Page 66

‘What is that cold, Koa? What does that do to him?’

‘It is fear. His fear…’ she trailed off, looking for words again. ‘Kham says, his fears choke his heart. Keep to love. Remind him to love. Love will warm the cold.’

I nodded and snuggled closer to his chest. ‘Thank you, Koa—I’m so grateful you’re back. So glad we’re all together again. I love you.’

‘And I love you, Firebird.’

Tick Tock

~ VOSKI ~

Without direct sunlight breaking into the cave, and without the noise of movement around us beyond the rustle of wind in the trees, I slept hours longer than I’d intended.

I woke to find Grace watching me. Smiling. Her hair was messy and tangled, her cheeks pink from the warmth between the furs.

“Good morning.” Her voice was husky, as well. I was immediately hard.

“Good morning.” I couldn’t resist a kiss. Sliding a hand to her waist, and pulling her up against me. She smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around my neck.

We didn’t speak with words, but let our bodies do the talking.

So much hung over our heads. So many reasons to be tense, or afraid. But for those beautiful, warm minutes, I set it all aside and only let my mind dwell on her—her beauty, her grace, and the intoxicating pleasure of her cry when she reached her peak.

It was the best sound in the world.

When we finally parted, it was the most relaxed and happy I’d felt since we were at the hut. But even though my heart was steady, the dread hovered at the back of my neck, like a cold hand spread at my nape, waiting to clamp down.

Still, I remembered Kham’s words from the day before. Even if I didn’t understand it all, I knew that loving my mate would only help us. And she’d been parted from her dragon for far too long. So, I urged her to go be with Koa while I cooked us food, since we probably wouldn’t eat again until dinner.

Kham stayed with me, lying flat on his side on the hillside, drowsing.

‘Looks like someone didn’t rest enough last night,’ I teased him one of the times he came awake enough to lift his head and look around.

‘Love your mate, Voski. I told you. What you give comes back tenfold.’

‘No pun intended.’

Kham huffed, but didn’t reply, and I kept my eyes scanning back and forth between the food sizzling over the fire, and the sky.

The sun was already high. We’d slept far too long. We needed to return to the castle. Not because I worried about displeasing my mother, but because we had a network to infiltrate, and undermine—and destroy. But of course, that only led to thoughts of putting Grace back in their sphere, which turned my blood cold.

Added to that, the tension of the return itself. At this time of day, there would be no choice but to land in broad daylight.

‘We’ll drop into the lowlands of the District, behind the stables,’ Kham murmured in my head, letting himself relax on the grass again. ‘Those in the castle won’t be close enough to see us clearly, but if there are stablehands, or others nearby, they’ll catch sight. Keep your hoods up and move through the trees until you’re forced to cross the open land. Hopefully, any human eyes that see us land won’t see you emerge to enter the castle.’

I knew he was right. It was also our only option. So, it was the plan. But still, it sat uneasily on my shoulders.

I called Grace back to eat when the hare was ready, then we packed up quickly. Grace spent a few minutes hugging Koa’s face—and the crooning sounds Koa made threatened to close my throat.

Kham rumbled reassurance to them, but he walked closer to me than usual when we went ahead to the best slope for takeoff, giving the girls a few more minutes alone.

When they emerged from the trees, Grace’s eyes were pink and shining again, but she smiled at me, and I felt the joy in her. Yet, her heart in the bond was also underlined with unease.

We hadn’t spoken about going back. We knew it was necessary. But neither of us wanted it.

We caught sight of movement in the stable yard as we descended. But when the dragons landed on the rolling hillside below the stables, there were no shouts, and no one ran to greet us. Grace and I had lain as flat on Kham’s back as we could—me pinning Grace against his withers—praying that if anyone looked, they’d just assume he was a wild dragon coming to sun on the grass in the afternoon. Koa remained high, speaking with Grace in the link, but out of sight.

There was no time for proper goodbyes. I hurriedly removed Kham’s harness, rolling it so he could pick it up in his mouth—he would fly directly away from the stable in the hope that no one saw—then took Grace’s hands and darted into the trees that were thin, but leafy, and meandered along the rolling landscape. We took a wide berth through the trees, around the castle, and into the forest behind that the king used for hunting grounds.