Page 64 of The Night Rising

I didn’t sleep well.

There was too much going on for me to relax—Ivy was locked in a room, Drake was still in his meeting with the demon hunters, Paimon had boldly attacked a gate, but failed, and Kaz was arriving to check on me.

Besides, Shane slept shirtless beside me and my thoughts drifted to his glorious physique, and my body kept heating up. I had to drink an elixir, take a cold shower, and just sit away from him before I exploded again.

Early morning, Shane and I took breakfast to Ivy. It was time he met her while they were not trying to kill each other. At first, they were both tense around each other, but slowly, they got comfortable.

My heart warmed watching them both. My mate and my sister.

Kaz sent a text to Shane when he was entering the DuMoir estate. Shane and I said goodbye to Ivy—I promised to visit her later—and we headed to the castle’s front doors.

The sound of a bike reached my ears before I could see it in the distance. A fancy Harley Davidson rolled down the road, stopping before the stone staircase.

Kaz took off his helmet and hopped off his bike.

Shane and I walked down the stairs to greet him.

“Kaz.” Shane grabbed Kaz’s forearm and they shook arms like that. “Thanks for coming.”

Kaz appraised me with his dark green eyes, a knot between his brows. “How are you feeling?”

Was it me, or had he grown more stoic and brooding since the last time I saw him? Well, that wasn’t saying much. The last time I saw him, he was badly hurt and he was pissed at me for having accidentally received half of the dragon’s magic.

“Right now, okay.” But that was because I had taken the elixir not long ago.

“We don’t have time to waste,” he said. He lifted the seat of his bike and grabbed a small duffel bag from it. “Let me examine you and let’s see what I can do for you.”

“Of course.” I gestured for him to follow us. “Please, come this way.”

Kaz followed us through the castle’s hallways. Something about the way he took in everything told me he was a trained warrior and he was now doing inventory of any threats or emergency exits.

We arrived at the infirmary where Thea, Almae, and Meredith waited for us. Lavinia wanted to come too, but she decided against it. “It’ll be a crowd in there,” she said.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kaz,” Thea said with a polite smile.

Kaz grunted and nodded at her. Then he turned to me. He grabbed my elbow and steered me to the center of the room. “Just stand still and let me do my thing.”

Shane took two steps back, though I could see the tension in his body, but hope shone from his dark eyes.

As for me, I had no hope. I couldn’t deal with hope right now.

Kaz’s eyes turned amber, and scales covered his bare arms. He walked around me, not even touching me, or hovering his hands over me. He just looked at me with those weird eyes.

After what felt like an eternity—it was probably less than fifteen minutes—Kaz’s eyes and arms returned to normal. He halted right in front of me, his brows furrowed.

“So?” I asked, realizing there was a little hope in my voice. Shit.

“I have to say, I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“What does that mean?” Shane asked.

Kaz let out a grunt. “It’s not good. The witches are right. The magic attached to you in such a way that would be impossible to pull it out without killing you. And yet, you’re dying because the magic needs too much and your body isn’t strong enough.”

“What body would be strong enough?” Almae asked.

“None.”

“But dragon shifters?” Thea asked. “Aren’t they—?”