Page 77

“Yep, that won’t be a problem.”

Twenty-Eight

“You can open your eyes now, Whisper. You’re missing all of it.”

My fingers were numb from holding onto Revel so tightly. During the takeoff, or liftoff, or whatever a dragon’s ascent is called, I grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt. I was sure I’d managed to get a good bit of skin, too, but he was too polite to say anything. My face was pressed into his back, my eyes were shut tightly, and I was fairly certain I hadn’t taken a decent breath or any breath at all. Revel made a good wind block. It was surreal feeling Kya’s scales moving with his muscles beneath my bottom and against my legs. His body was wide enough that my small legs were practically doing the splits. Revel, on the other hand, fit perfectly on Kya’s back, like an expert equestrian on his giant blue reptilian mount.

We were no longer soaring upward, and Kya’s body had flattened out. We were cruising along at what seemed a gentle pace, so I pried open my eyes. My face was still conveniently buried against Revel. I took a few anxious sips of breath, tightened my grip on him and lifted my head.

I closed them again. I was wrong. We were not floating along gently. The clouds and cliff tops were rushing past at alarming speed.

“You closed them again, didn’t you?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Maybe.” I took another bracing breath and opened my eyes. This time I was ready for it. It took me a few seconds to glance around. The tall shale cliffs that bordered Regnamoor had ended, and we were flying over what I was sure was Ironfall Wilds. It was much prettier from the sky. In fact, the entirety of Troikana was quite stunning with its lush landscape and long rugged coastline. The Avion Mountains were in the distance, but they drew closer with each flap of Kya’s wings.

“It’s amazing.” I managed to get the words out but was sure they got lost in the wind.

“Nothing like being up here and seeing everything from the sky,” Revel agreed. “Now hang on.”

A laugh chirped from my lips. “Uh, I’m pretty sure that’s what I’m doing.”

“No, I mean really hold on.”

My heart thumped in my chest, and I clutched him as if my life depended on it, which was pretty accurate. I tried to squeeze my legs around the dragon, but it was no use. Kya moved gracefully around and swooped down toward the river valley that stretched between the Wilds and Norvale. My stomach did that crazy thing that happens when you race down a roller coaster. I squealed half in fear and half in delight—just like on a roller coaster.

“Seems like we’re coming in awfully fast,” I squeaked.

“That’s the beauty of a Z-Drake,” he answered. I screamed and pushed my face into Revel’s back as we plummeted toward the ground. Then everything stopped. I didn’t jolt forward like in a fast-braking car. We just stopped, smoothly. Revel turned to look back at me. “They can stop on a dime and hardly ruffle a scale.”

We’d landed in the middle of the clearing behind the hydra forest. A few of the other dragons were bouncing around in the sun, playing like puppies. Their scales were shiny blue and their physiques were strong and lithe. They were back. The lion’s bane, my wonderful crop of sunflowers, had restored their health.

Revel slid off first, then spun around and reached up both hands. I dropped down into his hands, and he lowered me slowly to the ground, making sure our bodies touched the whole way down. Kya purred loudly for a moment, then lumbered off on giant, taloned feet toward his buddies. We headed along the path toward town.

“They all look so much better,” I said.

Revel tilted his head in my direction. “Because of you.”

“I’m so glad that I planted those darn sunflowers this year. Have people been planting the extra seeds in their gardens?”

“Oh yeah, we should be able to harvest the crops in five or six months.”

We walked in silence for a few minutes. I’d spent a lot of the last couple days in bed, yet I was exhausted, mostly mentally. It had been a terrible few days, and the whole thing had left such a bitter taste in my mouth. I couldn’t see myself married to either prince, especially knowing that my heart belonged entirely to the man walking next to me.

I looked over at him. “Why’d you come? By the way, you set off quite the stir inside the gates of Regnamoor.”

He smiled about that. “I came because you were crying. I thought Fenrick might have done something⁠—”

“No, both princes were on their best behavior.”

“I’ll bet,” he muttered angrily. “Put on quite a show, did they?”

“Doesn’t matter. I saw through all of it, and I can tell you that choosing between those two will be like choosing between having my eyes poked out with a fork or being covered with honey and strapped to a red ant hill.”

Revel laughed. We continued down the path. I picked up my pace as we got closer to town. I’d felt constant pangs of homesickness during my time away, which was interesting. I’d been ripped away from the place I’d grown up and brought to Norvale, but then I’d barely felt even a sprinkle of homesickness. I missed the cottage only because that was where all my mom memories were, but I didn’t miss being in the human world. I supposed that was because I never belonged there in the first place.

“The red ant hill,” Revel quipped.

I looked over at him. “What?”