Page 186 of Of Masks and Fury

The ward pulsed once, twice. On the third throb, it sang out a crystal note I felt all the way to my bones.

When the ward finally yielded, parting like silk, I felt a surge of possessive pride so intense it nearly overwhelmed me. She’d done the impossible. Again. Broken through defenses that should have killed her, made it look easy.

“Brilliant,” I breathed, pulling her close. “Absolutely brilliant.”

The way she melted against me, exhausted but triumphant, made me want to release a primitive roar. My woman.

With a hiss, the opening widened until it was large enough for dragons to pass through.

“By the fates,” Lexie breathed from Kyreth’s back, Derren nodding along with her.

Isi sagged against me, her breath coming in gasps. I twisted enough to catch her before she fell, tugging her around and securing her in my lap.

“You did it.” Pride surged through me and shone in my voice. “Now let’s see what your mother was hiding.”

I guided Lakast through the opening, the others following.

The moment we crossed the threshold, everything changed.

The corruption stopped. It simply ended, a stark line between rot and life so clear it could’ve been sliced with a blade. On one side, the festering wasteland we’d been flying through for days waited. On the other, lush grass, flowers, and trees heavy with fruit that made my mouth water shone like an oasis.

We flew over the new area.

Water ran in a stream through the center of the canyon, clear enough to see smooth stones on the bottom. The air smelled like growing things instead of decay, like hope and possibility and everything the wasteland had stolen.

Isi released something between a sob and a laugh.

The tightness drained from her shoulders, her breathing evened out, and wonder replaced the grim determination that had carried her through the wasteland. Her face had changed completely. Hope and longing blazed across every feature.

I wanted to give her a thousand places like this. Wanted to build her a world where she never had to see corruption again.

A manor house sat in the center of the canyon meadow like something from a children’s story. Small but perfect, made up of white stone covered in climbing vines with pink flowers. Smoke rose from the chimney in a lazy curl. Someone was home. It was clear they were maintaining this place with love.

Isi’s hands started shaking.

“Breathe, Minx,” I said as I guided Lakast down to the large clearing in front of the building. “Whatever we find, I’ll be right there with you.”

She nodded, but I felt her throat work as she swallowed hard. Her fingers dug into my forearm holding her secure on my lap.

“Maybe we should land somewhere else and spy on the place before announcing ourselves with dragons?” Lexie asked.

Isi shook her head. “My mother’s ward kept everyone but those I can trust out.”

Kerralyn frowned. “How can you know that?”

“I know it here.” Isi pressed her hand over her heart, and her voice dropped off to almost nothing. “I just do.”

But we’d sliced a hole in those wards. Something to address before whatever was hunting us figured out we’d found shelter.

We landed in front of the house. Kyreth and Wairen touched down nearby, our friends dismounting with weapons ready despite Isi’s confidence. Their companions either rode on their shoulders or padded along beside them, equally alert and watchful.

I slid from Lakast’s back, ignoring the protest from my shoulder and abdomen. My boots sank into grass so soft it felt like moss. Real grass, healthy and green and impossible in the middle of the wasteland.

I turned and reached up for Isi as she climbed down the dragon’s side. When her feet touched the ground, she peered around, her lower lip quivering.

“Breathe,” I said.

“I am.” Her gaze remained on the manor house, her entire body trembling with anticipation.