I blinked. “Is that an innuendo?”
The corners of his mouth kicked up into a grin. “For once, no. I’m asking you if you want to fly with me.”
I sucked in a slow breath between my teeth as I considered it. The last time I’d flown on Einar’s back was when we’d run from Lady Mossi’s griffin riders and crash landed straight into the Gaoth Aire mountains. So many things had shifted between us since that night, I could scarcely believe the events had occurred only a few weeks ago.
“All right,” I said, holding my hand out to him. “But just for a little while, okay? We’re not running away like a pair of star-crossed lovers.”
Chuckling, Einar took my hand and led me through a series of unfamiliar corridors. His palm was warm and comforting against mine, and though the attraction between us still pulsed through the bond and into the phantom bite on my neck, it was a slow simmer rather than the raging inferno I’d felt earlier.
We didn’t encounter a single guard on our journey, and after a few minutes, we emerged from the palace through what I suspected was a servant’s entrance. “You’ve been mapping out the palace, haven’t you?” I whispered as we snuck around the side of the building, heading for a section of lawn large enough for Einar to shift without destroying the carefully cultivated flower beds and trees.
“Of course I have,” he said, sounding mildly offended. “You didn’t think I was sitting around twiddling my thumbs while you’ve been charming politicians, have you?”
“I’m not sure ‘charming’ is the right word,” I muttered. ‘Barely tolerating’ seemed to be more accurate, on their ends and mine.
I stepped back as Einar shifted into dragon form, watching as his large frame unfurled into the massive, winged, fire-breathing creature that still struck fear into the hearts of fae children during bedtime stories. But I felt no fear as I looked upon him, only awe at the way his ruby scales glimmered in the moonlight, shimmering with an almost divine iridescence. Wicked black spikes jutted along his spine, from the base of his neck to the tip of his tail, and matching claws curled from each of his toes, digging into the cold, hard ground. I knew that if he opened his mouth, I would find jagged teeth as long as my forearms and a long, forked tongue within.
But he didn’t bare those fangs at me, or lash out with his claws or tail, and I knew he never would.
Einar was my protector, and I would always be safe with him, no matter what happened between us.
As if he’d read my thoughts—which he probably had—Einar stretched his neck out so he could nuzzle me with his reptilian snout. The gesture elicited a smile from me, and I stroked my hand down his snout before I moved around to his flank. There was a tender look in his fiery eyes as he lowered himself to the ground, wings spread out on either side of him like a ramp so I could climb up. I settled myself in between the two spikes closest to the base of his neck, wrapping my arms around the one in front of me and squeezing my thighs to let him know I was ready.
Without further ado, he took off, running a few short steps before launching us into the sky.
My breath caught as we climbed the starry sky, the freezing midnight air ripping my hair free from its braid so it could fly behind me like a banner. As always, I found the cold invigorating, a sharp contrast to the raw heat emanating from Einar’s scales. I wondered if he felt the cold at all, or if his dragon hide rendered him impervious to it. I knew he hated the cold when he was on the ground in his bipedal form, but this high in the clouds, it had to be cold regardless of the time of year.
But that thought drifted away as we broke through the cloud cover and coasted through a sea of stars and darkness. It was hard to feel anything but wonder as we soared through the frosted night sky, and far too easy to leave my earthly worries behind on the ground.
I wished we could stay up here forever, where only the wind could touch us. But more than that, I wished I could vault off Einar’s back and spread wings of my own so I could fly alongside him. A vision of the two of us chasing each other through the clouds, zipping through beams of moonlight as we tried to outrun the dawn, unfolded in my head, and I felt something deep and primal stir inside me, lifting its head.
But all too soon, we dipped below the clouds again, bringing the world back into view. Still, it was spectacular as far as views went, shimmering rivers and waterfalls winking up at us from Lochanlee’s rolling hills and valleys. Einar circled for a few minutes before alighting at the base of a sheer cliff and shifting back to human form. A massive waterfall rushed from the edge of the cliff and down into the roaring river below, infusing the air with shimmering mists that seemed to envelop us like the clandestine arms of a lover.
“Feeling better?” Einar asked as we perched atop a flat rock jutting out into the river.
“Much.” I took a deep breath of the misty air, then let it out in a sigh of contentment. This place felt terribly romantic, with the moonlit waterfall on one side of us and the grove of trees on the other, cutting us off from the rest of the world. I thought Einar would use the opportunity to seduce me again, but he took my hand in his instead, a grave expression on his face.
“I know I promised not to kidnap you,” he said. “But I think we should seriously consider leaving, now, before things get worse.”
“Leaving?” I stared at him, my heart dropping at the deep lines of worry on his face. “Einar,” I said, squeezing his hand, “we can’t leave. I’ve nearly completed the fast, and things are getting worse. I can’t afford not to complete the ritual.”
“What good is the ritual going to do you if you’re already dead?” Einar argued. “Two assassination attempts have already been made against you, Adara.Two,” he repeated, when I opened my mouth to argue. “Whoever is trying to kill you is only going to grow more desperate the closer you get to completing the ritual. You’re not safe here, Adara.”
“And where am I safe, exactly?” I cried, throwing up my hands. “Certainly not in the other two kingdoms. Lady Mossi would have me killed in an instant if I returned, and Lord Oren doesn’t seem like he’s on my side either. Lady Axlya is the only one with an interest in keeping me safe.”
“No,I’mthe only one interested in keeping you safe,” Einar growled. “Lady Axlya is doing everything she can to turn you into a puppet, fastening each string to you one day at a time, gradually. By the time you’re fully under her control, you won’t even notice!”
He gouged deep tracks into the stone beneath us as he spoke, and I wondered if he even realized his claws had sprouted. “That’s not going to happen,” I said as calmly as I could. “The moment I complete the ritual, I’m going to go after Nox and end this. There won’t be time for Lady Axlya to do anything else.”
“Do you really think she’s going to let you walk away like that?” Einar shook his head, frustration bleeding from his pores and saturating the surrounding air. “Adara, you’re an investment, and as far as she’s concerned, the two of you made a deal.”
“We did not!” I said hotly. “She may have told everyone I was marrying Prentis, but I never agreed to it!”
“No, but she told you it was a condition for being allowed to complete the ceremony, and she’s going to hold you to it,” Einar said in a dangerous voice. “The priestess who’s going to perform the ritual on you is likely the same one who performs marriages. Who’s to say Lady Axlya won’t try to force you into a wedding at the last moment?”
A chill raced up my spine, and my stomach turned at the thought Axlya bait and switching me like that. “I hadn’t thought of that,” I admitted. “Do you really think—”
I cut myself off at the look on Einar’s face. Of course Lady Axlya would do something like that. She’d just announced an engagement I hadn’t agreed to to the rest of the world. Forcing me to marry Prentis in exchange for my powers was exactly her style.
