He ignores my request, somewhat answering my previous question. “Set out for Haven.”
“What?” I balk. “The egg is in the mountains.” My body shifts in my outrage. With Gideon’s arms around my waist, I stay securely on the saddle, my head swinging to glimpse a scruffy black beard. Sandalwood and intoxicating male sweat engulf me.
“Saff’s egg was taken.” The body under me rises in heat to an uncomfortable temperature.
“WHERE EGG?”The words in my head are growled with such ferocity that I sink into Gideon, and he tightens his grip.
Feeling the ever-present rage fuelled rumbling beneath us, Gideon answers without my translation. “Head to Haven, and I will guide you from there.”
Feet stamping underneath us, Saff soars.
I hastily grab onto the reins. However, I needn’t worry, as Gideon has me firm in his grip.
Concern tickles the back of my mind, and I want to question Saff over the distance. With her stored flames and the length of the flight to Haven, she will be more exhausted than our previous flight. Not wanting to let Gideon see her mounting weakness, I forgo asking any questions and put my trust in Saff.
As the dragon straightens out to a sail over the coastal waters, the pressure of Gideon becomes more apparent, a solid wall of intensityheating every inch of my body. Greedy for the burn, Argus ruffles his wings and basks in the beast seated behind me, every part of his naked form plastered to my own.
forty-one
Rivern
Solen returns to tellme he has yet to traceherwhereabouts. Dove. My bonded.
Confusion beats at me as with one movement, the bond pulls me towards the void, and the next, it directs me towards the coast.
That signifies a hard truth I’m yet to fully swallow.She has help. Is she a spy? A consequence that could kill my kingdom. We cannot have the threat of the Haven dyre wolves at our door again. Is she working with that wolf? They were awfully close when I found her. Fuck.
The suffocating insecurity trips and stumbles through my mind. The bond does not care for such accusations, though, refuting themat every turn. My logical mind, the part of me that is set to protect my family and people at any price, is wary of this new revelation.
Solen, at my request, now scouts the mountainous coast for her. I find myself with Moyrie, my betrothed, on the back of Mage, headed towards the void pass through the mountains, the only safe place to cross into the Silver Sands by foot.
When Mother found out Moyrie’s dragon was missing, she immediately suggested I take the princess back on Mage. Technically, I was meant to return with Moyrie to the Silver Sands, but I had hoped to explain I couldn’t. That I have a bonded, that I must find her. But thoughts of Dove potentially being a spy sent to scout Terra for a new war fill me with dread. There was and is no way to explain the complexities to Moyrie. I just have to hope Solen can find her and stave off any future wars from occuring. Through the bond, I can sense she is safe, and that will just have to be enough for now.
Abandoning my people like Dove abandoned me is no longer an option.
Before leaving, I informed Mother about the impending arrival of villagers from Haven, but to be wary of their arrival, watch them and keep them segregated from our people. We will feed and shelter them, but following Dove’s disappearing act, I cannot trust that this isn’t a trap. Overall, she wasn’t impressed, but her face turned to one ofsinister interest, and she said she would take care of them. It gave me pause for concern about the human’s safety, but I cannot be concerned with such matters any longer.
The further we travel towards the Silver Sands, the more the tie within pulls taut until the low pain at my bonded’s absence becomes a throb. Now that I’ve felt the softness of her milky skin, stared into the depths of her emerald gaze and viewed the light of her bravery, I cannot unfeel, unsee or unhear her song.
The spot carved out of my heart will always belong to her.But do I want that part open to her?Suspicion has me tightly in its grasp.
Moyrie has insisted she be seated in front of me as Mage traverses the uneven ground of the unsteady terrain below. She is not pleased to leave without her dragon, and it shows in the strained form of her body. She is small but mighty.
Threads of white material dance before my eyes as I’m careful to push the cloth back. To keep a distance between us, I sit as far back on the saddle as I can manage.
Moyrie doesn’t seem fazed by my lack of contact, which is welcoming.
With my heart throbbing for another, the thought of even touching Moyrie again feels worse than death to me. I have no idea how I can continue this ruse to save Terra. If Dove is a spy, I will need to sever this bond. It is costing me my sanity.
My mind conjures tendrils of honey laced with hints of vanilla, and I want to groan. This human holds such power over me. One part of me wants to burn everything in my way to get to her, and the other part of me cannot bear to disappoint my family, my people.
Dove, Dove, Dove.Her name whispers through my soul as Mage moves swiftly beneath us towards my new home.
forty-two
Fury
She comes…
