“I woke to the press of Valtherion's palm against my stomach.

His hand was splayed wide, covering the space below my navel with a gentleness that didn't match the size of it.

His eyes were open. Ice blue in the grey pre dawn light, fixed on the place where his hand rested with an expression I'd never seen on him before.

Soft. Terrified. Awed.

"Still feels like a dream," he murmured.

I covered his hand with mine. "It's real."

"I know. I just..." He breathed. Slow, measured, the way he breathed before a fight. Steadying himself against something too big for steadiness. "There's a person in there. Half you and...