With a defeated sigh because the world wouldn’t wait, Serenna turned inward and called the flame to fold. Unwilling to release, her talons clamped tighter against Fenn’s, like they had a mind of their own.
Magic unspooled from the hum in her chest, wings vanishing beneath her armor, claws slipping free from his. Serenna exhaled and stepped back, brushing stray strands of hair from her face.
Fenn’s eyes glowed as they trailed over her, as though she were a star streaking bright through the sky instead of sand-smeared and flushed from flight. Serenna battled the urge to drag him down into the baked earth, to combust in the blaze that look ignited.
Clearing her throat, she nodded toward the canyon’s depths, where the thrum of drills and rising magic signaled another round already underway.
“I should get down there,” she said. “My shift starts soon. And after that, I’ll barely have time to scrub this dust away before Kaedryn expects me with the guildmasters.”
Fenn chuckled. “My father put my squadron on the skirmish roster next—you’ll get your chance to knock me out of the sky.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Serenna muttered. “You’ve been unbearable since you yanked me out of bed before sunrise.”
His mouth curved, more wolf than wraith. “I do fly best with your fury at my back. Though your princeling swears he endures it more often.”
Wings vibrating, he turned toward the rim. Serenna caught his wrist, realization cutting through the exhaustion of training. He and Vesrynhadbeen appearing at her side too often, despite how busy they’d all been.
“You and Vesryn did something.”
Piercings catching the sun, Fenn raised a brow.
“You talked,” she pressed. “Or made a schedule.”
“Schedulemight be too generous a word,” he mumbled.
“You’re alternating who shows up in my chambers.” Her voice sharpened. “Behind my back.”
Fenn rolled a lip ring between his fangs. “Your princeling suggested it would be…wise. To ensure you weren’t alone.”
Serenna crossed her arms. “So you’re takingturnsstaking your claim?”
“Not like that.” Fenn lifted his claws, his grin cut short. “We agreed we shouldn’t take chances. Not while we’re still learning Kaedryn’s people. You and Jassyn are their symbols now—their walking proof that the world is shifting.”
“Speaking of Jassyn,” she said, staying cool on the surface. “Are you spending the night inhischambers when you’re not in mine?”
“I offered.” Fenn’s smirk returned, wicked and unrepentant. “But Lykor threatened that I’d be picking my fangs out of the dirt if I got too close.”
Serenna tossed her hands, too tired to summon more irritation. “Figures.” She turned toward the ledge, eyes narrowing against the sun’s gleam on canyon stone.
Fenn stepped beside her, his wing bumping her shoulder. “You want to dive?”
Bolstered by her flight across the canyon, fortified by the wind still singing in her chest, Serenna shifted back into her wings.
“I want torace,” she said, daring him now.
“I hope you stretched.” His fangs flashed at the challenge. “Pride cramps are vicious.”
Serenna could sense Fenn was about to warp, cheat his way to the sky before she even leapt. So she snatched him by the collar. Curling her fingers in the hair bound at his neck, she yanked his mouth down to hers.
“So does that mean you’re going to be in my chambers tonight?”Serenna whispered through the bond, her lips crashing against his.
“You’ll have to wait and see,”Fenn murmured, tugging her closer.
Retaliating, Serenna bit his lower lip, sharp enough to make him curse, but not enough to make him stop. And then, still locked in the kiss, his arm cinched around her waist. Taking one step forward, he dropped them both into the open air, dragging her with him as they plunged.
CHAPTER 2
LYKOR
