He snorts—smoke curling from his nostrils—and crouches low, wing folding to create a path up his shoulder. I climb—hands finding the ridges of his scales, feet bracing against plates the size of dinner tables—until I settle at the base of his neck. Spines rise before me, natural handholds that warm at my touch.
“For the record, if you drop me, I’m haunting you forever. Just so we’re clear on consequences.”
A deep rumble vibrates through his chest—denial, certainty, promise all rolled into one sound. His massive head shakes once.Never.
“Good. Now—” I grip the spines, lock my thighs against his scales. “Show me what you’ve got, Dragon King.”
He launches.
The force of takeoff nearly throws me, but I grip the spines, lean forward, and hold on as the platform drops away beneathus. Wind screams past my ears. The fortress shrinks to a speck of gray against the mountainside. The world opens around us—endless sky above, endless earth below, and nothing but bronze wings carrying me between them.
“Holy shit!” The words tear from my throat, half terror, half exhilaration. “Holy shit, this is amazing! This is terrifying! This is—oh my god, is that a cloud? Are we going through a cloud?”
We go through the cloud. It’s cold and wet and the most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced.
He rumbles beneath me—feeling my joy, my terror, my absolute freedom. His wings beat stronger, carrying us higher, and I know he’s feeling it too.
He banks left, and I lean with him—instinct rather than thought. His wings catch an updraft, and we surge higher, mountains falling away until they look like wrinkles in a vast green blanket. The sun sits on the horizon, painting everything in shades of fire, and the cold wind against my face is the most alive I’ve ever felt.
“More,” I urge, pressing my palm flat against his scales. “Show me everything. And maybe do a loop? Can you do loops? I feel like loops would be incredible.”
He does a loop.
I scream the entire time—pure, unfiltered joy.
We dive through clouds, burst out the other side into golden light. We skim over lakes that reflect the sunset, sending ripples across glassy surfaces. We thread between mountain peaks, close enough that I could reach out and touch the snow if I dared let go. He shows me the territory from above—the forest where we met, the cabin where everything started, the ruins of the collapsed fortress already being reclaimed by nature.
“That’s where you nearly got me killed,” I shout over the wind, pointing at the cabin. “And that’s where you actually saved my life. And that—” I gesture at the collapsed fortress. “—iswhere we blew up an ancient artifact with the power of love. Very on-brand for us.”
He rumbles beneath me—laughter, I’m learning to recognize.
And through it all, the claiming mark burns warm against my chest—proof that this is real, that he’s mine, that we survived.
“We’re really bonded now.” I lean forward, resting my cheek against the warm scales of his neck. The wind has died to a gentle current, his flight smoothed to an effortless glide. Stars appear overhead, the first bright pinpricks in a darkening sky. “Forever. You and me. The mouthy Fire-Bringer and the brooding dragon. It’s like a fairy tale, if fairy tales involved more blood magic and near-death experiences.”
He rumbles beneath me—a sound that needs no translation. Forever. His wings beat steady and sure, carrying us through the darkening sky, and his heartbeat pulses against my thighs where I grip his scales. Strong. Certain. Mine.
A week ago, I was a woman inheriting a cabin from a grandmother I barely remembered, cursing out my dead car and questioning all my life choices. Now I’m claimed by a dragon, marked with fire, part of a Brotherhood that’s protected the world from ancient artifacts for longer than civilizations have stood.
I should be terrified. Should be questioning every choice that led me here. Should probably be booking an appointment with a very expensive therapist.
Instead, I wrap my arms around my dragon’s neck, let his fire warm me from the inside out, and smile into the wind.
“Forever,” I whisper back. “I can work with that. But if you ever make me fight another ancient artifact, I’m charging hazard pay. Just so we’re clear.”
He rumbles—laughter and agreement and joy—and banks toward home.
Our home. Together. With a Brotherhood of overprotective dragons, an escaped villain with a grudge, and probably more ancient evil artifacts waiting to ruin our week.
But the claiming mark pulses against my chest, warm and steady and mine, and for the first time since this whole insane journey began, I don’t feel fear.
I feel ready.
NINETEEN
SELENE
Iset the training field on fire.
