The Stronghold plane welcomed me, drew me in as I settled on the wall, wings furling behind me. I held onto my drach shape for a few moments, feeling the brush of the wind over my scales, inhaling the scent of fresh air and the meadow below, the moisture of a coming rain lingering over me.
I'd flown here on purpose, embracing the drach in me though I'd seemed to have fallen back into the habit of traveling the veil as a woman. My chest expanded, the fires within stoking upward, heating my long throat, sending tendrils of smoke from my nostrils.
Feel better? My vampire's soft voice felt out of place in my drach mind.
No, I sent. I really didn't. For some reason taking this form just made me feel worse. And the Stronghold no longer felt like home.
Max ascended to the top of the wall, Jiao behind him. And my son between them. I puffed out the last of the smoke as I gaped at Gabriel.