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“If Solas comes near you again, he knows I will devour his human whole and let him rot within me while his
heart still beats, and then I’ll take the eye I so graciously left him.”
“In retaliation?” Dain interrupts. “That’s not our way. Read the Codex about the rules of engagement, Ashton.” Says the man who sent me to my death.
FUCK YOU DAIN
Stop going for bigger moves that expose you. Xaden’s words from last year ring in my head as if he is standing right beside me. I have to use what I have—my speed—to my advantage.
This should absolutely not be turning me on, but the way he moves, the lethal grace in each and every calculated strike… Yep. Turned on.
There’s a course second year that I can’t tell you about, other than to say that it’s hell. My only advice? Don’t piss off anyone else’s dragon.
“You didn’t want normal. If you did, you’d be in a relationship with Aetos.” She shudders. “Or hell, anyone else in this place. But you wanted Riorson. If you didn’t think the man was hiding more than a few battle-axes, then you’re mad at the wrong person, because you lied to yourself.” I open and shut my mouth
Anger burns in the depths of his gold-flecked onyx eyes. “I’ll see that it’s done.”
“Violence, remember it’s only the body that’s fragile. You are unbreakable.” “Unbreakable,” I repeat to myself as Professor Grady leads me away.
“Think about that later,” Tairn commands. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.” “Of course you are. I chose well.”
“And you’re wrong about me. I wouldn’t have waited for all the information—or even proof—if I’d heard you’d been hurt.” This time, I don’t step away when he reaches for me. His arm winds around my waist, and his hand splays on the small of my back to guide us out of the water’s direct spray. The inches between us are both a gift and a curse as he leans in. “I’m not always calm or collected, and I’m never in control when it comes to you.”
“I want you exactly how you are, emotions and all. I want the woman I fell for. It kills me every time I have to keep my hands off you, every night I lie awake next to you, both blessed and damned with the memory of how hot, how wet, how fucking perfect you feel when I’m losing myself in you.”
“Violet.” His hand slides from my shoulder to the back of my neck, fisting in the long strands of my hair as he looks into my eyes like he can see straight to my soul. “I can’t give this up. I won’t give you up. Now let go.”
“There’s nowhere in existence you could go that I wouldn’t find you, remember?”
“You’ll lose everything you’ve worked for.” My voice breaks. “Because of me.” “Then I’ll have everything I need.” He lowers his face, leaning in so he’s all I see, all I feel. “I will happily watch Aretia burn to the fucking ground again if it means you live.”
“You want to know something true? Something real? I love you. I’m in love with you. I have been since the night the snow fell in your hair and you kissed me for the first time. I’m grateful my life is tied to yours because it means I won’t have to face a day without you in it. My heart only beats as long as yours does, and when you die, I’ll meet Malek at your side. It’s a damned good thing that you love me, too, because you’re stuck with me in this life and every other that could possibly follow.”
With all we’ve sacrificed for this kingdom, we’d better be able to defend it. —The Journal of Warrick of Luceras —Translated by Cadet Violet Sorrengail
“She makes a good point,” Andarna agrees. “Can you carry a luminary?” “That question insults me.” “Can you carry a luminary while insulted?” she prods. Tairn growls.
“You’re alive?” She stumbles forward, shaking her head. “After… I mean… It’s been six years, and you’re…alive?” “In the flesh.” He opens his arms. “Gods, it’s good to see you.” She draws back her fist and punches him straight in the face.
This right here makes everything worth it. The world could disintegrate around us and I’m not sure I’d notice—or care—as long as I have him in my arms.
“It would be a pity to kill her now. I’m hunting ten minutes away and I’d miss the show,” Tairn says. Power surges within me. “Control it. Now,” Tairn demands, all trace of sarcasm gone.
“Yes.” I step out onto the midpoint of Tairn’s tail, my stomach settling at the familiar territory beneath my boots as I look back over my shoulder at Dain. “That’s why I love him.”
“You could have crushed someone,” I lecture. “Could have, but alas, they moved.”
“Civil is overrated,” Andarna notes, flexing her claws in the grass. “I’ve never tasted gryphon—”
“We do not eat our allies,” Tairn lectures. “Find another snack.”
“She has yet to prove herself an ally,” Tairn notes. “She still blames me for Luella’s death.”
“Don’t blow anything up.” Tairn shifts his weight behind me. “At least blowing something up would be interesting,” Andarna notes, eliciting a growl from Tairn.
“I know.” He braces his hands on the arms of the chair and leans in, brushing his lips over mine. “And you love me in spite of it. That’s one of the many reasons I will always choose you.”
“It’s already snowing up the pass. I bet we get seven inches tonight.” “Maybe more if you’re good.” A corner of his mouth lifts as he cuts into the cake with the fork.
Shit, he might have just told her that he thinks her turtle is blue, but I’m not getting in the middle of that.
“Less than a minute,” Xaden whispers as Sgaeyl moves toward him—toward us. “That’s how long it took for you to fall out of love with me.”
“I love you. The world does not exist for me beyond you.” Leaning down, he rests his forehead against mine.
You’re going to love Violet. She’s smart and stubborn. Reminds me a lot of you, actually. You just have to remember when you meet her: she’s not her mother.
“I waited six hundred and fifty years to hatch. Waited until your eighteenth summer, when I heard our elders talk of the weakling daughter of their general, the girl forecasted to become the head of the scribes, and I knew. You would have the mind of a scribe and the heart of a rider. You would be mine.” She leans into my hand. “You are as unique as I am. We want the same things.”
Most generals dream of dying in service to their kingdom. But you know me better than that, my love. When I fall, it will be for one reason only: to protect our children. —Recovered, Unsent Correspondence of General Lilith Sorrengail
