Chapter 22

"DAMN IT!" she hissed. It hurts! But in a dream, something like that didn't hurt. So where was she?

Kyla sank into the grass with a sigh. She lay down, arms folded under her head, eyes closed, and thought. Just let it happen, she finally told herself.

When she opened her eyes again, all she could hear was silence. She turned her head to the side and recognized the blood red curtains of her room. She sat up carefully. Her body felt refreshed and rested. How long had she slept?

She looked around the room. Her heart started pounding hard against her chest when she saw Devon.

Leaning his head against the high back of the chair and supporting it with one hand, he appeared to be asleep. His chest rose and fell in the same rhythm, the long black hair fell over his shoulders and single strands hung in his face.

Kyla also saw Azamir, who was curled up at the foot of the bed and also asleep. A smile played around her lips, but at the same time a strange feeling crept over her.

"If this is just my imagination again, then I'm freaking out!" she cursed to herself.

But when Azamir continued to curl up under murmurs, she had to giggle. Did her little friend have any idea how cute he looked while he was sleeping?

Then her eyes slid back to Devon. A book leaned against his chest, held in his free hand. Kyla sighed. Why were bad guys so outrageously good looking?

She shook her head in shock at herself. Since when did she think HIM was handsome?

Devon slowly opened his eyes. Awoken by a tingling in his hand, which must have fallen asleep. It took him a moment to find himself, but when he saw Kyla sitting up straight in her bed, he was suddenly awake.

The book fell to the floor with a thud. Awakened by this, Azamir also opened his eyes. When his eyes fell on his girlfriend, he couldn't help but gape at her.

Kyla looked from one to the other in confusion. What was wrong now?

"Do I look like a ghost, or why are you both staring at me like that?" she finally wanted to know.

Azamir swallowed, but couldn't utter a word. So Kyla looked at Devon.

"What do YOU want here anyway?", she asked him suspiciously.

"I-I...", since when had his head been swept empty at the sight of her? Instead of answering, he raised his hand and a mirror appeared hovering in front of her. Seeing herself, Kyla flinched and pulled the covers up to her neck.

Not only was she completely bare on top, her hair appeared to have grown. "Great, really... great. And who's going to pay for my haircut now?” She flopped back onto the pillow and the mirror disappeared. One hand on the blanket, the other over her eyes, she kept murmuring, "It's just my imagination. It's just an illusion..."

Devon stood up and when his foot nudged the book he picked it up and placed it on the chair. In disbelief, he approached Kyla and sat on the edge of the bed. His eyes saw only her and his voice sounded unusually soft. "This is not imagination."

Kyla took her arm aside and sat up again. Steadily, without any shyness, she looked straight into his golden eyes. They drew her in deeper and deeper and Kyla felt her mouth go dry. She wet her lips with her tongue.

Did she know how seductive that gesture was to him?

When Kyla regained her self-control, she asked, "What happened to me?"

Devon's hand played with one of her long strands of hair. “You fought with Darian. He was about to kill you when I stopped him."

"I didn't mean that, but okay, at least I don't have to ask about it anymore. I want to know why I look like this and more importantly, WHY am I naked?!”

An amused smile played around Devon's mouth. The fact that people always had problems with it would probably not change in the next thousand years.

"I suppose you have absorbed Dantalion's magic by now. What amazes me, however, is that it happened so quickly. Normally, the human body can only cope with this amount with difficulty or not at all. But you recovered within a few hours.”

"Why Dantalion's magic?" Kyla didn't understand anything.

"Azamir can explain that to you. Now that I know you're doing well, I look forward to hearing how much the training has brought you.” Devon rose, leaving Kyla alone with Azamir. She probably wouldn't believe a word he said anyway...