Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)

by Rebecca Yarros

“I know exactly who and what you are, Violet Sorrengail.”

“Stay close to the wingleader until we return,” Tairn orders. Surely he meant to say squad leader. “You heard what I said.”

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

I blink, and my vision is mine again, and Dain’s hands lace up my corset quickly, then are on my face, tipping it up toward his.

“Dragons pay no heed to your puny gods.”

“It’s hard to love a second home as much as the first.”

I’m alive. I’m alive. I’m alive. I repeat the mantra in my head as Xaden wipes the blood from my dagger on the back of Oren’s tunic. “Yes. You’re alive.” Xaden steps over Oren’s body and two others, retrieving my dagger from the fallen woman’s shoulder before reaching my armoire. I don’t even recognize her, and yet she tried to kill me. Garrick and Bodhi haul out the first bodies. “I didn’t realize I’d said that out loud.”

foreshadowing✨✨

“I’m fine.” I’m not. His focus snaps back to my eyes. “Never lie to me.” He says it with such ferocity, bit out through gritted teeth, that I can’t help but nod in promise.

he knew she was lyingggg

“Let me guess, and you’ll know if I tell?” “Yes.”

🧐

“Do not dare to try and read me, human, or you’ll regret it.”

TAIRN KNOWSSSS

“It’s not just for your safety. Rare abilities, when kept secret, are the most valuable form of currency we possess.”

you have something to share with the class xaden?

“That’s impossible.” He lifts his hands, as though ready to cup my face. “Let me see.” The shock of what he intends to do has me stumbling backward. How have I forgotten that his signet allows him to see others’ memories? But if I let him see my memory of Amber’s participation, it will also show him that I stopped time, and I can’t let that happen. I shake my head and take another step back. “Give me the memory,” he orders.

dain i will cut you

He leans in so we’re almost nose to nose. “I am annoyingly aware of everything you do.”

he knows

Heat washes over me, prickling my skin and centering low in my stomach. Odd, but whatever. It’s probably just a side effect of the power.

“Kissing you would be a cataclysmic mistake.” “Calamitous.” What would it take to hear that groan again? The inches between us feel like kindling, ready to burn at the first suggestion of heat, and I’m a living, breathing flame. This is everything I should run from, and yet denying the primal attraction I feel is completely, utterly impossible. “We’ll both regret it.” He shakes his head, but there’s more than hunger in his eyes as he stares at my lips. “Naturally,” I whisper. But knowing I’ll regret it doesn’t stop me from wanting it—wanting him. Regretting is a problem for future Violet. “Fuck it.”

Closer. I need him closer. As though he can hear my thoughts, he kisses me harder, claiming every line and curve of my mouth with a reckless edge that makes my body sing.

BECAUSE HE CAN HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS

A flash of light burns behind my closed eyes, followed by the boom of thunder. Thunder-snow isn’t uncommon around here, but damn does it summarize how this feels, wild and out of control.

His sadistic grin and a red rim around his eyes are all I can see as he forces more and more power into my body, but his hands are occupied and he’s too obsessed with his victory to hear that I’ve stopped screaming, to see that I’m moving.

red rim you say

Some of the fables tell stories of the first riders who learned to bond with dragons and how those bonds could turn on the rider if they tried to consume too much power. Others talk of a great evil that spread across the land as man became corrupted by dark magic and turned into creatures known as venin who created flocks of winged creatures called wyvern and scourged the land of all magic in the thirst for more power. Another talks about the dangers of wielding power from the ground instead of the skies, as one could easily start drawing magic from the earth and eventually be driven mad.

Xaden’s done more than save me. He believed me when I told him Amber led the unbondeds to my room. He had an entire arsenal of daggers crafted just for me. He designed a saddle for Tairn so I can ride into battle with my peers. He’d protected me when I needed and taught me to defend myself so I wouldn’t require protection forever. And when others are quick to stand in front of me, Xaden always stands at my side, trusting me to hold my own.

i love

I’m not going to survive this. I’m going to die right here in this bed. “Then I’m going to die with you,” he promises, kissing me.

he can hear you

He’s always known my true nature,

“If you even think about touching me, I swear I’ll fucking kill you.” My power flares with my rage and lightning cracks across the sky, jumping from cloud to cloud. “I think she means it,” Liam warns. “I know she does.” Xaden’s jaw ticks as our gazes collide and hold.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Xaden says in that deceptively soft voice of his, and there’s a flicker of fear in those onyx depths. “You have no idea what I’m thinking.” Fucking. Traitor. “You’re thinking I’ve betrayed our kingdom.” “Logical guess. Good for you.”

But it was the third brother, who commanded the sky to surrender its greatest power, who finally vanquished his jealous sibling at a great and terrible price. —“The Origin,” The Fables of the Barren

violet commands the sky..

“Such untapped power. No wonder we were called here. You could command the sky to surrender all its power, and I bet you don’t know what to do with it, do you? Riders never do. I’m going to split you open and see where all that astonishing lightning comes from.” She waves the other dagger at me, and I realize she’s playing with me. “Or maybe I’ll let him do it. You’ll wish for death if I hand you over to my Sage.”

“Violet?” I keep my shields up, trying to respect her privacy as I walk to her side, but gods, I need to know what she’s thinking.