He muttered something under his breath—the words musical despite my suspicion he was actually swearing—then stalked forward and grabbed my hand, his touch light but his flesh hot against mine. He studied the dragon for several seconds, giving little away despite the tension practically humming through his body.
"Where did you get this?" His mismatched blue gaze jumped to mine. "Tell me, immediately."
"It was sent to me."
"Where is the book it came in?"
I raised an eyebrow. "On the dresser."
He walked around me and picked up the book, quickly flipping to the inscription page.
"You can read that?" I asked.
He glanced at me briefly. "Yes."
"What does it say?"
He hesitated. "It is an incantation, set to release the Dušan the moment you touched the inking."
"Does it say why I was given this thing?"
"No." He snapped the book closed and dropped it back onto the dresser. "But their usual purpose is to protect the wearer when they are walking the gray fields or commuting the portals."
"Given I don't do one very often and the other never, what's the point of giving one to me?"
"That I do not know." He frowned and walked back. He touched my fingers again, lifting my arm gently. Violet fire rippled down the Dušan's bright scales, and the obsidian eyes gleamed with awareness. Reacting to the touch, or the power of the man behind it? "It is an extremely strong one, though. Whoever made this for you knew what they were doing."
I stared at him for a moment, my mouth suddenly dry. "This was made for me? Specifically for me?"