Chapter 5
Flame’s breath hit me in hot waves.
Slowly I lowered my hands toward the ribbons at my belt as his golden eyes flared silver again. He stared me down, tail lashing behind him like a whip.
He leapt.
I flung my ribbons to wrap his front paws, tripping him as I sprang to the side. I took off in a sprint, knowing the ribbons would buy me mere seconds.
I had to get him away from Edith.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. What did I say about running?” Blake yelled as he sprinted after me.
I made it six paces before I heard the tyger in pursuit.
I looked over my shoulder, and saw Blake grab Flame’s dense fur as the tyger passed him and pull himself onto the tyger’s back in a startling feat of agility, strength, and magic, riding without a saddle or reins.
To my horror, instead of stopping the tyger, he leaned forward and urged Flame after me.
What in the Kingdom of Sky is he doing?
The snow flew under my feet as I raced toward the cliffs, where I might have some advantage. My heart thundered, frozen air burning in my lungs. Moonlight cut through the trees, casting everything in cold silver.
“Stop running,” Blake commanded. “That’s an order.”
“Like hell,” I scoffed, but I was draining fast.
I put in a burst of speed and flew across the snow toward the cliff edge.
“Don’t. There is nowhere for you to run, Azure.” The haughtiness was gone from his voice. “You’ll die. Don’t—”
The stars blinked sharp and cold as I leapt and the ground disappeared beneath me.
My cloak snapped behind me like wings. I arched my back and pointed my toes in a perfect dive, cutting through the night air.
For one exquisite moment, I closed my eyes. The wind rushed through my clothes, cold and wild. The world below vanished. It was just me and the sky. Then I tucked my head and spun forward, catching the tree branch I knew would be there. I swung around it, then launched to the next ledge.
I didn’t need to see. I knew exactly where the best path downward was. I’d mapped it by feel long ago. This part of the land was as familiar to me as my own hut.
I loved heights—the higher, the better. This was what I did when I woke in the middle of the night, shaking from dreams, though I could only remember the screams and fire. This was where I went when my chest ached from wanting answers I didn’t have.
This was where I felt free.
There was a flurry of stones and dirt above me.
To my surprise, Blake and Flame had followed me.
The tyger was sliding down the steep cliff face almost as quickly as I was, although, as I watched, he slipped on a patch of ice.
He hooked his sharp claws onto a clump of roots and pulled himself and his rider up onto a narrow ledge before leaping to another outcropping.
I wasn’t going to let this tyger kill me like so many other Azures had been slaughtered.
I stopped and turned, my blade already in my hand, and threw the sleek dagger at him. It sank into the tyger’s left shoulder. He roared, the sound shaking the night air.
Blake shook his head and glared at me as he yanked my dagger out. “Brilliant move,” he snapped.
“Leave me alone,” I shouted. “I’ve done nothing wrong!”
Something official and cold took over his expression. “To injure a tyger is a crime punishable by death.”
My vision whirled.
“You have damaged royal property. By order of the Dominion of the Silver Tyger, you’re under arrest.”
I turned and scrambled as quickly as I could down the path, jumping to the next ledge.
Blake uttered a stream of curses behind me as he struggled to keep his seat on the tyger.
“Enjoying yourself?” I called, unable to resist, as I bounded downward.
“I. Hate. Heights,” he bit out. “You must submit to questioning.”
“Sure.” I dove again, clearing a vicious outcropping of sharp rocks. “Why don’t you shoot me what you’ve got? I’ll be right back.”
I needed to lose them in the town and then circle back in secret to help Edith. Please let her be safe. My mind spun. Was I just being hopeful, or had there been no blood on her dress? It had been too dark to see clearly.
Not now. Focus. Breathe.
I was almost at the bottom of the ravine. As soon as I reached the trail at the base, I took off. I could feel them gaining on me. On flat ground, they had an advantage. The only reason I’d made it so far was that the terrain was unfamiliar to them.
I spared a moment to look back.
They were terrifying, the warrior on top of a raging tyger racing toward me, both sets of eyes ablaze.
Blake rode low against Flame’s neck. The tyger’s paws barely touched the ground as he carried Blake after me, his muscles bunching and releasing like a storm in motion, his enormous fangs glistening.
