But I could still feel the awful ache of loss inside, a gnawing emptiness that hollowed me out, making me feel empty and cold. I loved Garret with everything I had, but I couldn’t deny that it was Cobalt who made my dragon side stir and come to life. He understood me in a way a human never could. He shared my love of flying, my fascination with shiny things and the heat surging within that sometimes felt like it could consume me. Things only a dragon could comprehend.

And now, he was gone. I had let him go, so we both could be free. But that didn’t mean it hadn’t killed me to do it. To see the look on his face, stunned and devastated, when I said I didn’t want to be his Sallith’tahn any longer. It had taken everything I had to keep talking, to force myself to say those words. A few minutes of falling apart where no one could see it didn’t seem like too much to ask.

After several minutes, I heard the barn door open and close, and quiet footsteps, not Riley’s, rustled across the straw. Instinctively, I curled even more tightly around myself, pressing tail and wings close to my body. I didn’t know if I could face him right now, either. I hadn’t told him about the Sallith’tahn, what it meant, why Cobalt was supposed to be my life-mate. I’d meant to, of course. There just hadn’t been a good time.

“Ember.” His voice was calm, but it still made me wince. His footsteps stopped right beside me, close enough to touch. “I brought you a change of clothes.”

Warmth fluttered through my stomach. Even angry, he was still thinking of me, knowing I didn’t have my Viper suit anymore. Or maybe he just wanted to get on the road as soon as possible, and I was slowing him down. Either way, I needed to Shift, but I wasn’t going to do it with Garret standing there.

“That’s fine,” I said from beneath my wing. “Just leave them on the ground. I’ll change back in a minute and meet you outside.”

I waited for his footsteps to walk away, but he didn’t move. “Are you all right?” he asked, surprising me. It wasn’t a routine question; he seemed genuinely concerned. Or maybe I was just hoping he was.