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“Get on, or I will do it again.” His voice echoes, and he growls—a barking laugh at my grossed-out expression.

Silas shoves forward, knocking Matitus to the side with his big body. He grabs my side with his huge teeth, not hard enough to hurt me. They are sharp enough to slice through my clothes as he uses them like a net, leaving me dangling from his mouth.

I squeal as he grabs me, then throws me on top of Matitus. Dragus laughs, and I see one of the maids watching faint. She must have thought he was going to eat me. Abigail stares wide-eyed from where she stood as I drape my legs over either side of his huge neck.

He suddenly stands completely upright, making me look down. My stomach turns when I see how high up I am. Dragus walks over to Silas, climbing up his tail effortlessly before standing on his back.

Matitus takes off running across the paddock, and I nearly fall backward. I squeeze my legs tight, my heels digging into his scales. They are sharp, though it feels like sitting on an oversized snake. He feels smooth, his scales sharp enough to slice through paper.

His wings spread out, and he takes off, soaring through the air high above the trees.

I shiver from the wind as he circles around the paddock. Silas follows, Matitus diving fast, heading toward the ground at an alarming speed. He pulls up slightly.

I hear him growl, his chest vibrating before he roars, flames erupting from his mouth, burning the ground.

Everyone below starts running away screaming, stopping when they realize they aren’t about to burn alive. They watch, amazed, as the snow melts.

Silas follows, roaring flames behind us. After a few more circles, the snow is completely melted, the earth charred from the heat.

Silas flys over, falling in line with us. Dragus is still standing on his back. “How can you stand?” I scream to him over the wind. Dragus laughs. “I’m used to it and besides, I have excellent balance.”

I roll my eyes at him. Matitus throws his head toward Silas snapping his teeth and Silas does the same making Matitus veer off slightly. Suddenly Dragus drops and sits down.

“What?” I scream to him, and he shakes his head.

Then, Matitus and Silas suddenly shoot off, climbing higher and higher, smashing through the clouds. My skin is coated in mist, and the temperature begins to drop. They must be racing each other. I clench my eyes shut.

Suddenly, Matitus spins in a circle.

A scream leaves my lips as I fall, plummeting toward the earth.

Silas roars loudly, and Matitus dives. I squeeze my eyes shut before feeling claws wrap around my body. I gasp.

Matitus tosses me into the air, making me scream, before I land on his back. I hit him hard, and his chest vibrates. He must be laughing at me. The idiot did it deliberately.

They head back to the ground, and I see a couple of Vampires running onto the now snow-free field with huge baskets.

Matitus lands on the scorched earth next to one of the baskets. A Vampire tosses me a rope. I grab it, watching as it slides back down, wondering what I’m meant to do with it.

Matitus starts flapping his wings, gripping the basket with his claws and lifting it off the ground.

“What’s with the rope?” I ask Dragus, who is perched on top of Silas, holding one too.

“They are going to fly over different sections of the field. You need to yank the rope just as he drops. We are spreading seeds,” he yells over to me, and I nod.

Not only are they ice melters, they are also seed spreaders.

Matitus does a loop, not going too quickly, then slowly descends.

“Now,” he says through the mind link, just as we get low enough. I yank on the rope, watching the seeds fall in a line, making a row.

Silas does the same a few feet away, creating another row up the field.

“How is it going to grow? It’s too cold,” I say out loud.

Matitus’s voice echoes through my head.

“We are building a greenhouse around the field.”