is too powerful. Never have I imagined that such a creature could exist.”
“How long?”
He understood her question without clarification.
“It’s been thirty-six hours since we returned. You’ve been unconscious for a bit longer than that.”
Sophia sat up more on her own, though Dalair’s body remained curved around her protectively, his hands around her arms holding her steady.
“How did I come to be here?” she asked, looking around the comfort and safety of her chamber within the Shield.
“The last thing I recall we were still in the forest. You were fighting so many enemy soldiers. Benji was holding my hand…”
Her eyes widened with alarm.
“Is he—”
“He’s fine,” Dalair said immediately. “He’s safe and unhurt, just a bit scratched up from the struggle.”
“Where is he?”
He hesitated slightly, and then replied.
“Not here. And honestly, I do not know. Tal, Ishtar, Gabriel and Inanna have taken him to a place where he will be well protected.”
Dalair smiled slightly and added, “He is excited to start a new adventure. This will not be permanent. Only until we deal with the threat.”
In other words, kill the Hydra dead, Sophia understood.
“He is only sad about…”
“Ere,” Sophia whispered, finishing Dalair’s thought.
Her mate blinked in acknowledgement. “After the shock of his ordeal wore off, he immediately realized who the black dragon was.”
“Benji can always see a person’s real self,” Sophia murmured. “He saw Mama Bear for who she was from the start. He always saw Ere’s real form as well.”
She searched Dalair’s beloved silver eyes.
“So it’s true then? Is Ere…is he…”
“We do not know for certain,” he reiterated gently.
But she could see in his eyes and hear in his thoughts that the chances Ere had survived the Hydra were slim to none.
“If it helps, Tal and Ishtar do not feel the absence of him,” her Mate added.
It wasn’t much, but Sophia clung to the hope. She closed her eyes and extended her Gift, her ability to search out and see Pure souls.
Years ago when she first discovered it, she had to be within a certain distance to sense them. But she was different now. Since her Awakening, her powers had strengthened exponentially. She used them presently to search for echoes of Ere’s soul.
“I think he’s still in the mortal realm,” she whispered, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. “I can feel a faint resonance. So faint… But nevertheless there.”
“Then be assured that we will find him and bring him back,” Dalair said, gathering her into his protective embrace once more.
“He is a survivor, after all, our Creature.”
“Our Cam,” Sophia agreed.
Dalair pulled slightly away to look into her eyes.
“You know.”
She gazed back at him as wordless understanding and comprehension settled over them both.
“So do you,” she surmised. “When did you realize who he was? All of his forms?”
“The first time I had an inkling was when you were abducted,” Dalair replied slowly. “When I came for you, he took the forms of Cambyses and Kira to make me confess my sins. I was too shocked at the time to do anything but react instinctively, anything to take you away from there. But later, I wondered how the Creature knew. I thought he must have had the Gift of probing into others’ minds or memories.”
He shifted her closer and took a deep breath. This was the first time he had to reflect on these experiences with a clear mind. They were a lot to take in and absorb.
“After I was taken by Medusa and Wan’er’s soldiers, the Creature was the one tasked with turning me.”
Dalair laughed mirthlessly.
“He enjoyed making me suffer, that much was clear. There was an undertone of vengeance and bitterness to him that I didn’t understand. It was personal, the pain he unleashed on me. And yet, I also felt he regretted it as much as he enjoyed it.”
Sophia wound her arms around his waist and kissed his throat, murmuring unintelligible words of comfort as he relived the unpleasant memories.
“It wasn’t until I abducted you and they tried to turn you too that I realized he wasn’t doing exactly what his Mistress commanded. I believe they intended to turn both of us. They must have known about the Destroyer in you, but I don’t know how—”
“I remember now,” Sophia inserted.
“Medusa was the Head Priestess at the Temple of Neith when I was Kira.”
Dalair looked at her with eyes widened in surprise.
She nodded.
“She presided over…over…the sacrificial ceremony that you tried to save me from…”
Dalair released a huff of breath as long-buried memories resurfaced.
“I recall.”
“Medusa must have known about the aftermath…what I-I did…”