The force of it jerks me upward andIgasp, my fingers tightening instinctively in his scales as the dive turns into a climb.Hiswings beat hard—powerful strokes that send us surging back up, into the sky.
The wind changes from a scream to a rush, still fierce but no longer trying to tear us apart.Ipress myself low against his back, clinging to him as tightly asIcan, my whole body trembling with the shock of it.
We’re not falling anymore—we’reflying.
My breath comes out in a half-hysterical laugh at the dizzying euphoria of theDrake’sswooping flight.Goddess, my heart ispounding.
Below us, the jagged rocks that would have shattered us are already shrinking, dropping away as theDrakeclimbs higher, angling away from the mountain face.Irisk a glance over my shoulder and see theEmperorHawkwheeling in the distance, its great wings beating in frustration as it watches us escaping its territory.
We’re safe—somehow we’re actually safe.Wenearly died but now we’re all right—everything will be all right.
The realization hits me all at once, and my hands start to shake.Ihave to press my face to the sleek, silver scales beneath me and breathe deeply to try and calm down.
TheDrakedoesn’t slow until we’ve cleared the worst of the peaks and descended back toward the forest below.Theair grows warmer again—thick with the scent of pine and damp earth—and at last he banks toward a small clearing nestled among the trees.
He lands with a heavy thud that jolts through his whole body—and mine too.
For a moment,Ijust cling to him, unable to move, my heart still racing and my thoughts spinning.Thenthe great body beneath meShiftsagain, shrinking, changing, the sleek scales giving way to warm skin and muscle.
Suddenly,I’mno longer straddling a dragon…I’mwrapped aroundTheron.
He drops to one knee as the change completes andInearly slide off him, but his arms are there instantly, catching me and holding me close.
“Elowen,” he breathes, his voice rough with somethingIcan’t quite name.“I’mso glad you’re safe.Iwas worried you couldn’t hold on to me.”
A laugh bubbles up out of me—wild and shaky and completely uncontrollable.Atthe same time,Ifeel tears burning behind my eyes and spilling over beforeIcan stop them.
“I—Ialmost didn’t,”Iadmit, clinging to him.“Ithought—we were falling—Ithought we were going to…todie.”Thelast word comes out shaky and hoarse—my body still hasn’t completely processed the fact thatI’mgoing to live.
“I know.”Hisarms tighten around me, pulling me closer.“Ihad you.Iwasn’t going to let you fall, baby.”
Something in his voice—so sure, so gentle—undoes me completely.
I bury my face against his chest, laughing and crying at the same time, my fingers fisting in his shirt asIhold onto him likeImight still be falling ifIlet go.
“You jumped off a mountain,”Imanage between breaths.“Youabsolutelunatic.”
A low huff of laughter rumbles through him.“
Seemed like a good idea at the time.”
I pull back just enough to look at him.
His hair is tousled from the wind, his horns catching the light as he tilts his head down toward me.Hiseyes—those strange, beautiful, tarnished silver eyes—are fixed on mine, dark with something intense and unreadable.
For a moment, everything else falls away.Themountains…the danger…the quest.Itall fades and allIcan see is him.AllIcan feel is the way his hands are still on me…the heat of his body so close to mine…the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathes.
My heart stutters and thenI’mstanding on my tiptoes and kissing him.
I don’t even remember deciding to do it.OnemomentI’mlooking at him, and the nextI’mleaning in, my hands sliding up to his shoulders as my lips find his.
He makes a low, startled sound against my mouth, but then he’s kissing me back—hard and deep, his arms tightening around me as if he can’t get close enough.Theworld tilts andIfeel dizzy all over again, but this time it’s not from falling—it’s from him.
From the heat of him.Fromthe way my body responds instantly, melting into his, every nerve lighting up at once.Theache that has been simmering under my skin since the witch’s curse flares hotter, sharper, turning into a pulsing need that makes my breath hitch.
I press closer without thinking, my fingers tangling in his hair.
Goddess,Iwanthim—want him so badly it makes my breath come short and my whole body tremble.
