Rather than spiral into the sky as he often did with me, he flew with the same quiet patience he’d shown me when I was learning to ride. His wings fanned out to steady us into a glide while Finley’s head turned from side to side, absorbing her surroundings.
In the air, her delight was immediate, and it coiled around my heart with an almost painful twist.
She pressed her forehead to the back of Hoshiko’s neck, her unfiltered joy radiating from her. Her shoulders hitched at the same time I scented her tears.
I leaned closer to her, my hands on her side, running my thumb in small circles over her uniform.
“Are you okay?” I asked, my tone heavy and thick.
Mission or not, I’d turn us around to find Etienne and strike him down if he’d hurt her. If he was the cause of her tears.
She nodded. “I’m happy.”
Her words rang true, confusing me even more. Although, truly, it shouldn’t, given the many reasons Teddy found something to cry over, especially when she’d been pregnant with the twin babes.
“Why are you crying, then?”
She huffed out what sounded like a laugh. “Sometimes I cry when I’m happy. This...riding atop Hoshiko’s back is a dream I’ve been too scared to hope for.”
“I . . . I’m glad you’re happy.”
More than that, I was glad I was the one to bring her this joy.
Chapter
Six
FINLEY
Niev grew smallerand smaller the farther we flew toward the dragons’ caves. I took it all in, though, trying to memorize each sight from atop Hoshiko’s back.
My heart stalled when we flew over our largest lake, where most fae spent summer months playing in the waves and along the shore. While I wanted to enjoy lake days like so many others, I’d only ever gone a few times at night when very few were still around. Instead, Etienne and I had found our own refuge and fun along a winding river where it was usually just the two of us. Well, the two of us and a rope hanging from a tree by the river for us to swing from.
Since I was a youngling still growing into my magic, it’d hurt that so many fae were afraid of my magic. Brenton had been the only one not to fear me, and when he left to join the military training school shortly after his fourteenth birthday, this loneliness had nestled inside me and latched onto my soul. Even the dinner parties with Etienne’s family and friends hadn’t eased that festering sadness.
It’d taken a long time for Etienne and me to become friends, and in that time, I’d noticed he was as lonely as I was despite the many younglings who vied for his attention.
I held my breath when Brenton inched closer to me again. His warm breath tickled my neck and ear, causing goosebumps to spread everywhere. I shivered.
“Look,” he said, pointing forward.
I narrowed my eyes to see what had caught his attention and let out a long whoosh of air when I saw it. Something in the blue sky shimmered, as if a patch of the sky had been stitched with light. Tiny flashes of white flared and vanished around the edges, and the air itself seemed to hum. The energy rolling off it pulsed in time with a faint throb in my chest, each beat tugging something deep inside me.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Hoshiko said that’s the tear in the veil that will take us to Vistos.”
“How was it created?”
I’d heard rumors about the dragons gifting royals magic to create tears in the veil, but considering the many lies the Elders had told us, I wasn’t sure how much of it I believed. Still, to my knowledge, only Elias and the dragons were capable of such a feat.
“An Elder created it with his magic,” Brenton answered. “Hoshiko said the dragon simply willed the tear to exist and flew through it from Vistos.”
Without thought, I grabbed his hand, squeezing it to my stomach where I felt the thump of my quickening pulse. Brenton drew in a shaky breath. He was so close, I could feel his chest expand with his every breath that fanned against the back of my neck. Yet it still didn’t feel like he was close enough. Not when I wanted his breath on my lips. Not when my body sought him with a certainty my thoughts hadn’t yet reached.
I closed my eyes as we neared the tear, with both fear and exhilaration tangling in my veins. When Brenton brought his other hand to my waist, stroking featherlight touches that I felt through my leather uniform, I settled closer to him so that my back rested against his wide chest.
He snaked his arm around me, clasping our hands together. When he propped his chin on my shoulder, my soul exhaled in relief.
