His heart lurched.
Her fingers twitched and brushed against the warm scales beneath her cheek.
“Jakob…” she whispered, the sound so faint it almost vanished into the wind.
He rumbled softly, lowering his head so she could feel the vibration. “I’m here,” he said, desperate for her to hear it. “I’ve got you.”
Her hand slid weakly along his chest before it fell weakly back to her side.
Mine.
The word wasn’t a whisper now. It was a vow.
Lights flared ahead as the healers’ enclave came into view. He descended in a rush of wind and snow and landed heavily but carefully. He lowered Mallory to the ground just as voices shouted and footsteps pounded toward them.
Healers swarmed with hands glowing and urgent voices. They didn’t ask questions. They assessed and went into action.
“She’s bleeding…”
“Head wound…move…”
“Get her inside now!”
Jakob took a step back and his chest heaved. He would face the consequences of his actions later.
Mallory stirred more fully and her lashes fluttered.
Panic seized him. If she woke up like this, if she saw him, he couldn’t bear the rejection.
He couldn’t.
With one last, aching look at her pale face, Jakob backed away and his wings spread wide. Snow whipped up as he launched himself into the sky, the healers’ shouts fading beneath the roar of the wind.
He didn’t stop flying until the clouds swallowed him whole.
CHAPTER 10
Mallory
Mallory dreamed of wings.
She dreamed of soaring above snow-covered mountains, the world spread wide and endless beneath her. Wind roared past her ears, sharp and clean, yet she never felt cold. Instead, a powerful warmth surrounded her, solid and sure, like an embrace she hadn’t known she’d been craving.
She wasn’t falling. She was held.
Beneath it all, under the rush of air and the gleam of sunlight on snow, there was a presence. Strong. Steady. Fiercely protective.
It wrapped around her awareness without asking permission, not invasive but absolute, as if it had always been there and she was only just now noticing. White light shimmered everywhere, blinding and beautiful, and for one fragile, perfect moment, Mallory felt completely safe.
Then the light flared and she woke with a sharp breath.
She was warm. Way too warm.
Mallory blinked and her vision swam as unfamiliar shapes came into focus. A wooden ceiling stretched above her, darkbeams crossed with age and smoke stains. The air smelled like pine, clean wool, and something herbal and bitter.
Her body protested when she tried to move. Pain flared along her ribs and down her leg, dull but insistent.
“What…?” Her voice came out thin and hoarse.
