He lifted his hand, and she almost thought he would reach out to her, that he might finally touch her. But he froze, hand still in the air, head angled as if he were listening. “Someone’s coming,” he whispered urgently.
They moved together without speaking, flying across the room and out, into the darkness of the balcony. The door was still slightly open, but she didn’t dare close it and risk the noise echoing in the still room.
She glanced at the railing. Should they try to climb? How much noise would they make? How would they stay hidden without Luka’s beast to hide them? Inside the room, the inner door creaked open, and they froze.
A woman’s voice filtered through the crack, speaking in the soft, rhythmic accent of the Kwanam court. “Brigadier General, sir, she isn’t there. She went out earlier, and I haven’t seen her since then.” The voice came a little closer, muttering far more quietly, “Bloody guards. This is ridiculous. I’ve been just outside all evening.”
Luka went rigid. Was it the risk of discovery, or something more? Did he know these people?
“Open the bed and check,” a rough, male voice demanded, close enough to suggest he’d stepped into the room. “I want to know if she’s back.”
A ripple of scales spread over Izzy’s back and arms, covering her with armor. But the truth was, if she and Luka were caught now, nothing would save them. Something nudged her side, and then she felt Luka reaching for her hand. His fingers threaded through hers and held her steady.
“She’s here in her bed,” the woman murmured, surprise threading through her voice. And then, more firmly, “Get out! No guards in the lady-in-waiting’s rooms.”
“Wake her,” the deeper voice demanded. “This isn’t over just because she snuck back. She knows not to go running off when she’s supposed to be attending to Lady Kaliska!”
“It’s not my fault she wanted to go off with that physik,” the woman muttered under her breath—words clearly not meant for the Brigadier General and only just audible to Izzy with her ear pressed to the narrow gap in the shutter. Then the woman raised her voice and called softly, “My lady? Are you awake?”
What physik? Had Izzy heard that correctly? No, she couldn’t have. Unless the Kwanam delegation brought healers with them?
Luka pressed her further into the shadowed corner of the balcony. He wrapped an arm around her, tucking her into hisside, his skin completely covered in shimmering green and black scales.
She pressed her face into his neck, just for a moment. He was so warm and solid, holding her quietly in the dark. His free hand came up and cradled her cheek, and she closed her eyes. She could feel him and smell him. He was with her. And hopefully this was nearly over.
But then the woman’s tone changed sharply, her voice rising. “Lady Narya? Gods! My lady!” There was a long, terrifying pause. And then the woman screamed. “Guards!”
Before she even had time to think, Luka lifted her into his arms and leaped onto the banister. Izzy threw her arms around his neck as a rush of heat and power roared through him. Scorching waves battered her as she clung with both arms and legs. His form shifted and grew in her embrace, and it took everything she had to hold on and survive the torrent.
Feet pounded in the room behind them, a woman screamed hysterically, and guards shouted orders, but Izzy’s sole focus was on clinging to Luka. She scrabbled at his massive neck, trying to hold on, but his scales were hard and slippery. He was too big to grip, and she started sliding down his front. A great paw came up to pin her to his chest, and suddenly she was safe again. And then he leaped. Not back down to the garden, but straight up into the air.
He flew faster and steeper than she ever imagined. Up, toward the stars. Great wings beat against the air, pushing them quicker, further, higher. The castle and everyone in it faded rapidly in the blast of air and speed, until even the great keep seemed like a tiny toy nestled far below, and the screams, whistles, and shouts of the guards were swallowed up by the roaring rush of the wind.
Chapter
Ten
The mountains spreadout below them, and moonlight gleamed on strands of wispy clouds in the cold, clear air. Anyone looking up would see only mist and stars, or perhaps an unidentifiable, blurry dark patch.
Luka strained his ears toward the distant castle, but they were already too far away—even for his acute hearing—to know whether they’d been seen. He cast a glance toward the looming Nabasberg and sent a wish to the gods that lived there.Please, Mother of the Weave, please let us have been in the air before they even thought to look. Please keep Izzy safe.
His beast rumbled, low and dark, remembering those last moments of terror. Of knowing that they could be found lurking outside the room of a murdered diplomat at any second. The thought of Izzy captured, frightened, punished,executed,made him want to rain fire down on the earth until anything that might hurt her was utterly obliterated.
The shift should have been agony, but he’d hardly felt it. He’d transformed from man to beast in less time than he’d ever imagined possible. All he knew was that he had to keep hold of Izzy. Izzy, who should have been safe in her bed all along!
“We are never doing anything like that again.Youare never doing anything like that again!” he rumbled, trying to get a grip on the terror that still clawed at him. And now he had her a mile above the ground—without a harness—where the slightest mistake could send her plummeting to her death.
Izzy turned her head and nestled into his neck, making herself comfortable. She didn’t seem nearly as frightened as she should have been. “Okay,” she murmured, and then she added so quietly that if he wasn’t a drake, her words would have been lost in the wind, “but can we maybe do this part again?”
He tightened his grip as a deep rumbling purr—one that he was powerless to stop—filled the air. She had to hear it, there was no way she didn’t. Damn it. His beast was thrilled with the idea of taking her flying. Holding her in their claws, nestled against his massive chest, as often and as long as possible. But if they did that, how was he ever going to set her down again?
An updraft caught his wings, and he turned in a tighter spiral toward the mountains. A vivid image of Izabel bathing in the heated springs filled his mind. He’d never taken anyone else up there. Since Rayan had died, he hadn’t gone at all. But she would love it. Izzy had always been happy outdoors. She loved climbing and swimming, and he wanted to share it with her. He could picture her so clearly, bathing in the mist, surrounded by starlight, her body gleaming and lush.
The drake purred even louder, delighted by that idea, and started to bank, turning them toward the springs before he wrested back some vague semblance of control.
Gods, how he longed to take her there. But they had to get back and help Shane and the others. They had to know what—if anything—the guards had seen. If nothing else, they needed to establish an alibi that others could corroborate. And that didn’t include whisking her to the hidden springs and mapping the constellations on her skin with his tongue.
His beast huffed, but it accepted the truth, and they turned back toward the city. They floated down, hidden in the night, wings sweeping quietly over the darkest streets. He carefully aligned himself, gripped Izzy tightly for one last moment, and landed as gently as he could in the narrow, cobbled alley beside her shop.
