Page 108 of The Ember that Tethers

Nothing. No bloody latch or knob or anything to open the path. And he no doubt appeared as if he would soil himself from the sheer exertion.

“Problem?” Kyrith called, her voice lit with amusement at his failure. She looked him up and down as if she had already seen everything she needed and was less than impressed.

“No,” Vesper grumbled in her general direction. “I just, usually when I summon it, I’m in”—he searched the clearing like the answers hid in the tall grass—“dire circumstances. You know,running for my life. Being chased by rabid beasts. Sometimes feral women.”

Kyrith rolled her eyes. “If you want danger, that can be arranged.”

As her fingers crept toward her sword, Vesper retreated a step. He didn’t doubt she’d tear her blade free and slaughter him in his unarmed state. With his father’s sword still at her cabin, the absence of it ached like a phantom limb.

“Though I’m sure beating me to a bloody pulp would be thrilling, I’ll pass,” he said into the open air. His eyes darted to Thorrin for help but the rider only shrugged.Wonderful.So very helpful.

Kyrith stepped forward and Vesper’s stomach dropped. He swore her walk could only be compared to a lion stalking its prey. When she reached him, to his surprise, she retrieved a blade from a sheath in her belt. The dark dagger smiled in the sun as if it absorbed both light and shadow and feasted on everything in its wake. “Try this,” she said.

Vesper’s eyes widened as he stared at the knife in her palm. The same one she’d held to his throat. Wings decorated the handle of the elegant blade and foreign letters covered it. Likely enchanted. He’d never missed his own knives so much. His hand skimmed down the empty plains of his chest.

“What does it do?” he asked.

“You don’t trust me, pretty boy?” She tilted her head.

Vesper’s eyes narrowed on her, but he proceeded to stare like the moron she only proved he was.

Pretty boy? That was new. Undoubtedly backhanded and mocking, but his heart thrashed against his ribs. He willed it to settle the fuck down, yet it only screamed in protest.

Kyrith flipped the blade to pinch the tip between two fingers. “Make a small cut somewhere on your body and she will come.”

Vesper quirked a brow as more questions flooded his mind than answers. “First of all, how do you know myShadowheartis a she?”

“A hunch. You can take my help or leave it. The choice is yours,” she sang. Then she spun on her heel and blindly tossed the knife into the air behind her.

Vesper cursed as he lunged and managed to catch the knife before it hit the ground, but she could have at least handed it to him. It was sharp enough to lop his bloody finger off if he fumbled it. Kyrith probably would have just laughed. Actually, shedefinitelywould have.

He studied the blade, then decided to do as he was told. And as his chance of failure inflated by the second, he had no other choice.

So, he rested the blade on the meat of his palm. A small incision bloomed at the blade’s command and, in response, Kaida awoke within him. The oddest sensation stirred in his chest as the dragon’s eyes snapped open and their minds joined, linked as one in something they’d never shared. Not before now.

He didn’t know what to do with that, how to process it. He blinked and she lingered. His back contorted, his rib cage splintered, widened, and—

Kaida unleashed from his chest.

Or rather shetorefree. The recoil of her release struck him like a bucking stallion and Vesper doubled over, wheezing a few curses.

Now freed, Kaida consumed the space in this clearing, and spun to face the five riders and Kyrith. Shadows clung to her long obsidian form to trail behind her spiked tail. Her scales flared like a frightened wolf’s hackles and her tattered wings fluttered as her pale gaze locked on the riders. Their mouths fell slack, all except for Thorrin who nodded in approval and crossed his muscled arms over his chest. They all watched in awe.

Except Kyrith. She scratched her nose and blinked at the creature as if she had better things to do. Would the world have to explode in a fiery fucking inferno to even startle her?

“That’s it?” Her unimpressed gaze slid to Vesper. “I thought she would be bigger. But I’m sure you hear your share of complaints about size already.”

Kaida’s snarl drew gasps from the riders and many shuffled back a step. Kyrith didn’t even glance at the dragon.

Vesper shot hisShadowhearta stern look. “Down, Kaida,” he said in his best authoritative tone. As he turned back to Kyrith his vision doubled and he struggled to focus, but he got out, “Never heard a complaint before. Quite the opposite, really.”

He ignored her responding, “Doubtful.”

Vesper rubbed his eyes. He could see himself through Kaida’s gaze, and not some weird body double thing, but like she lived in his peripherals. In a few moments his vision faded back to normal.

“Eat.”The dragon’s gruff but lyrical voice sprang into his head as her eyes flicked from Vesper to one of the riders, either Gaelen or Dimitri, honestly Vesper could barely differentiate the two.

“No,” he drew out slowly and frowned at her drooling maw. “No eating, Kaida. These are our friends. We don’t eat friends, alright?”