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No rider has ever survived the loss of their dragon. I can’t imagine wanting to. —Colonel Kaori’s Field Guide To Dragonkind
“But you have to. You can cry, or scream, or even break shit if you want, but you cannot live in this bed.” “I was whole and now I’m not.” My eyes sting, but I don’t cry. That stopped days ago. “She’s really gone.”
“I can kill him if you prefer,” Xaden offers, raising his scarred brow. “And give him another opportunity to fake his own death?” Mira scoffs.
“None taken.” Xaden folds his arms but doesn’t look away. “We’re past the breakup stage.”
“You have other things you should be doing,” I say softly, watching his eyes as his hands move with a gentleness that would shock everyone but me. “Everything else will wait.”
“Do you need me to take care of you or kick your ass? I’m fully capable of and willing to do both.”
It is good we did not complete your dedication.
Tell me, did you choose this path yourself?
I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive him for what he’s done to her.
“She said the heart that beat for you—or within you—would do the wrong thing for the right reason, reach for unspeakable power, and turn dark.”
“My heart beats for her,” he tells Mira without so much as flinching. “I reached for unspeakable power. I turned. I’m the dark wielder she warned your father about, not Violet. Stop treating her like she’s a liability. I’m already the problem.”
“Harder. Rougher. I can do that.” I nod, then reach into my Archives and yank a strand of Tairn’s power loose. “I’m sure you can, considering who you’re sleeping with,” Ridoc teases.
“I’m not your backup plan.” Bodhi retreats two steps, then looks down the table at Brennan and me before glaring at Xaden. “You are the duke. I am the rider. That’s how it was always meant to be until our parents got themselves executed. I will stand by your side and be your right-fucking-hand for the rest of our lives, but if you want a member of our family to hold that seat”—he points to the throne—“you’d better hold your own shit together.”
“Oh, and I’d love to know why the King of Deverelli referred to my sister as your consort in his last offer.” “I’d say it’s a long story, but it’s really not.” A corner of Xaden’s mouth rises, and he takes the missives. Gods, I love that arrogant, wicked, sexy little smirk. How in this world does he think I’m supposed to live without seeing it every day?
“Do you want to go sit on the roof?” “I had something else in mind.” He glances toward the throne. “Yes, please.” I flick my wrist and shut the door using lesser magic, then lock it. His smile instantly becomes a core memory.
If Tyrrendor does not immediately restore the flow of Talladium, the consequences will be dire not only for the province but the Continent. This is not a request—it is an order from your king. —Official Correspondence of His Majesty, King Tauri the Wise, to His Grace, Lieutenant Xaden Riorson, Sixteenth Duke of Tyrrendor
“You lost something I wanted, but you will bring her,” he demands.
“It’s simple, dream-walker. You come or she dies.”
“Their lightning wielder,” Garrick answers. “She let me go to deliver a message.” Theophanie.
“They’ve reached the walls of Draithus. She said if that isn’t threat enough, you have five hours to bring Bodhi and Violet or she dies.” He glances at me.
It isn’t a shield; it’s a green scale that matches the exact shade of my armor. Not Andarna…Teine. Theophanie has Mira.
“You’ll be risking your life.” “It’s risked the second you cross the wards, and we both know you’re going after Mira. I’d rather be at your side than hunting you down after you sneak out.” His jaw flexes. “Theophanie doesn’t want to kill me, or she already would have.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” Xaden replies as Felix and Professor Trissa walk in. “There are worse things than dying.”
“Make a different choice, get a different outcome,” Garrick suggests. “They’ll have to live with themselves, so let them make their choice, too. Gods know we did.”
“Put us where you need us,” Bodhi calls out, then glances at Dain. “With the permission of our wingleader, of course.” “Given,” Dain agrees.
“She said to bring Violet and your brother, and they’ll let Draithus stand.”
Xaden tenses. “She said ‘brother’?” Garrick nods. “Everyone knows you were raised together.”
