As nightfall gathers, I realize something quietly astonishing. I'm not braced for pain or waiting for the moment this turns cruel. For the first time in my life, I let myself rest without fear of what will happen if I close my eyes, and as sleep claims me, wrapped in heat and guarded silence, one fragile truth sinks deep inside my heart.
I'm safe, for now.
11
DARIAL
As dawn breaks, Ronyn’s weight shifts on the furs. We agreed to keep watch in shifts: Ronyn first, me second and Kelan last. Ronyn’s wings unfurl silently as he takes to the sky. One moment he is there, and the next he is gone, his presence turning distant in our minds.
Warmth presses against my chest, soft and achingly sweet. Aura is curled into me, her face tucked below my chin as though she found the hollow there in the night and claimed it without conscious thought. Her breath skims my skin, each exhale a quiet proof that despite her claim to need separation, her body chose closeness to us while she slept.
The realization sends a deep, contented hum through my dragon, the great beast in me uncurling and settling like a cat before a fire. He is… pleased. Peaceful in a way I haven't experienced in centuries.
Behind her, Kelan lies close, one arm anchored around her middle. His heat is a barrier against the lingering coldness of stone and dawn.
I move only slightly to relieve the pressure on my shoulder, trying hard not to disturb her.
Kelan stirs awake.
He blinks once, then glances at the woman cradled between us. The tension he carries so often loosens a fraction, and he lets out a long, quiet sigh of contentment.
In our minds, his tone is low and warm.
She says she will leave,he sends, a thread of amusement woven into the statement.But her body wants something else.
I smile, though my chest aches with the truth of it.
She needs our shelter as much as we need her presence,I reply.She’s pulling away because she’s learned that trust leads to betrayal.
From high above Blackwood, Ronyn’s voice cuts in, sharp and focused.We keep her close. She fears trusting us, not our presence. We need to prove she’s safe with us.
Kelan’s agreement is immediate.Always.
For a moment, there is only the calm rhythm of Aura’s breathing and the slow brightening of the cave as the sun’s early rays creep closer.
Then Ronyn’s presence flares again, sudden and alert.There is movement on the horizon.
My dragon stiffens.
What do you see?Kelan demands.
There’s a brief pause.
Wings,Ronyn replies. Bronze. Silver. Dragons.
The word settles inside my bones like frost. There are others who have been enticed by her magic.
Kelan’s arm tightens imperceptibly around Aura, though she doesn’t stir.Return. Now,he barks.
Ronyn doesn’t argue.
I sit up slowly, easing Aura with me so she doesn’t wake. Her eyebrows furrow faintly, a soft sound leaving herthroat, and instinct screams at me to guard her from whatever follows.
Kelan meets my gaze across her sleeping form.
We can’t let her magic pulse again,he says.Others are close enough to follow it straight to her.
My stomach twists.If we seal it…I begin.
