She flushes. “Look who was paying attention.”
“When it’s about you I pay attention to everything. Because you’re my best friend too.”
Since she’s in heels, I lean up to kiss her. She’s as eager as I am. My hands meet the metal on her back, the metal I’ve spent hours crafting for her. Watching her in it and now feeling the copper under my palms as I hold her does something to my brain. Want turns to need and we’re both kissing more frantically than ever before. I shift my hands down to her waist. She shifts hers up to my hair.
It’s unimaginable I can have her. That I can experience happiness like this. And maybe we don’t need to be scared. That together it’s all possible.
A rustling makes us break apart. “Did you hear—?” Farren starts.
We turn and behind us in the cavern sits Hort, munching on gold. The sound of his golden scale grating across the cavern floor like a dog with a bone.
“Hort!” I holler.
Hort’s head perks up and tilts at my call, unabashed and curious.
Farren’s laughing. “Do you know how often he’s been doing this?”
“No idea.” More than twice now by the way we’ve caught him lounging and chewing the metal like an overgrown hatchling. I look up at Nity, throwing up my hands. “And you’re still letting him do this?”
Nity’s large eyes slide to us before closing again, a look ofHe’s your responsibility, not mine.
My heart hurts looking at him. He was probably weaned off of silver tooearly. Enough to produce his metal coat, but not enough to grow into what his healthy natural size should be. Maybe all these golden snacks explain why he’s grown so well these weeks. A blessing if that means my father will not want him, if he won’t have to race again.
Hort decides my call wasn’t dire enough to be listened to and returns to munching. I look back at Farren, a laugh caught in my throat. I’m about to tell her we might just want to let him eat it, when behind her something catches my eye. Movement at the entrance of the cave, like a shadow shifting.
Before I say or do anything, Nity rises from her slumber. Zilar, Electrum, and Oria awaken at the commotion and one snort from Nity and the three scurry behind their mother. Farren yips, initiating hide-and-seek, and the hatchlings—already scared—dive into the tunnels of the back wall, completely out of sight.
“Something’s here,” I warn.
Farren stiffens and scans. “Can you see what?”
Nity growls, a low throaty noise that rattles our surroundings. Her focus pulls to the entrance of the cave and Farren joins me, peering into the fading light. I ready myself for my father, his cold voice. I’ll have to fight him. I’ll have to get Nity and the hatchlings out to the sky.
A few more shadows shift and suddenly before us emerge ten men, all clad in black masks and metaled weapons. Fear spikes through me. Not my father. Not my father at all.
Farren’s expressed her worst-case scenario enough times for me to know who stands in front of us though. I know poachers when I see them, and I know they are only after one thing—the dragons behind me.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIXWHEN DEALING WITH A DIFFERENT KIND OF MONSTER
FARREN
Idon’t have much time to process my nightmare come to life.
One man steps in front of the rest, a lean figure in all black. The others blur behind him without my glasses. But I can sense each figure by their metal. There’s detesting someone on sight and then this—revulsion at their very existence.
“Leave now and you won’t get hurt,” his voice echoes off the cavern walls.
“I’ll say the same for you,” I breathe.
He cocks his head to the side considering me, then chuckles. I guess the purple bridesmaid dress and copper embellishments aren’t intimidating.
Shackles swing forward and connect to my wrist, yanking me to the ground. My knees crash against sharp stone. Silver glints on my wrist fastening me in place. Beside me James has also been pulled to the floor and cuffed.
“Then you two stay right there and out of the way for me,” the poacher says smugly.
For the first time, I don’t think about the ramifications of crafting above my level. I don’t care about revealing myself. I will protect Nity and her hatchlings with my life. I break the cuff like it’s nothing.
A single connection to the metal and the silver bracket snaps in two. I stand up as James follows suit. With one glance I know he’s with me to protect these dragons. No more pretending. No more hiding. If these men think they are going to walk in here and steal or kill my family, I will die before that happens.
