His head turned from side to side, taking in the area ahead of him in a methodical visual sweep. Always the warrior, he seemed to be assessing the area for any danger. He blended in with the night sky, only reappearing when backdropped by a contingency of stars or the bright moon. She would have loved to be lying in a field of grass, just gazing up at him as he made the sky his home.
There was a dull squeeze inside her chest as she realized this Sebastian really didn’t frighten her as he probably should. That she was mesmerized and possibly intoxicated by the otherworldly beauty of the man. But he wasn’t a man anymore, was he? He was a dream, scary and breathtaking and wonderful in all his majesty.
“How much has he told you about his problems?” Drew asked.
Alice pulled her thoughts back to the interior of the car. Half turning to address him, she said, “I’m trying to help him find his father or whatever might explain what this is.”
“He’s spent so much time and energy trying to prove to himself that he’s born vampire that he refuses to see what’s in front of him.”
“And what’s that?”
“That there is a world larger than ours out there. That despite what we tell ourselves, vampires aren’t the crowning glory of evolution. We don’t overrun the population because we can’t. We depend on others as much as they often depend on us. And as much as we assure ourselves that other creatures of the night are lesser and not worthy of our notice, we are ignoring part of who we are. Where we belong. Does that make sense?”
Drew had her full attention now. Keeping her gaze toward where Sebastian flew ensured she didn’t lose sight of him. “You know more about his past than you’ve told him it sounds like.”
“No, not at all. I just refuse to believe that with the existence of vampires and werewolves, there can be nothing else out there like us. It doesn’t make logical sense.”
“I’d tried doing a Google search and there were thousands of creatures to research, including hundreds I’d never even heard of. How are you supposed to weed out the ones that could possibly be true from the ones a bunch of fiction writers cobbled together?” Alice hadn’t even gotten around to elements of mythology, much less covered the usual suspects. There’d been no time to do a decent search, despite Sebastian’s every attempt to make sure she had the resources she needed. “I could spend the next twenty years searching and not be sure I’d stumbled onto the right thing.”
“Look at him,” Drew replied reverently. The hum of the engine created a hush that demanded an almost piety. The white-noise quiet encouraged her to follow his command.
His tone captured and held her attention for a few seconds, but Alice ignored the lure to watch Sebastian once again. Frustrated, she shook her head when whatever seemed apparent to Drew didn’t make itself clear to her. “What should I be seeing?”
“I could be wrong,” he said slowly, “but have you ever seen a creature like that with wings? Imagine something a lot bulkier than Bast, and add a long tail. But everything else is the same. The claws. The scales. Most importantly, the wings.”
She studied Sebastian, trying to find the elusive something Drew hinted at but seemed quite willing to let her stumble upon without assistance. Her eyes blurred and in the fuzzy lines, she thought maybe... No. Alice shook her head. “I don’t—”
Drew watched her in the rearview mirror. “Look again. And think back to fairy tales, where white knights saved damsels in distress. Use your imagination.”
There was a subtle undertone of humor in his voice, despite the humorless situation. Still, Alice found her lips curving slightly, a thread of hope weaving through her. If Drew could be lighthearted in this dire moment, just maybe it wasn’t as bad as her instinct cautioned.
Alice tilted her head as she tried to make the imaginary changes to Bast that Drew had suggested. His words became a path of clues for her to follow. A tail. White knights. Damsels in distress. What did they all have in common?
Oh, shit.
She sat up straighter, her fingers digging into the seat again. Her mind supplied the necessary changes and...oh, shit.