“Easy there,” I warned, taking a slow step back. I raised my palms and tried to call upon my fire magic, but the flames that sprang to my fingertips were weak, dimmed by the fear churning in my gut. The wolves bared their teeth in response, their snarls ripping through the stillness of the night. The fire died in my hand completely, and I swallowed hard, bracing myself for the inevitable rush.
The first wolf leapt at me, shadows bleeding from its open maw as its big, black body sailed through the air. A cry of terror burst from my lips, but my body sprang into action and I dodged just in time. The beast slammed into the tree behind me with a yelp, but the other three were already rushing me. I avoided the snapping jaws of one, but the second one’s muzzle closed around my forearm, wicked sharp teeth sinking into my tender flesh.
No!My brain screamed the denial even as the veins surrounding the wound turned black. This was how shadow magic spread—the infected creatures passed it on by biting or scratching their victims. I hadn’t had a chance to take any everbright before my mother had forcibly propelled me from the house, so there was no chance I would recover from this.
Abruptly, the fight went out of me, and my shoulders sagged. There was no point in resisting, not anymore. Better to let the wolves tear me apart than to become a shadow creature. The infected were driven by a mindless hunger that forced them to seek out others, to continue to spread the infection, and I wouldn’t do that to my people. I wouldn’t bring this terrible sickness to them.
A second wolf bit into me, fangs sinking into my calf, and this time, I screamed. But a deafening roar drowned out the sound, and the wolves froze as a shadow fell over us, large and ominous enough to block out the light from the dying sun.
My breath caught in my throat, and I glanced up. Ruby red scales flashed from above, wings spread taut, an even larger maw opening wide as something white hot-flashed from the back of a reptilian throat.
That was all the warning I got before a torrent of flames rained down from the sky, dousing the entire clearing. The wolves howled in agony, teeth ripping from my flesh as they sought to escape the inferno, but it was too late for them.
Just as it was too late for me.
I threw my arms up over my head as the wolves burnt to cinders around me, as if my measly appendages could protect me from the firestorm. But though the flames licked at my skin, they felt warm and soft, like a lover’s caress. The wolves’ cries faded into smoke and ash, and the icy fear inside me evaporated, melted away by a rush of relief.
A loud rumble abruptly cut that relief off as the dragon landed heavily in the clearing. He beat his wings forcefully, generating a torrent of wind that snatched at the flames, drawing them away. I cried out in protest as they left me, trying to snatch them back, but the wind whisked them straight into Einar’s open mouth, and I watched in astonishment as he swallowed them.
A deafening silence fell as the dragon and I stared at each other. Not a single living thing stirred—the only movement came from the black smoke that curled up from the charred remains of the dire wolves.
The dragon’s form rippled, and I gasped as he shifted right in front of me. Ruby red scales gave way to smooth, tanned skin, dark, shoulder-length hair, and a ruggedly handsome face that, when I’d first met him, was twisted in anger and disgust.
But while there were still lines of anger evident in his expression, there was something else. A reluctant curiosity simmered in his golden eyes as he studied me, like I was a frustrating puzzle he couldn’t quite turn away from.
I took advantage of the moment to get a good look at him—it had been difficult to see him properly in the castle. The sun had properly set by now, and moonlight rippled across his body, casting him in sharp relief. He was all broad shoulders and carved muscle, his chest bare, his legs covered in tight trousers that outlined his powerful thighs and calves. Stylized flames swirled across his right pectoral muscle and all the way down his adjacent arm, but the rest of his tanned skin was bare of adornment save for a golden cuff adorned with a single red stone on his left wrist.
Despite his terrifying display of strength—or perhaps because of it—I found myself wanting to reach out and trace the lines of his tattoo. Maybe even lower, across that muscled abdomen, and down to the v that disappeared down his trousers…
“You need to stop looking at me like that,” Einar said roughly, breaking the silence.
I jolted from my reverie. “Like what?” I asked, my cheeks heating. Giant’s teeth, had I been staring at him that long?
“Like you want to lick me from head to toe.” I thought he was teasing me, but his expression was deadly serious. His eyes were gold once more, but they gleamed with hunger, and I became excruciatingly aware that I was toe to toe with an alpha predator the likes of which hadn’t been seen for decades.
And yet, unlike the dire wolves, I didn’t want to run away. I wanted to come closer, to challenge him, to see just how deep that hunger went, and how far he would go to satisfy it.
What iswrongwith me?I shouldn’t be thinking like this, not when I was on the brink of death.
Clearing my throat, I did my best to change the subject. “You rescued me,” I said. “Why? You made it clear that you hate all fae.”
“Sheer curiosity.” His mouth tightened as he scanned the clearing, his gaze lingering on the wolves. “I watched from the sky as they attacked you, and saw your idiotic reaction. Why did you give in to them like that? Why didn’t you use your fire magic?”
Tears scalded the corners of my eyes at his accusatory tone, embarrassment burning away any feelings of attraction I might have had. Einar thought I was a failure, just like Dune. “I didn’t want to give up, but one of them bit me,” I said hotly, lifting my arm to show him. “I appreciate you coming to my rescue, but you might as well kill me before the shadow magic they infected me with takes over. I’d rather die than become a shadow creature.”
Einar raised an eyebrow, crossing his beefy arms over his muscular chest. “Doesn’t look like you’re infected with shadow magic to me,” he said pointedly.
“I—what?” I glanced at my arm, then gasped. I expected to see black veins pulsing through my skin, spreading up my arm and heading for my heart. But aside from the torn flesh, which was healing inexplicably fast, my arm looked completely normal.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” I said faintly, my head spinning with confusion. “Those dire wolves were infected with shadow magic. Isawthe taint spread into my skin when it bit me.”
“That’s impossible,” Einar said flatly. “You must have been seeing things.” He toed one of the beasts with his bare foot, his upper lip curling. “No one escapes the effects of shadow magic. Not even dragons.”
I glanced sideways at him. “You sound like you’re speaking from firsthand experience.”
“Of course I am,” Einar sneered. “Your wonderful King Aolis’s expert use of it is the reason he won the war.”
My mouth dropped open. “You think King Aolis used shadow magic to kill the dragons?”