“That’s why we’ll fail. Because you will choose everyone over yourself, and he will choose you over everyone.”
“And if Cadet Sorrengail is abducted while securing her objective?” Shadows spread at Xaden’s feet. “Bodhi will make an excellent duke.”
“That wasn’t the deal.” Theophanie tsks. “I said we’d let Draithus stand, not that your sister would live.” Her mouth curves in a sadistic smile. “First thing to learn about us is that we’re careful with our words. And the second? We also lie.” She draws the blade across Mira’s neck and slits her throat.
Weird. There’s no mark at the back of his neck like he carries on his palm. There hadn’t been one on Dain’s wrist, either.
“Come back to me,” I demand as he moves away. “Only ever you.” He holds my gaze for another few steps, then turns to Bodhi. “Stay with her, but remember your promise.” Bodhi nods. “I don’t want your fucking province.” “Noted.” Xaden clasps Bodhi’s shoulder, then breaks into a run for Sgaeyl. Her golden eyes swivel toward mine. “Get off the ground and stay with him,” she orders, and we both know she doesn’t mean Bodhi. “Same goes to you.” I lift my chin.
“Now that the Duke of Angst is gone,” Bodhi says, his voice rising, “we have a problem.” Of course we do.
“If I leave, everything falls apart. Dragonkind protects its own, even above a bonded rider,” I remind him. His eyes narrow, and steam billows from his nostrils. “Do not lecture me on the laws of my kind or you will learn how comfortable I am breaking them.”
“You’re almost done waiting. He’ll be gone soon. The crown will be yours.”
“Acknowledging your fear for the lightning wielder does not compromise you.” Feirge calls me out just like always. “Ignoring it does. Accept the emotion and move on.”
“The easiest solution is to drain it yourself. If you do so before I get there, you’ll live. You’ll keep your love—at least what it masquerades as—and your power, and even your dragon if you wish.”
“Tairn.” “Not quite.” Rain bombards navy-blue scales. “Sgaeyl?” “You are an inconvenience for which there is no adequate measurement,” she snarls, flying west as the clouds churn above us, darkening with an abysmal quickness. “But you have done an excellent job keeping the Maven occupied.”
“Isn’t Bodhi supposed to be—” “We all make our own decisions.” Xaden’s going to be pissed.
“Where are they?” “She has withdrawn from me,” he admits with a mental growl.
“Ten bolts,” Tairn announces with a swell of pride as thunder reverberates through my body and wyvern fall. “Seven struck.”
Fuck you. My daughter and I will meet Malek with clean consciences. Will you and your daughters be able to say the same when they come for you? —The last words of Tracila Cardulo (redacted)
“For someone so decisive, you have yet to act on that—” Glane starts to lecture. “Stop right there and I’ll agree your kill count is eighteen.”
The heat dissipates as the blast ends, and Aetos dives to the left and throws. An alloy-hilted dagger sails from his hand and I rise, clutching my own. The dark wielder’s expression of shock remains permanent as he desiccates a few feet away and falls off the wall.
“And we’re going to talk about whatever the fuck that just was later,” he shouts over his shoulder,
flip my dagger and throw at the same moment Quinn lunges with her own and the pale-haired venin spins. His eyes light up, then glass over as he turns gray and shrivels, collapsing at Quinn’s feet with two daggers in his chest.
“Got him!” I lift my hands in victory and hop down the rest of the steps as Quinn turns toward me, her dark-green eyes impossibly wide as she looks at her chest. No. The venin’s blade is lodged between her ribs in the vicinity of her heart.
“Did they make it?” she repeats, resting her head against the top of my arm. The women. The kids. They hadn’t been telling me they’d left someone behind. They were telling me she’d saved them. “Yeah.” I nod as my eyes burn and my throat tightens. “They made it. You got them out.”
“I need you to tell Jax that I love her.”
“Tell her she’s been the best part of my life—” Her mouth curves and she glances past me. “You don’t count, Cruth. You became my life.”
