Jorusk was the last egg they chose to send after deciding that if they didn’t hear back, he was gone and the realm beyond was too dangerous. I also learn that the eggs were easier to maintain life support for than an adult with their limited supplies.
“And you two were recently mated?” the queen asks.
Jorusk draws me close. “Yes. We didn’t have much time with the empire threatening our friends.
“Then we must make sure you get to race the mountain tops and dance by the fire,” the king insists.
“We may take a flight, but we cannot race. I do not want to risk our first egg.”
Hearing Jorusk say the words sends a flutter through my belly.
The queen takes my hand in hers. “Anything you need, you tell me.”
I thank her and see the same gentle care in her that my mother had. And I have missed it so much.
“Do I have any siblings?” Jorusk hesitantly asks.
“No,” King Traosis solemnly replies. “We tried but were unable. Heartbreak like that is hard to get over.”
“Why did you sacrifice me?” Jorusk rubs his chest like he’s afraid they didn’t want him, but I can already tell he meant everything, and giving him up was the hardest thing they had to do.
“We were the only ones who still had hope,” his mother replies.
Fire pits flare across the land as darkness falls.
“The Devil’s Dance begins.” King Traosis gets up “Tonight, we bond with fire. Tomorrow we bond with the wind in a flight through the mountains to our ancestral homes.”
Flames light up his wings.
“Joris…” The queen whispers, turning to me. “I do apologize.”
“For what?” She clearly sees something in his fire that I cannot. Even Jorusk tamps back a smile and looks away from him.
“It has been many years.” King Traosis pulls the queen against him. “I must…attend to my mate. I have not felt up to it in many years. She deserves better.
“Please choose a fire pit, bond with your flame, and meet us for food and conversation when the moon rises later tonight.”
The king takes the queen by the hand and leads her up a stone path to a fire pit, where he steps out of his armor, and his body catches fire. The queen does the same, and they begin stalking each other around the blaze until I cannot tell where the pit begins, and they end.
All over the gardens, I see a similar pattern: Drathis dancing around the fire, just two, until they become one with the blaze.
“Are they…doing it in the pit?” Fieri asks, looking on in horror.
I glance up at him and shrug. “I don’t know. But I’m sure as hell not. We have perfectly good rooms on my ship.”
Jorusk hauls me up by a hand and tilts toward Fieri. “Better find a Drath ship, so you don’t torch any seedlings.”
“What…us?” Fieri steals a glance at Cinuska, whose wings catch fire. “We just…I’m not sure…”
Cinuska gets up and winks at him. “A slow burn then.”
Fieri peers helplessly back at me as she leads him away to another pit.
The singles of the crews below us dance in rhythmic movements around bonfires to a hint of drum music. Jorusk leads me to a vacant fire pit. “Keep your armor on. I do not want anyone laying eyes on your skin but me.”
Then he steps back, removes his armor, and lets his body ignite. But it’s the fire in his eyes that has me eager to find out just how hot his love can burn.
Jorusk spreads his wings. Flames crawl across them, licking off the ends. And he is so magnificent that I can’t seem to get my body to move. So he dances around me, circling the blaze, making his way back to me. His radiant hands snake over my body, heating my flesh through my Hellion suit. Jorusk nears my neck and breathes out a smoky breath that sends embers whirling around me.
