He rapidly scoops up the fallen furs, along with Gallium’s pack, while I quickly retrieve my own pack.
As I hurry back to him, my gaze passes over the edge of the ridge where the dust storm attacked—the spot where it progressed closer to us than it should have been able to.
My heart plummets to see what lies near the edge of the ridge.
I nearly miss a step before I force myself to continue, wiping my expression clean before Thaden glances back at me.
My mind whirls as we set off at a jog.
I wouldn’t have been able to see this without my power—I wouldn’t have had a chance with human eyes—but I spot three discarded apple seeds.
Little, dead things lying on the rock behind me.
I tell myself they can’t be from the apples we ate tonight, even though I know full well that Thaden would have had manychances to flick the seeds across the stone when Gallium and I weren’t looking…
The leaf may be green, but it’s already dying.
I concentrate on controlling my breathing as I follow Thaden Kane Ironmeld through the darkness.
Chapter 9
For hours, I jog beside Thaden, my feet hitting the rocky ground, my legs aching with every step.
Breathing has become nearly impossible, the air rasping against my throat, burning with every inhale, freezing with every exhale.
At some point, the incline begins to descend—or rather, the path does—while a wall of rock increases beside us until it is chest height, as if the path we’re now following cuts down across the mountain ridge.
The stone is still too low to provide a windbreak, and finally, I stumble.
Veering to the right, I knock into the low rock wall before my knees give way, and I find myself sliding down it, trying to stop myself in a half-crouching, half-stooping position.
“We have to keep going.” Thaden veers back to me, reaching for my arm. “I can help you?—”
“No!” My cry sounds before I can stop it. At some point, the shield I’ve kept around my true feelings has crumbled.
Exhaustion has finally taken its toll.
He pulls to a stop, his right arm extended—the scaled one. “Tamra?”
I know from what Gallium told me that Thaden used his right hand to help Asha forge weapons for the humans back in the Cursed City.
It makes sense to me that he would cover his powered hand in dragon scales.
After all, to render a Blacksmith completely and permanently powerless, all you have to do is cut off their powered hand.
The dragon scales protect Thaden from that.
There is no blade in the world that can cut through dragon scales.
His hand remains only inches away from my shoulder.
My eyes meet his, and I can’t stop my fear from rising; can’t stop my pounding heart.
He looks down at me for a long moment, his expression slowly wiping clean. “You don’t trust me.”
My breathing is too rapid, and I can’t seem to calm it. “How can I when you’ve lied to me about who you are?”
He takes a step back, and his arm falls to his side.
