Chapter 5
The darkness in Hidekazu’s eyes made Aihi pause. Yet she did not register him as a threat; his relaxed stance spoke of forgiveness and acceptance, the first steps of progress they had taken together in a long time. He was both different from the young man she’d grown up with and from who he had been last she saw him.
She left Taniya in the middle of the temple, choosing to trust her brother’s show of change.
“Yes.” Aihi reached out to him, fitting her hand into his. “Show me the man you have become.”
The snaking scars on Hidekazu’s flesh came to life. Almost every inch of him was now decorated in a patchwork mosaic of several giant purple dragons, scales glittering with shades from violet to deep plum as they peeled off his skin. They flowed around him and Aihi, keeping their
