Relief flickers across Darial’s face before he masks it.
“You must be exhausted,” I blurt, heart beating fast.
They blink, startled.
The golden-haired one huffs a quiet laugh.
“If you’re going to stay here, you’ll sleep. All of you. Next to me.”
Ronyn stiffens. Darial’s brows lift. Kelan studies me intently.
“No touching,” I add sharply.
Kelan inclines his head. “As you wish.”
I don’t know why his calm agreement makes my throat ache.
I lie back slowly, curling inward on my side, watching them as my eyelids grow heavy. They move carefully, settling on the far edges of the bed, respecting my demand for distance. This is another opportunity for them to challenge my limits, or simply smash through them likeGregory and his minions, but they lie around me with deliberate care, as though they don’t want to disturb this bed they’ve created. The furs shift beneath their weight, everything reshaping itself to accommodate their large bodies, even as they keep a respectable distance from me.
Kelan settles behind me, his heat radiating through the space between us. Ronyn’s broad back is to the cave wall, his presence solid and immovable. Darial lies across from me, turned on his side so I can see him if I open my eyes.
They form a triangle around me, which should feel like a trap, but inexplicably is like shelter.
The fire crackles low, its light throwing slow shadows across dark, cold stone, dancing alone in the dark. The cave smells like warmth now. Like safety. My body, traitor that it is, begins to relax.
Sleep presses at the margins of my mind, heavy and insistent, until Darial stirs.
“Where did you come from, Aura?” he asks quietly. “Where’s your family?”
He isn’t the first person to ask me, but it’s the first time I haven’t wanted to lie to cover the shameful truth.
“I don’t know,” I say finally. “They left me at a group home when I was an infant. There are no records of who they are. No last names. I’m just… Aura.” I swallow. “I learned early to keep my questions to myself. Questions make people uncomfortable. And uncomfortable people can turn mean.”
“Did they hurt you?” Ronyn asks, his voice bearing low menace, as though he’s holding something sharp behind his teeth.
“I learned how to be invisible.”
There’s a pause.
“You shouldn’t have had to learn that,” Darial says.
Kelan exhales slowly behind me, the sound deep and controlled. “No child should.”
Ronyn shifts slightly, careful not to brush against me. “And when your magic surfaced?”
I laugh under my breath; an unhappy sound. “It happened when I turned eighteen. And everything after that has been about survival.”
“You were alone?” Darial asks.
“Yes.”
“What about you?” I ask, needing to pull the focus away from myself before the memories form into points sharp enough to slice. “Where do dragons even come from?”
Ronyn huffs softly. “Eggs.”
I snort until I notice Darial’s face is serious.
“What about your family?”
