that he was one of triplets. Anatolie didn’t seem in the least surprised, but her brothers were. Their father made it clear they were never to admit Xavier’s blood ran in their veins. He said it would make them a target of jealous mages and the Carpathian hunters.
Isai wielded power so easily, as if it was a part of him. He didn’t call it up with ceremony, he simply used it. Casually. Easily. The shirt fell away, disappearing as if it had never been. The bloody streaks in his chest were already turning black as if some poison was eating away the flesh. She shuddered, one hand going defensively to her throat. Those claws would have gotten into her. Even if she’d managed to drive them off with a spell, the acid would have most likely killed her.
She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight of him. He was mesmerizing as he pushed the poison out of his body through his pores. She knew it had to burn, but he never winced. Pale yellow droplets fell to the ground. The beads seemed to have some kind of magnetic attraction to one another and they rolled until they pooled together to form a light buttery-colored puddle at his feet.
“They used sulfuric acid or some combination with that in it,” she identified. “That explains why so many of the cats ended up dead with burns on their faces and feet. Somehow the acid leaked out of their venom sacs, right?” She stared in horror at the evidence at his feet. She wouldn’t have survived an attack with that acid. He had to be in terrible pain.
“I will be fine. Stand back for a minute. I have to get rid of the poisonous acid.”
She moved to the other side of the rock.
“Turn away when I bring this down.” He was already looking toward the sky.
Her heart pounded. He was calling down the lightning. It was a feat no other species could do. No mage had been able to wield lightning, even if they could draw it down.
An electrical charge made her hair stand up on her body. She heard the ominous sizzle and crackle of electricity. White-hot and too bright to look at, a whip of lightning flashed across the sky, lashed the pale-yellow puddle of acid and was gone, leaving behind scorched rock. She thought Isai stumbled, but when she blinked to bring him in focus, he was standing straight and tall. He certainly looked invincible. Pale, but definitely omnipotent. The skin where the wounds had been had gone from black to a healthy color again.
“I have to heal these wounds from the inside out just to make certain the cats didn’t leave anything behind in my bloodstream.”
She hadn’t thought of that.
“I will return in a few minutes. I will not be far from you.”
Perversely, she didn’t want him to go. “Can’t you just do it here? You pushed out the poison in front of me.” She hoped she didn’t sound whiny, but she really hated that he was so remote, so closed off from her. She was used to being alone. In fact, she preferred being alone. She should have been glad to see him go. Instead, she had the mad desire to cling. The shadow cat had shaken her up more than she realized. That was the only explanation.
“Just a few minutes, Julija.” His voice was very gentle. “I’ll be close in case there is another attack.”
She glared at him in challenge, hating that he thought she wanted him there to protect her. It wasn’t that at all. “Why? Why do you have to leave?”
“I have to shed my body in order to heal from the inside out.”
She knew instantly he didn’t trust her with the unprotected shell of his body, and that hurt. Her throat felt raw. Her eyes burned. “You can do it right here.” She made it a demand. He really didn’t seem to like that tone when she took it with him. Even if it earned her another spanking, which frankly hurt, it was better than his complete indifference.
He just looked at her and then he was gone. He dissolved right in front of her. Shimmering, he looked as transparent as the shadow cat had, but then he was just not there. Julija wrapped her arms around her middle and pressed her forehead against the rock where he’d been standing. That left her looking down at the scorch marks on the rock.