I, of all people, the dreamer, the Bottomsider, the girl who loved dragons enough to shovel their refuse just to be near them. I had a dragon.
A dragon had picked me.
And he was as much an outcast as I was.
Then I cringed, struck by a thought like a blow to my temple.
“Covington’s son knows,” I blurted. Thanks to the papers, the entire country knew that the younger Covington boy was entering Cardan Lott this year, finally choosing racing as his future career, much to his father’s delight. He’d failed out of his first year at university, and this was the best way to save face for the duke’s family. He’d bonded to Azeron at nineteen—I remembered the reports of the party his family had thrown him earlier this year—and most people believed he’d go on to greatness in the arena.
Fairfax tilted his head. “Perhaps. He sees many dragons come and go from his lair as his father buys and sells them. He might not remember.”
I pressed my hands to my face, trying to force away the images of Rushland Covington’s blood-soaked shirt. I doubt he could forget that morning any easier than I could.
“We’ll just have to come up with a way to keep him silent if he does,” Fairfax added.
Slowly, my hands fell away from my face.Don’t speak of this to anyone, Covington had told me. He didn’t want people to know he’d been at his family’s lair. His dragon would heal fast enough that no one might notice, and his wound was in a placehe could conceal. “Does Covington’s son know you saw us with the dragons?” I asked, mind spinning.
“I don’t believe he does.”
“Then I think I can keep him quiet,” I said. “But how do we find the wild dragon now? He was injured.”
“Now that is the fun part.” Fairfax laced his fingers together and grinned. “If he chose you, my dear, you’d better believe he will not rest until he finds you again.”
The memory of the gunshots made me flinch. “He’s not safe in the city.”
Fairfax shook his head. “We will have to lure him out of the city.”
Ten minutes later, we had a plan to find my dragon and board him in a lair outside of Treston until the start of term in a little over a week.
It all felt rather like a dream, but I was too sweaty to be dreaming.
After Fairfax dismissed me from the courtyard, the hotelier hurried through the doors to speak with the nobleman. I watched the exchange through the tall windows. Fairfax’s expression flickered between concern and reassurance as they spoke. Then Fairfax was standing, following the hotelier back inside. A member of the waitstaff collected his teacup and darted indoors.
Huffing faintly, Fairfax caught up to me. “It seems, Miss Mireaux, that Duke Covington has issued a search for your black dragon.” His tone was flat, less melodic than before.
“Ash,” I breathed.
He eyed me sideways. “Yes. Well, the fact remains that your dragon is now being tracked by the Hunt, and their reputation is decidedly one of success. If the Hunt gets to him first, your dragon will die.”
“What do I need to do?”
“I’m afraid there’s no time to waste. We must draw your dragon out of Treston as fast as possible.”
The rattlingtrain clacked closer to the platform where I sat, knees bouncing. The summer heat had waned once the sun set, but nerves were making my clothes stick to me nonetheless. I’d brought two knives tonight, not enjoying the task of sneaking through Treston after dark, but not for a minute too scared to miss out on meeting my dragon again. Waiting until nightfall, though risky, would give my dragon the protection of darkness, but the delay was agonizing with me thinking every minute that my dragon would be caught and our secret would dissolve all too soon.
Fairfax had been clear: the dragon would find me. All I had to do was get to a place where no one else would intercept him. The woods directly outside the city were too dangerous. Someone would spot him, sound the alarm. If he was still hovering near the city, they likely already had.
I picked absently at the skin around my nails as I watched the people line up at the edge of the platform. Businessmen with briefcases and pocket watches, women with gloved hands wrapped around children’s shoulders, keeping them close. I’d lived in Treston my whole life, but I’d never ridden the trains, never once left the city.
I was too alert with adrenaline to fall asleep on the gently rocking train as we made our way out of the yellow-hued streets of Treston into the surrounding countryside. West Haven, a small hamlet a two-hour ride outside of Treston, was my destination. The train wound its way into the foothills of the Nevrons, surging under one tunnel and back out again. Aswe neared West Haven, the moon rose, washing the undulating foothills with pale silver light.
This station here was eerily empty compared to Treston’s bustling platforms. Only one lamp glowed on the open-air platform, and the night had a slight chill to it, no stone buildings trapping in the heat. I kept one hand on my knife in my pocket as I walked to the road, hoping beyond hope that Fairfax’s plan was a smart one. He was already waiting at the lair whose address I carried in my pocket. I was to lure the dragon there, where the owners likely wouldn’t have heard of the search taking place in Treston, and if they had, Fairfax assured me he could take care of their concerns.
After asking a tavern keeper for directions, I only had to take a few turns down cobbled roads laid between wood-and-plaster buildings before I saw the tall whitewashed walls of a dragon lair. It didn’t take long before wingbeats sounded in the night.
A swell of joy filled my chest.
The black dragon, flecked with gold, landed gently on the road before me, wings spread wide. His bright golden eyes fixed on me, and I grinned. Judging by how quickly he’d found me, he’d been following me all the way from Treston.
