“Then we fly.” He took hold of my hand and gently tugged me toward Neo. “Let’s go.”
Tempest let out an angry screech that caused us both to whip around.
No one carries you but me.
To Talon, I said, “He wants to carry me himself.”
Talon looked up at Tempest towering over us with a frown. “With no saddle or flight training? She could easily fall.”
Tempest’s feathers on his neck ruffled in obvious irritation.Tell him I would never let you fall.
“He says I won’t fall,” I told Talon, one hand on the hard muscles of his arm, “and I trust him.”
Talon let out a frustrated breath but nodded. “Fine. We’ll stick to the original plan—we go and save Shazeera, and Tempest flies both of you back to your people. Neo and I will go seek out the Mistral army and then come find you again. Did the wind spirit say where to find them?”
“He said they are to the northwest. He was vague on how they were traveling or exactly where they were,” I said, biting mybottom lip anxiously. “He didn’t even guarantee they won’t attack you on sight.”
“I’ll hold up a white flag and hope for the best,” Talon said with a flash of a grin. “We’ll be fine. The important thing is to get you and Shazeera to safety.” He reached out and cupped my cheek again, his gaze holding mine. “Zara, if something happens to us, I want you to take Shazeera and fly. Don’t try and save us.” When I opened my mouth to argue, he jumped in. “Think of what’s at stake. We can’t allow them to hand you over to Ozul. If we have any chance at beating that thing, you and your people need to ally with Mistral. You are the key—not me.”
I had to swallow around a lump in my throat. This man used to be my enemy, and now, I didn’t want to part from him, much less abandon him like he was commanding me to do.
He leaned down and kissed me again, his lips plush and hot against mine. He cradled my face with his hands like I was some precious thing. The kiss was gentle until our tongues met, and then searing.
When we finally broke apart, he said, “If anything happens, don’t stop. Keep flying. The Devourer can’t capture you, or else we’re all doomed.”
I hesitated. “Talon,” I said.
“You know I’m right,” he said firmly.
Reluctantly, I nodded. “Fine,” I said, and when he arched a brow at me, I added, “agreed.” I knew my role as First Daughter. I would do anything to save my people.
With one last quick kiss, he said, “Now let’s go rescue your heart’s sister.”
I turned to Tempest, who had lowered himself so that he was almost lying on the ground. I leaped astride his back before settling myself in a kneeling stance like Talon had taught me, justbetween Tempest’s wings. Talon waited until I was in position before leaping onto Neo’s back.
Tempest stood, and suddenly, I was looking down on Talon and Neo. Tempest was at least ten feet taller than Neo, and when he spread his massive wings, I realized just how much bigger he truly was. While Neo had an impressive thirty-five-foot wingspan, Tempest’s wings were at least fifty feet from tip to tip.
With only a few powerful pumps of his wings, we shot into the air. A thrill made my heart soar as my connection to Tempest allowed me to feel what he was feeling—the weightlessness as the air lifted us, the wind running over his feathers, and the powerful flaps of his wings as we soared through the sky. Guilt came biting at the heels of my joy, though, when I thought of Shazeera.
I still didn’t know how Shazeera would react to all of this. Using wind power and being fascinated by eagles was one thing; being bonded to one was another.
That was if she was unharmed. Anxiety made my blood pound, and Tempest responded by flying even faster, the wind forcing me down even lower on his back.
I’m coming, Shazeera,I thought.
35
Zara
Terror for Shazeera spread through my body with every beat of my heart. Tempest flew so fast I had to lie flat against his feathers to keep from being torn off by the wind. It still wasn’t enough. We were only minutes away, but I gripped his strong feathers with an urgent desperation that turned my knuckles white. And then, at last, I could see the green of the pasture in the distance. I didn’t even have to point it out to Tempest; our connection allowed him to see it from my memories.
Shazeera!I called the second I thought I might be in range of our connection.
Zara,Shazeera said, even her mental voice strained, but I sagged at the relief of hearing it. For a moment, I didn’t understand how we could communicate so quickly after my using the wind power, but then I thought of the way my energy had flooded back into me when I bonded with Tempest. He had given me some of his strength somehow, and apparently it had also given me the ability to communicate with Shazeera again despite calling the wind.
We’re coming to get you,I told her.
Don’t come!she mentally yelled at me.They’ve set a trap.
