his bed. The shower hadn’t
taken her scent from him—a mixture of lemon and lavender that a man could drown
in. He’d never smelled it before but he’d know it anywhere. It was her scent.
    Our wyrmate’s.
    Steeling himself against temptation, he got up and closed
her door silently. Not yet. He tossed the towel in the bathroom and lay
down on the double bed on his side of the room, pulling the sheet over his bare
skin. He had to get some sleep.

Chapter Two
     
    “You’re going where ?” Darek’s tone was incredulous as
he looked up from his coffee. It was still dark, about an hour before sunrise,
and they had yet to hear stirrings from the adjoining room where Lily slept.
    Bane drew out the chair across from Darek and sat down,
joining him at the small table. He set down the cups of coffee he’d brought up
from downstairs and sat back, steepling his fingers under his chin. “I’m going
to talk to Savara. It’s not far by wing, and if I leave now, it’s unlikely I’ll
be seen,” Bane said. Disbelief warred with concern in his friend’s eyes.
“Darek,” he said gently, “she might know something about Lily that we don’t,
and I sure as hell can’t talk to Anthony about this. He’d put a hit out on both
of us.”
    “You think?” Darek exploded. “Dammit, I just might beat him
to it. Are you out of your fucking mind?” His expression pleaded with Bane.
“You can’t be serious. We’re talking about the same Savara, right? The idana
who killed Kai? One of the very best breeders in la vedova ’s