Heat floods my face as I remember what I saw just minutes ago. Before the panic set in. Before I realized my dragon was gone.
Luke. Completely naked in the moonlight. Every inch of him carved from muscle and shadow. The powerful sweep of his shoulders. The ridges of his abdomen leading down to—
Stop.
I squeeze my eyes shut, but the image is branded behind my eyelids.
I’ve never seen a man like that. Not in person. Not standing so close I could reach out and—
What is wrong with me?
My dragon isgone. We lost Mara. We’re stranded in dangerous territory, and something has blocked our power.
And I’m standing here blushing like a sheltered schoolgirl because Luke Kenan has nice abs.
I need to get myself together.
Now.
“You good?” He tilts his head.
My face burns despite the cold. I clear my throat.
“Sure,” I say. “Just… cold.” It’s true. But for some reason, that’s not why I feel like I’m trembling inside.
He gives a curt nod, pulls his shirt on over his head, then reaches into his backpack, tugging out a thermal jacket and handing it to me.
“Here. Put this on.” When I hesitate, he adds, “You need this more than I do.”
I take the coat because refusing would be stupid. It swallows me, heavy and warm and smelling like leather and pine smoke. Like him.
I pull it tight and try not to think about how safe it feels.
Luke shrugs into his vest, checking weapons and supplies in a way that tells me he’s done this a thousand times before. He’s already moved past the shock, already figuring out next steps.
I watch him and wonder what it’s like to be that controlled. That certain. That unbothered by losing everything.
“We should go,” he says, settling his pack across his shoulders. “Put distance between us and the crash site while we still have darkness for cover.”
“Move where? We can’t fly. We’re fifteen miles from—”
“So we walk.”
I laugh. Bitter and broken. “You want to walk fifteen miles through the Carpathian Mountains? In the dark? In the cold?”
“You have a better suggestion?”
I don’t. That’s the problem.
Luke is already heading toward the trees, clearly expecting me to follow. I do, because what else is there to do? Standing here won’t bring my power back.
We walk in silence through forest that presses close. Without dragon sight, the darkness is absolute, just shapes and shadows that could be anything. I stumble over a root I should have seen,wouldhave seen, if I were still what I’m supposed to be.
Luke slows fractionally, adjusting to my limitations without comment.
The terrain climbs steeply. My breathing comes hard within minutes. My legs—used to dragon strength, to magic reinforcing every movement—protest with each step. The twisted ankle I’ve been ignoring starts to throb.
I grit my teeth and keep going.
