“Has she eaten?” Tatum asked in a whisper loud enough to wake the dead.
“Rhodes went to bring her back dinner. I hope he took my suggestion about extras seriously,” Davis muttered.
Silence.
“What? Don’t look at me like that!” Davis hissed, his whisper somehow even louder. “Training’s made my appetite downright unruly.”
A wave of hot, sulfuric breath washed over me.
Lakota lay sprawled in the grass beside me, his massive head tracking my pacing steps with lazy precision. He’d already cleared the training field of other warriors of the Glade by cracking open his jaws and letting fire coil at the back of his throat—just enough to promise he’d turn the Shadow Glade to ash if they didn’t scatter.
I scolded him for that.
“I told you we could fly up there and check on them,” his deep voice rumbled in my mind.
I threw my hands out in a dramatic flourish and stopped pacing. “And how do you think everyone would react to that? EspeciallyFallon.”
Lakota’s voice was as smug as ever. “You seem to be forgetting who and what I am. I do not answer to your flimsy, breakable kind.”
I rolled my eyes and huffed, abandoning the impossible task of convincing a centuries-old dragon about the practical flaws in his threats.
“She’s still pacing?”
I knew that voice. Instantly.
Spinning on my heel, I planted my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes—though it was impossible to hide the smile tugging at my lips. Rhodes stood there like the storm he was born from: tall, dark, and dangerously handsome.
He smirked, one dimple flashing, and I melted like a fool under his gaze.
Behind me, Tatum and Davis scrambled to their feet, brushing grass and dirt from their pants. When Davis caught sight of Rhodes carrying only two portions of food, he groaned loud enough to shake the field and stomped off in protest. Tatum clapped Rhodes on the shoulder in passing as she trailed after him.
Rhodes led me through the thicket. Even in the darkness of night, the Shadow Glade’s ethereal foliage glowed with life. Summer bugs lit our path, their soft light making me wonder if they all migrated here for the winter, drawn to the Glade’s lush, sheltered ecosystem.
We reached a wall of flowering vines so thick it looked impassable, but Rhodes handed me the twoplates he’d carried balanced in one arm and parted the curtain of leaves with the other, glancing back with that mischievous half-grin.
“After you.”
I slipped through and stopped short, breath catching. Beyond the vines was a small, hidden hollow where a clear pond glowed with an otherworldly blue light. It rippled beneath the canopy, casting shimmering reflections onto the mossy stones around its edges. Tiny blossoms floated on its surface, bobbing gently in the cool breeze.
Rhodes retrieved the plates and ducked in behind me, nudging the vines back into place to seal us off from the world.
“Figured you could use somewhere quiet,” he said, voice low, handing me a plate. Steam curled from the food—warm pot roast with potatoes and carrots.
He sat on a flat stone near the water’s edge, patting the space beside him. “Eat. You’ve been pacing for hours.”
I hesitated, taking in the serene pond, the rustling leaves overhead, the soft glow painting Rhodes’s face in silver and blue.
“Thank you,” I whispered, sitting beside him and letting the hush of the hidden pond settle over us like balm. “The Shadow Glade never ceases to amaze me.”
“Is that right?”
I studied his expression, the pond’s glow shifting across his features. “Yeah. It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen a place like it. And you seem to know all the best spots. Why don’t you spend much time here anymore? Seems like somewhere I’d never want to leave.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them. Regret hit instantly. Rhodes’s face fell, the brightness in his eyes dimming ashe dropped his chin. He tore absently at his roast, pulling it apart piece by piece.
I softened, lowering my voice. “Your father’s hard on you.”
Rhodes swallowed, then looked at me again. “He wasn’t always this way. As kids, Shayde and I thought he was our hero. But after he learned about the curse… everything changed. It got so bad my mother left him.” He paused, then added more quietly, “She’s still here. I’m taking you to meet her tomorrow.”
