And Kaelith?
Silent.
The wind tore at my face, my limbs flailing through the void as I plummeted, the clouds spinning above like distant ghosts. I didn’t know if I was over water or ground, but at this height, I doubted it mattered.
Everything blurred into weightless terror, the air a scream in my ears.
I was alone.
She didn’t come for me.
A wrenching pull yanked through my chest, forceful enough to steal the breath from my lungs. Something powerful seized me mid-fall, and I twisted instinctively, bracing for impact.
But it never came.
Instead, I was surrounded, enveloped by silver.
Sleek, gleaming scales shimmered around me as massive wings beat once, twice, holding us steady in the air. A familiar scent, cool and electric, wrapped around my senses.
Not Kaelith.
Hein.
Of course it was Hein.
The male who wanted to mate her. The one who’d stood by her side every time sherefusedto stand by mine.
He didn’t roar. Didn’t even look down at me as he carried me toward the Ascension Grounds.
The air grew warmer as we descended, the stone ring below coming into view, riders gathering, voices shouting.
And then?—
Heindroppedme.
Not hard enough to break me, but fast enough that I hit the dirt with a loud grunt, my knees buckling as I rolled onto the ground. The pain flared brightly, but I was too stunned to cry out.
He landed behind me a moment later, shaking the ground with his bulk.
I pushed myself to my elbows, shame curling in my gut like smoke.
My dragon hadn’t come for me.
Buthehad.
Zander dismounted in one swift movement, his boots barely hitting the stone before he was running. His cloak snappedbehind him like a second heartbeat, but all I saw was his face, tight with fear and something rawer than anger.
He dropped to his knees beside me, eyes scanning every inch of me like he wasn’t convinced I was whole.
“Are you alright?” he asked, voice low and hoarse.
I nodded.
But I wasn’t.
Not really.
I could still feel the fall in my bones, still taste the wind on my tongue. And the shame. That it hadn’t been Kaelith who caught me. That when I fell… it wasHeinwho answered.
