Page 212 of Feralheart

Stepping aside meant watching them die when we could’ve saved them.

“We keep going,” I said.

“Until we can’t.”

“One of us will lose.”

“Yes.”

He ducked beneath Aristus’s neck and stopped in front of me, his hands gently cupping my shoulders before sliding down my arms to thread our fingers together. The contact burned worse than the collar had, because this meant something, and we both knew it. Curling forward, he kissed my forehead before pressing his against mine, his arms sliding around to hold me tight.

Lyndie came over to stand beside us, her face pale but her eyes sharp. She looked at my glowing hands.

“You found something,” she said.

“The collars are slowly killing the bonded dragons.”

Her jaw dropped, and her gaze cut to her own dragon, to the collar it wore. “How long does he have?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “But we’re going to find out.”

Reece staggered over, wiping his eyes. “What’s happening?”

Fen explained, his voice a long rasp. Reece listened, and when Fen finished, Reece studied his own dragon, scarred, damaged, and discarded.

“They knew.” Reece’s voice shook with emotions darker than grief. “They knew what the collars did, and they used them anyway.”

Fen sighed. “Reece, I’m sorry.”

“No.” Reece’s eyes met Fen’s, and I saw the moment the older man decided something. “You’re not one of them anymore. Not after crossing that line. So you don’t need to apologize. But they do.” He gestured toward the elite camp. “Some of them would kill to keep this secret.”

Fen didn’t argue with Reece’s assessment. He’d stiffened, and that was its own kind of answer.

“We need to talk about what happens when we reach the Oracle,” I said.

The silence that followed became the loudest thing in the meadow.

“One of us wins,” Lyndie finally said. “The rest of us lose.”

I knew what I was about to say before I said it. I also knew what it would cost me. I kept picturing Tolross’s face in the trial, the color in his cheeks, and the lack of a rattle in his chest. It was all I could do to breathe.

But this was the only way.

“We need to figure out a way to share the wish,” I said.

Fen’s eyebrows lifted, but I could tell the idea held appeal.

Reece shook his head. “Wishes don’t work like that.”

“We don’t know that.”

“Eradin.” Lyndie’s voice came out careful. “You came here for your brother.”

“I know why I came.”

“Then you know what you’ll be giving up if it doesn’t work.”

“Yes.” I dragged in air, but it didn’t feel like enough. “I know exactly what I’ll be giving up. But I’ve watched us keep each other alive when the elite built these trials to kill as many of us as possible. I’m not going to spend the last part of this race treating you three as obstacles.” I met their eyes, one at a time. “Maybe it can’t be split. Maybe we try and it fails and one of us gets the wish and the others go home empty. But we try.”