Page 45 of A Dawn Of Blood

Then the thought occurs to me and I don’t hesitate. “It wasn’t my intention to do this so soon, but… I have something for you.”

I take the lighter out of my pocket and hand it to him, eagerly soaking up his reaction.

His eyebrows shoot up. “Wow, that’s… really nice.”

Hope floods me. “You think so?”

He smiles. “Yes, thank you.”

I bite the bullet. “What would you say if I told you you were my mate?”

To my surprise, he lets out a laugh. “I suspected as much.”

Smiling widely, I breathe a sigh of relief. So he feels the same. “Did you?” I ask teasingly.

He grins. “I did. Why else would I be getting this much attention from the Aurora?” And he leans in for a kiss.

Turning my head away, I let out a slightly awkward laugh. “I’m sorry, I—”

“No no,” he whispers. Pulling away a little, he just tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear and gives me a warm smile.

I smile back.

“After all the work you did today,” he says, obviously but very sweetly changing the subject, “I’m pretty certain it’s a good night’s sleep you’re in for.”

I laugh. “Don’t even mention it. It’s ridiculous, that we’re not making any progress whatsoever.”

“What about the books you found?” he asks, raising his eyebrows in surprise. “At least we’ve lifted the stones long enough to getthose.”

I let out a sigh. “Useless. They do mention some kind of artifact that can be used to trackanythingdown, which coulddefinitely be of help, were it not for the fact that they go on to refer to it as thedragon’s eye,” I intone theatrically.

This makes the smile slide off his face. “Dragon’s eye?”

I turn serious as well. “Yes.”

Something flashes through his eyes. “There’s a compass with a dragon’s eye embedded into it,” he tells me in a low, excited voice, “right here at the Academy.”

Chapter 33

“So chirpy,” Jaeger teases when I get to our second training session the next morning.

Although, being in another dimension, I only know it’s morning because my watch is telling me it is.

I get settled at the low table, right across from where Jaeger is already sitting, smiling at me with an eyebrow quirked. “Well,” I reply with a grin, “we did just get our hands on an artifact that will solve all our problems, didn’t we?”

“It’s broken,” she reminds me gently. “Dryden still has to make it work.”

“He will,” I say with determination in my voice.

She observes me for a moment, still smiling. “You have a lot of faith in him.”

I shrug. “He’s a capable guy, isn’t he?”

Jaeger nods. “Alright,” she starts with a clap of her hands, “let’s use all that chirpiness to get you to make some progress.”

“Aye aye, ma’am,” I answer readily, my smile only growing wider as I scan the ritual items before me.

“How do you feel about training today?” Jaeger asks.

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