Shadow Warriors

Chapter ten

Another shiver ran over Sarah's skin, but this time, Axin noticed. "Please come back inside with me. It's getting cold out here."

Sarah thought about that for a moment, wondering if it was such a good idea. She was definitely attracted to him, and he was to her, but she didn't know anything about him. He wasn't even technically alive, so how would that work between them?

"I think I should go home, Axin. It's been a hell of a day, and I have a lot to think about."

His smile fell. "Yeah, okay. Sure. Come on." He stood, reaching out a hand to help her stand. She took it, loving the way his large warm palm felt holding hers.

Once on her feet, she tugged the dress down and looked around. "So, how does this work? How do you cross the veil?"

"That's the simple part. Nilu gave each of his warriors a gift. We all have the ability to push against the veil until we break through. That's what you saw every time I came to check on you. That smoke, thats me pushing on the veil."

She nodded, meeting his stunning eyes. "And you can just cross back and forth as you want?"

"Not really. We're not supposed to go into the living world unless we hunt. If something breaks through the veil to your world, then we can cross over to get it back."

"But you crossed over for me. Will you be in trouble for that?"

Axin chuckled. "Probably. But it's fine, Nilu knows."

"Knows what?"

Axin didn't say anything, he just stared into her eyes with that burning gaze of his.

Sarah's heart sped up, her mouth going dry and her stomach boiling with butterflies. She bit her lip, standing still only a foot away from Axin.

His gaze flicked to her lips, then back to her eyes, and Sarah saw a flash of worry on his face before he said, "Let me get you home."

He took a step back and as his eyes burned brighter, the smoke grew around them. She shut her eyes, not wanting to feel the burn in them.

A moment later, a soft touch came onto her cheek and she opened her eyes to look into Axin's.

"You're home," he said, his hand still on her cheek and his face only a few inches away from hers. Sarah had to tilt her head up to look at him.

"Do you want to stay for a while?" she asked before she realized what she had just offered.

He grinned. "I would love to, but I have to get back. I'm on patrol in Purgatory tonight. But I would like to come see you again if you will allow it?"

She nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I'd like that."

He grinned, his face leaning in closer to her. She closed her eyes, her lips slightly parted with anticipation. But Axin placed a soft kiss on her cheek and stepped back.

"Good night, Sarah," he said as the smoke began to build around him.

"Good night, Axin," she called and watched him vanish into the thickness of the plumes before the smoke dissipated and disappeared entirely.

She smiled wide, her heart fluttering and her mind racing.

Oh shit! He is such a sweet guy. I think I may like him a bit more than I should.

She spun; the events of earlier forgotten as her mind filled with Axin, his strange world and the things he told her. Even though he revealed the truth about what happened to her parents, she didn't blame him. At first, she wanted to be angry, to hate him, to have a place to focus her pain and sadness, but it didn't take long to realize that she couldn't. Even though it was crazy to think that dragons caused that tragedy, she still didn't have it in her to blame Axin. If anything she blamed the one he was fighting that night.