I sensed the double meaning in her words.
Some hungers were more dangerous than any Skathe. Mine urged me to wipe that smirk off her face.
“We want to help,” Lexie growled. “They need us.”
“If you want to help, work harder with your training.” Her gaze pinned me in place before sliding to Pherin, who flapped her wings and released a pitiful peep.
Kira’s lips twitched, but she didn’t mock my companion. I was sure she was saving a comment for a time when the dart would have a better chance of hitting the center of the target. “It wouldn’t matter even if we did need you. All the dragons are gone except mine. There are no rides for you tonight.”
I lifted my chin. “We’ll walk then.”
“It’s a five-hour dragon ride. You won’t show up until the battle is over.” Her scowl deepened. “Do you even know how to kill a Skathe? What they look like. Anything?”
I glanced at Kerralyn, and she shrugged. “We’ll figure that out when we get there.”
“You’re as pitiful as your companion,” she sneered. “You’ll just be in the way.”
My jaw ached from clenching it.
Lexie swore under her breath. Kerralyn shifted on her polished boots. Derren stared at Kira like he was trying to decide how much trouble he wanted to cause tonight.
We could jump her. Tie her up. Then take saddles and steal her dragon.
Kira’s feet took on a fighting stance, and her hand flexed over the hilt of the blade strapped to her side. “I would suggest—kindly—that you all return to the castle. Now.”
Her eyes locked on mine in challenge, and for one taut breath, it felt like we were the only two people in the aerie, her daring me to try, me daring myself not to.
I’d risk myself, but I could not risk my friends.
Frustrated, we strode back along the path and went inside the castle, pausing in the hall outside the kitchens.
I leaned against the wall. “Was she right about the location?”
Kerralyn nodded. “According to my research, it takes a person three hours to walk the distance a dragon can fly in an hour.”
Trew would be back at the castle before we could reach Greenhaven.
For a long moment, I stared down the dark hall as if I could somehow see through stone and follow the path Trew had taken. My chest felt too tight, every beat of my heart counting the distance between us. I hated that we’d had to back down from Kira. But rushing after him now wouldn’t make a bit of difference.
“As much as I want to help the king, I’m not sure stealing dragons and following him would be the best way,” Kerralyn said.
Lexie’s eyebrows lifted. “Ideas?”
“Let’s go to the library and see what we can discover about the Skathes. They keep some books about them locked up.”
“Truly?” Derren asked, his eyebrows lifted.
She nodded.
“The library it is,” I said, bumping off the wall. “Let’s learn all we can about them, then next time…”
“I like how you think,” Lexie said with a grin, tapping the hilt of her blade.
Derren nodded. “Same.”
We strode through the halls, arriving to find the library closed for the night.
“We’ll have to come back in the morning,” Derren said.
