But he’s already gone.
I debate running after him, but with these cuffs I’ll be more of a hindrance. I can’t just leave, though. I can’t get my feet to move.
A furious wind picks up, tossing my hair around my face. I squint up at the sky. The tiny black speck grows closer and closer until its shadow eclipses the sun.
Then I hear it. A dull whooshing sound. For a moment, I think it’s a dream. But there is no mistaking that sound as it floods me with relief.
Wingbeats.
“Oh my god,” I whisper.
Furi bursts through the clouds in all her ancient majesty, weaving purple streaks across the sky as she beelines for me. I let out a wild cry, flailing my arms above my head.
She’s alive. And she’shere! My heart feels like it’s about to burst.
How did she find me?
Her wings slice through the air, and the power she exudes has every tree, every palm, every grain of sand bowing to her. She looses a battle cry, followed by a puff of blue fire.
The ground trembles beneath her as she settles and lets out another loud howl. I race toward her and throw myself down around her thick leg, tears bursting from my eyes.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” I cry.
Her purr reverberates through my bones as she dips her head, and tucks me beneath her chin. Nuzzled against her, I feel a sense of completion. Of hope.
Her barbed tail curls around me, thumping against the ground andmelting my heart. I can’t hear her because of the damned blood ore, but I know she is feeling all that I am right now. I peel back to look at her, stroking my hand over her sloped nose.
“I’ve missed you so much, girl. Feel like saving the day?”
The challenge registers in her cat-like eyes, and I swear to god, she’s smiling. When I scale her back and take my place on her worn-out saddle, she lets out a howl to rattle the earth. Her head tips back as she flaps her wings, and we blast into the sky.
20
JACE
Outnumbered and fully fucked.
That’s what we are.
Lines of soldiers pour from the gates until they surround us on all sides. To make matters worse, the Stryga have now joined them.
Zadyn dashes back in hisOrCatform, shredding men to bits left and right. But there are four of us and far too many of them.
Years of battles, years of victories. I’ve never lost a fight. But I don’t know that we’ll walk away from this one.
Any minute I expect Kylian to storm out of the castle and decimate us all. It would be nothing for him. He’s powerful in the same way all High Fae kings are. And that’s without the Bloodfast.
I don’t even know where Serena is—if Zadyn got her to Mar safely. The second I think her name, the sky becomes overcast. A heavy wind picks up as a dark mass comes into view.
“Perfect timing,” I mutter to myself.
The majestic dragon swoops down, her wings blocking out the sun and bathing us in shadow. Some of the Vod soldiers stagger back, retreating toward the towering gates.
Fucking cowards.
Furi makes a sharp dive toward the tangle of fighting on the ground, and I catch a flash of movement between the dip in her shoulders. A banner of long dark hair, shivering proudly in the wind.
My heart lodges in my throat.
