He was the only one who’d stayed when everyone else in my life had left, and now it was my turn to stick by him regardless of how difficult life became. Even if my heart yearned for another.
We may not have shared a romantic love, but we did love each other. That love meant something. Actually, it meant a lot more than something, at least to me.
The young human male Javier said something I didn’t quite catch, but when I felt a warm tingle across my mind, I opened myself to the magic.
Sama’s thunderous footsteps made the ground shake. When he stopped inches from me, I tilted my head up to look at him.
“Finley,”the great dragon said.
The way he said it told me all I needed to know. The dragons and their riders were here for me.
I gritted my teeth at the way my magic flared in my veins, either wanting or needing to be released. It grew inside me, uncomfortably stretching the same skin my magic had burned. I held it back, digging my nails into my palms when I fisted them.
“What can I do for you?” I asked.
I bit back my smile when I noticed Brenton’s shirt. While I wasn’t sure who had made it, I remembered the day Teddy had presented it to him when she and Elias announced they were expecting babes. Pride and joy had lit from inside him, but it had been more than that. It was the look of a male who, for the first time, had a family. One who would make sure those babes always knew they were loved and that they belonged. I wasn’t surprised he wore the shirt boasting him as theWorld’s Best Uncle.
There was no doubt he was the best uncle.
“We have need of you and your magic.”
Of course, they did.
“At first light, we will be crossing a secret tear to a different realm,”Sama continued.
He didn’t say more. He didn’t have to. I was one of Niev’s warriors and went wherever I was needed.
“I’ll be ready.” I nodded.
“I should go as well,” Etienne said, taking in the riders standing around us. I was surprised not to see Alastor or Donnie among them. “Finley isn’t a dragon rider. She can ride with me on Aelus.”
Although I’d been happy when a dragon had chosen Etienne as his rider, I’d be a liar if I didn’t also admit to my jealousy.
A part of me hoped the Elder would accept Etienne’s request to go. Then he wouldn’t have to suffer through his terrors alone, and I’d have someone present who wasn’t afraid of my magic.
That wasn’t true, though. Brenton had never feared my magic, even when we were young, and my magic was more volatile.
It wasn’t until Etienne’s parents had paid my family to tie me to Etienne that my parents had finally been able to afford the proper training I needed to control my magic.
In the past year, I’d become even more grateful for that training with the fae’s magic becoming so erratic.
I couldn’t chance my magic becoming unpredictable, so most nights and every morning, hours before the sun rose, I hiked far away from my home in Somnio and wouldn’t stop until I was deep inside the forest. It wasn’t until I’d slipped into my primal instincts, sure there weren’t others around, that I’d release my magic. Although my instincts had led me astray earlier. Oftentimes, my magic responded exactly as I’d intend with strong waves that extinguished a campfire or killed small bushes or plants that were already beyond saving. Other times, when the magic malfunctioned, it burst into a flare that killed nearby trees and animals.
That was what I trained against, hoping my discipline would grasp the control my magic lost.
“Your students need you to stay here and at the dragon rider school,” King Elias said.
Teaching the students at the school was one of Etienne’s greatest joys, and he often talked for hours about his students and their progress.
“If you can spare him, I’d prefer for Etienne to go with us.” Although I kept my attention on the king, I noticed the way Brenton’s chest hitched, the way his mouth hung open before he pressed his lips in a thin line. I didn’t mean to hurt him. Not Brenton, never him. Yet it was all I seemed to do. “In the past year, my magic has become increasingly unreliable. Despite the extra training sessions, I still lose control of it, and sometimes it flares unexpectedly. Etienne’s presence grounds me.” Those four words came out low, as if I could shield Brenton from hearing them.
While it was true that Etienne grounded me, he was also the reminder I needed to keep my emotions from getting lost in Brenton again. And I served Etienne as a means to come back from the nightmares, staying up with him however long he needed until he calmed.
Etienne tightened his hold across my shoulders, comforting me the only way he could at that moment. I followed Brenton’s gaze to my hands, where I once again trailed a finger beneath the sleeve and over the small crystals adorning my wrist. With my throat tightening in a painful squeeze, I separated my hands again, willing them to stay still.
When Brenton’s gaze landed on the two bed mats we’d set up, I took a small, distancing step away from Etienne, more for Brenton than myself. The last thing I wanted was to drive that look in his eyes any deeper. Etienne kept his arm around me, though, unwilling to make me stand on my own. I wasn’t sure if I resented or appreciated him for his efforts.
The king ran a hand through his long black locks. “If Etienne goes, we will have to postpone lessons at the school. Alastor is searching for the Orb of Sacrifice with Ximena. Everly, Brent,and Javier are going on this mission. That leaves Donnie and Cierra as our remaining instructors.”
