Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)

by Rebecca Yarros

A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead.

“You’re the smartest woman I know. Don’t forget that. Your brain is your best weapon. Outsmart them, Violet. Do you hear me?”

Pretentious, egotistical fucks.

can’t help but smile at the thought of seeing Dain again, and my heart rate jumps. It’s been a year, and I’ve missed his soft brown eyes and the way he laughs, the way every part of his body joins in. I’ve missed our friendship, and the moments I thought it might turn into more under the right circumstances. I’ve missed the way he looks at me, like I’m someone worth noticing. I’ve just missed…him.

“Stay the hell away from Xaden Riorson.” The air rushes from my lungs. That name… “That Xaden Riorson,” she confirms, fear lacing her gaze. “He’s a third-year, and he will kill you the second he finds out who you are.” “His father was the Great Betrayer. He led the rebellion,” I say quietly. “What is Xaden doing here?” “All the children of the leaders were conscripted as punishment for their parents’ crimes,”

He’s tall, with windblown black hair and dark brows. The line of his jaw is strong and covered by warm tawny skin and dark stubble, and when he folds his arms across his torso, the muscles in his chest and arms ripple, moving in a way that makes me swallow. And his eyes… His eyes are the shade of gold-flecked onyx. The contrast is startling, jaw-dropping even—everything about him is. His features are so harsh that they look carved, and yet they’re astonishingly perfect, like an artist worked a lifetime sculpting him, and at least a year of that was spent on his mouth.

“Cadet Sorrengail has you by the actual balls here, in more ways than one. She’s right. Regs state that there’s nothing but respect among riders at formation. You want to kill her, you’ll have to do it in the sparring ring or on your own time. That is, if she decides to let you off the parapet. Because technically, you’re not on the grounds yet, so you are not a cadet. She is.”

“I’ve missed you.” Maybe it’s exposing a weakness, but I don’t care. Dain knows almost everything there is to know about me anyway. “Yeah. I’ve missed you, too,” he says quietly, his eyes softening.

It’s not just my muscles that are weak. My ligaments that hold my joints together don’t work for shit, either.

Sixty-seven people died trying to get here.

A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead.

Don’t borrow tomorrow’s trouble.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” Dain steps forward and cups my face, his thumb stroking over my cheekbone in a soothing motion.

i would fold immediately

I’m still Dain, and this time next year, you will still be Violet. We will still be us.”

you thought

“I expected you to do a better job of hiding where your affections lie, Aetos.” Xaden moves, walking down the steps. Shit. Shit. Shit. “Run, Violet,” Dain orders me. “Now.” I bolt.

I have a whopping six months under my belt, which wouldn’t matter as much if I wasn’t as breakable as a porcelain teacup, but here we are.

“You shouted and carried me out of there like I mean something to you.” I focus on the scar on his jaw, the stubble on his tan skin, anything to keep from feeling the utter destruction in my shoulder. “You do mean something to me.” He kicks again.

“In war, people die. It’s not glorious like the bards sing about, either. It’s snapped necks and two-hundred-foot falls. There’s nothing romantic about scorched earth or the scent of sulfur.

“I’m more dangerous than you think,” I flat-out bluster. “So I see. I’m quaking in my boots.” The corner of his mouth rises into a mocking smirk. Fucking. Asshole.

this is amazing

“Fascinating. You look all frail and breakable, but you’re really a violent little thing, aren’t you?”

“Do most men forget when a woman holds a knife to their balls?” I cock an eyebrow at him.

I will not die today. —Violet Sorrengail’s personal addendum to the Book of Brennan

“Going for blood today, are we, Violence?” he whispers. Metal hits the mat again and he kicks it past my head and out of my reach. He’s not taking my daggers to use against me; he’s disarming me just to prove he can. My blood boils. “My name is Violet,” I seethe. “I think my version fits you better.” He releases my wrist and stands, offering me a hand. “We’re not done yet.”

You are not attracted to toxic men, I remind myself, and yet, here I am, getting all attracted. I have been since the first second I saw him, if I feel like being honest.

“I can’t lose you, Violet,” he whispers, resting his forehead against mine. “I just…can’t.”

“Knock it the fuck off,” Ridoc snaps, earning the entire squad’s attention.

“Chances at what?” he repeats. “Do not make me ask three times.” His ominous tone is at odds with his gentle grasp, and shit, does he have to smell so good? Like mint and leather and something I can’t quite identify, something that borders between citrus and floral.

down bad

“Here’s the thing, Sorrengail. Hope is a fickle, dangerous thing. It steals your focus and aims it toward the possibilities instead of keeping it where it belongs—on the probabilities.”

“Be careful.” Rhiannon pulls me into a hug, her braids swinging over my shoulder as she tightens her arms around me. “You too.” I squeeze her back and am immediately swept into another pair of arms. “Don’t die,” Ridoc orders.

iconic trio

“I’m used to functioning in pain, asshole. Are you?”

CHRONIC PAIN RECOGNITION FOR THE WIN

“My name is Tairneanach, son of Murtcuideam and Fiaclanfuil, descended from the cunning Dubhmadinn line.”

Tairn

“You are the smartest of your year. The most cunning.” I gulp at the compliment, brushing it off. I was trained as a scribe, not a rider. “You defended the smallest with ferocity. And strength of courage is more important than physical strength. Since you apparently need to know before we land.”

“See? Smartest of your year.” So much for privacy. “You’ll never be alone again.” “That sounds more like a threat than a comfort,”

Fuck. Her.

“Look who rode in on the baddest motherfucker around!” “Put her down!” Rhiannon chides. “She’s bleeding!” “Oh shit, sorry,” Ridoc says, and my feet find the ground.

“They’re a mated pair, Tairn and Sgaeyl. The strongest bonded pair in centuries.”

“And I would do it again.” I raise my chin. “Well-the-fuck-aware,” Xaden roars, losing his temper for the first time since I met him on Parapet.

“As it should be,” Tairn grumbles. “Humans have no say in the laws of dragons.”

It was everything I’ve ever wanted…except… Shit. I don’t want it anymore.

My gaze snaps to Xaden, and my chest tightens. So. Freaking. Beautiful. Apparently my body doesn’t care that he’s as dangerous as they come in the quadrant, because heat rushes through my veins, flushing my skin.

Gods, is there any part of my body that doesn’t physically react to the sight of him?

There is nothing more sacred than the Archives. Even temples can be rebuilt, but books cannot be rewritten.

“This place cuts away the bullshit and the niceties, revealing whoever you are at your core.”

“You’ll have to—” “I know how to handle a corset.”

again- i would fold

“I’m freakishly flexible. It’s part of the whole bones-snapping, joints-tearing thing,” I answer over my shoulder.

Not that we’re a couple. Not that I wouldn’t climb the man like a tree if presented with the right set of circumstances.

Hell, I’d pay good money to see him lose it. To be the one he lost it with. Nope. I shut that thought down immediately.

Even the most effective poisons come in pretty packages, and Xaden’s exactly that—as beautiful as he is lethal.

Because I want him. There aren’t enough curse words in the world for this.