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blast of stone. Tairn banks to avoid the blast, and I pi...
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Jack falls down the mountainside in an avalanche of rock that I k...
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My hand trembles as I sheathe the clean dagger at my ribs.
Did the blade act as a conduit to help her channel?
Tairn roars with the unmistakable sound of pride. “Lightning wielder.”
The death of a cadet is an inevitable yet acceptable tragedy. This process thins the herd, leaving only the strongest riders, and as long as the cause of death does not break the Codex, any rider involved in extinguishing another’s life shall not be punished. —Major Afendra’s Guide to the Riders Quadrant (Unauthorized Edition)
Harsh
Jack is dead. I killed him.
Andarna lies between Tairn’s forelegs, clearly exhausted.
Lightning I used to take a life.
My stomach heaves and a dark shadow envelops me, but it’s not Xaden. Tairn has folded his wings over us, closing out the world while I retch up everything I’ve eaten today. “You did what was necessary,” Tairn says,
“You saved your friend,” Andarna adds.
“I’m proud you’re mine.” Andarna’s voice wavers, the blinks of her eyes becoming slower. “Even if I need a bath.”
finally have a signet, a real, true signet, and the first thing I did with it was kill a man.
I didn’t want to be a killer.
“I killed him,”
I retch like my body is trying to expel the guilt.
“I killed him.” Why the hell is that all I can say? I’m a broken music box, repeating the same melody over and over, and everyone can see me. Everyone knows I can’t handle the consequences of my own signet. “I know. I know.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “And if you don’t want to use that kind of power again, you don’t have to—” “Get the fuck away from her with that nonsense.” Xaden pushes Dain’s chest and tugs me out of his arms, then grips my shoulders, turning me to face him. “You killed Barlowe.”
“Lightning. Your signet is lightning, isn’t it?”
“I thought so, but I wasn’t sure until I saw you take that tower down.”
“Listen to me, Sorrengail.”
“The world is a better place without Barlowe in it. We both know that.
But what you did will save countless others. He was nothing more than a bully and was only going to get worse as he grew more powerful. His dragon will choose another rider when she’s ready. I’m glad he...
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“It was close, Xaden. It was too close. I had to do something.”
“Whatever you did is what kept him alive.” His thumb strokes over my cheek, the motion completely at odds with his tone, and his eyes flare just enough that I know he’s aware of what I did.
“I don’t want this,” I blurt. “Rhiannon can move objects through space, and Dain has retrocog...
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“You think I didn’t know that already?” Xaden barks o...
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“Kaori can bring his imagination to life, and Sawyer can bend metal. Mira can extend the wards. Everyone has a signet that isn’t just useful for battle. They’re tools for good in the world. A...
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“You just want her to be like you,” Dain argues. “A cold-blooded killer. Soon you’ll be telling her that it’s all right, you get used to the killing.” I inhale a sharp breath. Xaden nails him with a glare. “The blood in my veins is as warm as yours, Aetos, and
if it’s my job you want next year, then you’d better start understanding that you never get used to killing, but you do understand that it’s necessary.”
“You might not like it, might even loathe it, but it’s power like yours that saves lives.” “By killing people?” I cry. If Sgaeyl is right, and signets reflect who we are at our core, then I’m exactly as Xaden nicknamed me…Violence.
She's more than her signet
You are not just a weapon, Sorrengail. You are the weapon.
You train this ability, own it, and you’ll have the power to defend an entire kingdom.”
“Thank you for saving Liam. He’s important to me.”
“Go,” Tairn urges. “But do not wallow in guilt, Silver One. Whatever you feel is natural. Allow yourself to feel it but then let it go. The wingleader made a valid point. With a signet like that, you are the best hope the kingdom has against the hordes of evil that seek to harm it.
Tarim knows what they are really up against
Rest and I will see you tomorrow. I’ll get my own saddle off.”
“I just can’t figure out if it’s the opposites-attract partnership that has you two baring claws or the slow, lethal burn of scalding sexual tension.”
Love the trope reference
“Do not feel guilt that you cannot tell her. This secret belongs to dragonkind, not you,” Tairn warns. “No one has the right to risk our
hatchlings. Not even you, Silver One.”
“And thank gods for it. Zihnal must really love Liam, cheating death twice today.” But it wasn’t Liam who cheated death. It was me.
Foreshadowing
And I can’t help but wonder if somewhere, on some plane of existence, Malek sits on his throne, angry that I stole a soul from his grasp. But then again, I gave him Jack’s. Of course, it might have broken mine forever.
He pushes off the door and takes a single step, closing the distance between us, and lifts my braid from over my shoulder, slowly rubbing his thumb along the strands. “And I figured you might still be upset.”
“I’m not mad that Jack is dead. We both know he’s wanted to kill me since Parapet, and eventually he would have. I’m mad that him dying changes me.”
“And it’s not like I can blame this power on Tairn, not that I would. Signets are based on the rider, just fueled by the dragon, which means this has always been there under the surface, just waiting to be unleashed.
“All this time, I had this tiny, driving hope that I would be like Brennan, and that would be the twist in my little fable. That my signet would be mending, and I could put all the broken things back together.
“Any other rider would be thrilled.”
“You’ve never been like any other rider.” He moves closer but doesn’t touch me. “Probably because you never wanted to be here.”
There is nothing wrong with you. You get to be angry that you killed a man today. You get to be angry that man tried to kill your friend. You get to feel however you want within these walls.”
“But not outside them.” It’s not a question. “We’re riders,” he says, as if that’s explanation enough. He takes hold of my hands and brings them to his chest. “So do whatever you need to get it out. You want to yell? Yell at me. You want
to hit something? Hit me. I can take it.”
Hitting him is the last thing I want to do, and suddenly, I’...
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“Come on,” he whispers. “Show me what you’ve got.” I surge up on ...
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