Cassian moved past Nero and toward Hermi with hurried steps. Though his large frame blocked out all the coming light from the library in an intimidating way, his entire posture remained tense, as if he were walking on a thin wire.
"Herminia."
He stopped directly before her.
"How long have you been standing here?"
Hermi tilted her head back as he reached her, her neck straining to hold his gaze. She had seen the more frightening side of the man many times by now, yet she was not quite sure if she had ever seen him in such a state of agitation.
His garnet eyes glowed with an internal heat, and the thick veins along his neck and face pulsed visibly. He looked as if he were on the verge of tearing out of his own skin under the pressure of whatever burned beneath.
Nero had said during the heat of their argument that the two of them were dragons.
The word settled in Hermi's mind like a stone dropped into a well.
Dragons.
