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“Please, do tell me more about what I should value.” Sarcasm drips from his tone as we pass over the Gauntlet and crest the narrow entrance to the training fields.
I see the golden dragon flying furiously to catch up. How ironic. Tairn is the most celebrated dragon in the Vale, and I’m the most unlikely rider in the quadrant.
“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.”
He can read my thoughts. “See? Smartest of your year.” So much for privacy. “You’ll never be alone again.” “That sounds more like a threat than a comfort,”
“See, I can hang on just fine when you’re not moving.” Tairn tucks his wings up and looks over his shoulder at me with an expression that’s the closest thing to a dragon rolling his eyes that I’ve ever seen.
looks over his shoulder at me with an expression that’s the closest thing to a dragon rolling his eyes that I’ve ever seen.
Two dragons. I have…two dragons.
I look Jack straight in those evil eyes and smile. I’m done being scared of him. He ran back in that meadow.
QUEEEN
“As aggressive as Baide might be, from the way Tairn’s looking at you, he’ll have no problem scorching your bones into the earth if you take another step toward his rider.” Jack stares at me in disbelief. “You?” “Me.” The throbbing in my ankle is down to a manageable, dull ache, even standing on it.
“You two are causing a ruckus, you know.”
He growls, low in his throat, turning those sinister eyes on me. Tairn rumbles his own growl, stepping forward so I’m between his massive claws.
Ayy im willing tlo bet Tairn is defending our queen Violet
There’s zero doubt I’m the subject of both disgruntled snarls. “Yep! We’re talking about you!”
“Look who rode in on the baddest motherfucker around!” “Put her down!” Rhiannon chides. “She’s bleeding!”
“They’re a mated pair, Tairn and Sgaeyl. The strongest bonded pair in centuries.”
“Don’t you see what happened? What Xaden’s done?” His grip tightens. Thank gods for the dragon-scale armor, or I might have bruises tomorrow. “Please, do tell me what it is you think I’ve done.”
“Please, do tell me what it is you think I’ve done.”
Xaden’s not going to kill me.
“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.
Protective king
“But don’t mistake it as an act of kindness toward you. She’s fond of the little dragon.
Unfortunately, Tairn chose you all on his own.”
BAHA
“And out of curiosity, would you have, let’s say, bent those rules to save your precious little Violet in that field?” His voice ices over as he studies Dain’s expression with rapt fascination. Xaden had taken a step. Right before Tairn landed, he’d moved…toward me.
Oh. Gods. I’m tethered to Xaden Riorson.
“He knows exactly how much I value my own life,” Xaden retorts, glancing down my body. “You’re freakishly calm for someone who just heard she’s about to be hunted.” “It’s a typical Wednesday for me.”
I belong to Tairn and Andarna…and, in some really fucked-up way…Xaden.
“It’s beautiful,” I whisper. I’m marked by their magic as a rider now, as their rider. “We know,” Andarna answers.
Xaden Riorson is now in the business of keeping his mortal enemy alive.
I’ve bonded the biggest—and certainly grumpiest—dragon in the quadrant, and yet he has to make accommodations for me. “They’re accommodations for me. I’ve seen your memories. I’m not about to have you sticking daggers into my leg to climb up. Now let’s go.”
“Dragons pay no heed to your puny gods.”
There’s a disgusted roar of something I don’t understand in my head. “What the hell does that mean?” I scramble for the seat and get myself into position as he flies level. “The closest translation for humans is probably ‘for fuck’s sake.’ Now. Are you going to stay in your seat this time?”
“Are you always around?” I snap back mentally. “Yes. Get used to it.” I fight the urge to growl at the intrusive, overbearing— “Still here.”
“I knew it would work!” Jack Barlowe says ahead of us, dragging someone under his arm and thumping her head affectionately. “Isn’t that Caroline Ashton?” Rhiannon asks, her mouth hanging open as Caroline heads toward the academic wing with Jack. “Yeah.” Ridoc tenses. “She bonded Gleann this morning.”
“You only fell about a dozen times that trip,” Tairn remarks as we land on the flight field. “I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or not.” I take deep breaths and try to calm my racing heart. “Take it as you wish.”
“I never get to see her,” I blatantly whine. “I’m always stuck with your grumpy ass.” “I’m always here,”
“This grumpy ass just caught you a dozen times, Silver One.” “Eventually you could call me Violet, you know.” I take the time to examine every row of his scales. One of the biggest dangers to dragons are the smallest things they can’t remove that penetrate between the scales, causing infection. “I know,” he repeats. “And I could call you Violence like the wingleader.” “You wouldn’t dare.” I narrow my eyes as I move forward, checking where his chest begins to rise. “And you know how much that ass annoys me.” “Annoys you?” Tairn chuckles above me, the sound like a chuffing cat. “Is that what you
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“Tairn says if you harm me, he’ll burn you,” I say as dragons to the left and right launch skyward without their riders, headed back to the Vale. But not Tairn. Nope, he’s still standing behind me like an overprotective dad.
“Happy now?” I ask Tairn. “I’m hungry. I think I’ll partake in a flock of sheep.” He launches with great beats of his wings.
Xaden arches a dark eyebrow as I pass by. I flip him the middle finger. I’m not taking his shit today, either.
“Dain is an ass—”
“What the hell is wrong with him? Why is he screaming?” He turns again, focused on Dain. “Is Violet going to hate me forever? Why can’t she see that I just want to keep her alive?
Three are unbonded women—I gasp with recognition—make that two as she runs for the door and slams it on the way out. She opened the door. There’s no other explanation.
Amber.
“Mine!” Andarna screams. Skin-prickling energy zings down my spine, then rushes to my fingertips and toes, and the next breath I take is in total, complete silence. “Go!” Andarna demands. I blink and realize the first-year in front of me doesn’t. She isn’t breathing. Isn’t moving. No one is. Everyone in this room is frozen in place…except me.
“Let me guess,” Bodhi says, rubbing the back of his neck. “We’re on cleanup?”
His fingers are warm under my chin as he tilts my head up so our gazes collide. Wait…is that a hint of panic swirling in his?
“Must have been a dull sword.” He cocks a dark eyebrow. “Unless it has something to do with why you sleep in your leather vest.” “Trust him,” Tairn demands. “It’s not that easy.” “It has to be for now.” “It’s dragon-scale.” I lift my right arm and pivot slightly so he can see the gaping hole in my nightdress. “Mira made it for me. It’s why I’ve lived this long.” He glances between our bodies, his mouth tensing before he nods once. “Ingenious, though I’d say there are multiple reasons for why you’ve made it this far.” Before I can argue that point, his gaze shifts to my throat and narrows at
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I do, tugging my nightdress back over my shoulders, and he drops to his knees on the floor before me. My eyes widen. Xaden Riorson is kneeling before me, his black hair at the perfect level for me to run my fingers through the thickness. It’s probably the only thing that’s soft about him.
Xaden Riorson is kneeling before me,
“Can’t you just hide us in shadows or something?” “Sure, because a giant black cloud moving down the hallway isn’t going to look more suspicious than a couple sneaking around.”
“Sure, because a giant black cloud moving down the hallway isn’t going to look more suspicious than a couple sneaking around.”
He scoffs. “Hardly. I don’t fuck first-years—even when I was one—let alone…you.”
I refuse to sleep on your fucking floor like some kind of guard dog.”