I kept moving, heart pounding. I wasn’t getting arrested. Not for stabbing a royal tyger. Not for dancing. Not for having some small, strange weak magic that irked Blake Axefire.
Flame roared behind me. I could still make it if I just—
A low growl behind me. Then a blur of movement.
The tyger leapt, landing in front of me, his massive form blocking the trail, eyes glowing faintly in the dark. I skidded to a stop.
Too late.
Blake jumped from the tyger’s back, his hand catching my arm, his grip like iron.
“Going somewhere?”
“You scorchhole,” I snapped, yanking hard at his grip.
Blake hauled me back toward Flame.
“Let me go!” My resistance was worthless against his grip. I twisted, trying to glare up at him.
“You have inflicted injury upon royal property.”
I stared at him. “I defended myself against a tyger who wanted to kill me for no reason. One without a rider, no less.” My eyes flickered to Flame, who watched us both. “He’s fine.”
Blake didn’t respond, dragging me like I weighed nothing.
“What were you even doing lurking around my hut in the dark?” I fumed.
“I was informed that Flame had escaped the royal tyger dens. I followed her tracks through the snow.”
My jaw dropped. Her.
I stole a look at the enormous beast that had been chasing me all night. Flame was the young queen tygress everyone was talking about. She was the future of the great Tyger Warriors.
And I’d thrown my dagger at her. My stomach churned.
Blake added casually, “Flame is the only tygress capable of breeding. Her value is beyond price.”
I could feel the color draining from my face as Blake tied my hands together in front of me with rough rope. The moon lit his face in cold silver as he worked, his expression unreadable. He didn’t pull the knots tight, but they held firm.
Then he paused, frowning. He lifted my wrists slightly, turning them in his hands.
There were slight bruises visible even in the moonlight, purples and reds from where he’d grabbed me outside the tavern, attempting to see my Marks. His jaw tightened, but he didn’t say anything.
The fear hit all at once. I stared down at my bound wrists, chest tightening.
Edith. Injured, lying in the snow with no one to find her until Quinn came in the morning. And what would she do without me? We’d barely been able to pay the king’s exorbitant taxes. The amount I earned was essential to our survival. And now, without me, what would she do?
Why in the Kingdom of Sky had I stabbed that tygress?
I glanced at Flame. Her ears flicked like she could sense my ire. I looked at the cut on her shoulder. It wasn’t even bleeding anymore.
And yet that small wound was enough to ruin me. To ruin Edith.
I was going to lose everything—my freedom, my future—because I’d made the mistake of crossing paths with Blake Axefire.
“The tygress is fine,” I argued, hating the thread of desperation in my voice. “If you let me go, I swear you’ll never see me again.”
Blake didn’t say a word. Didn’t even look at me.
“I won’t dance or sing or—”
“Singing then?” he asked, eyes darting to my face. “Is that what you were doing in the tavern? The reason everyone was so entranced?”
I buttoned my mouth shut again, cursing myself and squeezing my eyes closed.
Blake shook his head and stepped up behind me. His tone was all mockery as he whispered, “After you.”
We were standing by Flame now. I tipped my head back, staring up at the tygress’s large copper form. She stared back, unblinking. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest at the thought of touching her, let alone attempting to climb onto her back.
Flame turned her great head toward me, and her nostrils flared, eyes turning silver again.
But then, to my surprise, she knelt slowly until her stomach was flat against the ground. I felt, rather than heard, Blake’s sharp intake of breath.
Without warning, the Ambush Master gripped me around the waist and hoisted me onto the tyger as if I weighed nothing.
I leaned forward, trying to keep from tumbling off the other side.
Her fur was surprisingly silky and soft against my skin.
My dress pulled high on both sides, exposing an indecent amount of leg.
Blake mounted behind me in one fluid motion. He cleared his throat, reaching down and tucking my skirt in as much as possible, leaving part of the fabric bunched around my thighs. I shifted uncomfortably at the intimate touch.
“I don’t need your help,” I snipped, cheeks warm with embarrassment.
Then Flame stood, the movement making me sway.
My bound hands reached for nothing as I tipped to one side, when Blake wrapped an iron arm around my middle.
He splayed his large hand across my stomach while the other reached around me to hold on to the tygress’s thick fur, caging me in.
His thighs clamped around Flame, firm behind me and keeping us steady.
Blake’s voice was rough. “You don’t know what you need.”