Daimon silently shook himself, trying to get it together.
“It’s been a while,” he said roughly.
“Too long.” Ren looked just as uncomfortable, even regretful. “I’m on the western coast now.”
“I know.” Daimon still hung on to every whisper of Manor news, anxious for the day Evelina would find her future consort. But he sighed, resigned to go face it in person this time.
Daimon closed his eyes and pulled on the connection deep in his chest. He could feel her within him, always beside hisheart no matter how far she was. The moment he tugged at their bond, he could hear her wings shifting from behind the cabin.
The sound of wings beating in the air came before she did. Ren shifted on his feet when he heard them. Anyone who wasn’t a Rider tended to be uncomfortable in the presence of wyverns. They weren’t trusting creatures—monsters of the night that gave their trust over to a singular person. Their Rider.
Ren shuffled his feet again, his eyes darting nervously to the sky. “I’ll see you when we get back?—”
“You’re riding with us,” Daimon interrupted. “There’s no use in traveling by ship when you can get back in a day.”
Ren opened his mouth to protest, but froze when a dark mass broke through the clouds. Zephyr flew over the cabin, her dark scales shimmering against the sun. For a moment, she hovered above them as she flapped her wings and sent dust flying into the air. Ren coughed and took a step back, careful not to be too close to Daimon when she landed. Slowly, she descended from the sky. Then, with a heavy thud, she slammed into the dirt, stretching her leathery wings out before tucking them into her sides.
Daimon smiled as the golden-eyed wyvern looked him over.
“I’m fine, Zephyr,” he assured her.
She huffed, unimpressed, the hot air from her nose sending a new wave of dust into the air.
“Mother hen,” he muttered, but he couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips. “The edge of Viridian was attacked, right near Nox Grove.” He gestured to Ren. “He’s coming with.”
“I’m not getting back on one of those.” Ren took a step back, his eyes wide and hands raised as he sputtered out another protest. “I can ride a horse?—”
“And you’ll get there long after we’re done if you do that,” Daimon said. “Come on.” In one swift movement, he mounted Zephyr and patted her neck. Zephyr turned her massive head to Ren, her blazing eyes set on him.
Ren swallowed thickly. “Fine,” he relented.
Daimon nodded, watching with faint amusement as Ren moved much slower than necessary to climb onto Zephyr’s back. Just as they got settled, another wyvern descended from the sky. Vero landed beside them, his eyes immediately focusing on Brielle. The beast stretched his head out toward her, a light clicking noise coming from the back of his throat. Brielle ran her hand along his jaw and rested her forehead against his.
“Ready for a ride?” she said to him, and Vero dutifully stretched out his wings and lowered himself to the ground so she could climb up.
They said their goodbyes to Aster, asking him to fill in the rest of the flight when they returned from patrol.
As Zephyr took to the skies, Daimon thought back on memories he tended to keep locked away. Memories that he preferred to hide in a box and toss into the Andronicus rather than revisit.
He hadn’t been to Viridian inyears, and even the faces that resided there had faded in his memory. But it was still his home, his origin. Even if he didn’t have any blood family there anymore, it was still his. And a part of his heart would always be there.
Every flap of Zephyr’s wings took him closer to Nox Grove. Before he’d left, he’d never imagined growing so far apart from Evelina. Not when she was his best friend; not when seeing her smile became the reason he climbed out of bed each morning.
But that was before everything went to shit.
Seven
Daimon
Daimon wassilent as Zephyr flew them closer and closer to Nox Grove, the night sky shining with the moon and stars above them. With each flap of Zephyr’s wings, Daimon felt the growing sense of unease weighing against his chest.
“Will it be strange for you to be back after this long?” Ren broke the silence.
Daimon wanted to say,Yes, because your sister most definitely hates me for not returning in twenty years, and she may try to stab me in my sleep, even if she is a healer.
Instead, he said, “It’ll be an adjustment.”
Ren snorted.
