Chapter 49
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
FOX
Chalia had sent Jobin to Fox as she promised, and the small white dragon swept down from the sky right after sunset on the first day.
Fox had spent his hours alone trying to sleep and devoting too much energy to thinking about Sofia—hoping she was safe.
It was a stupid thought. He was the one a mile from the Dereyan army, but he hated not knowing where she was.
At the very least, Jobin showing up was confirmation that she’d made it back to the nesting grounds.
The dragon also assured him that Aurelia had agreed to the plan with only a few complaints. When Fox had pointed out Aurelia always had complaints, Jobin gave a warble he took as a laugh. At least the dragon appreciated his humor.
He only had a brief time to speak with Jobin and catch up on what the dragon knew before he had to leave to go back to the army’s camp.
The plan was to spend the night in the tree that Sofia had shown him, keeping an eye out for Ian’s signal and gathering any other information he could from watching the soldiers.
Jobin didn’t stay at their camp, traveling just far enough into the forest that they could stay in contact while Fox was at the army camp.
Even after he left Jobin tucked between the ferns and roots, the dragon continued to chat away, giving Fox very little room to respond.
He told Fox about the time he’d killed a wolfshifter on his own, and no one had believed him because the body had fallen into a crevice afterward.
And the time he’d convinced his father to let him fly out to the ocean when he was only fifty—which apparently wasn’t something the flock usually allowed until they were at least two hundred.
“Have you seen the ocean?” Jobin asked, but didn’t wait for Fox to answer.
“It’s so enormous—endless. And it shines under the sun, just like snow.
My father told me that there are lands on the other side, and we used to be able to fly all the way there.
Our ancestors lived in the ocean and on the other side, too.
The world just keeps going! Someday I’m going to make it to the other side of the ocean. ”
Fox was glad for the distraction. Ian had fulfilled his promise—there were no scouts directly around the tree once he found it.
Sofia’s scrap of fabric was tattered and nearly brown, but he found it eventually.
He had to ask Jobin to stop talking long enough to approach and climb the tree, too afraid to do it distracted, even if there were no scouts around.
He spent that first night straining in the dark to get a glimpse of his mother.
Harlow’s tent sat in the middle of the camp, not too far from the prison tent and what he assumed was Ian’s tent.
But its opening was facing away from where he sat vigilant, and Fox didn’t see anyone enter or exit the entire night.
By the time he returned to Jobin, he collapsed onto his furs without even lighting a fire, relying on the sun to keep him warm enough. When he woke, the dragon had curled around him, his head resting nearby, eyes open and staring at him.
“Hi,” Fox said, unsure what the dragon was waiting for. He blinked slowly before giving a small flick of his tongue.
“Chalia told me not to stare. Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Fox said, trying to shake the unease of waking up to the dragon’s stare. “Any news from the others?”
Jobin couldn’t communicate with Chalia’s mind directly from this far, but they’d exchanged feathers so they could send rough messages back and forth.
“They’ll be ready tomorrow evening at the earliest. Once you give them the go-ahead, they’ll be here.”
Fox nodded. He and Sofia had guessed they wouldn’t want to return with the others until they were ready to act, but he was disappointed, nonetheless. He wouldn’t see Sofia until Ian was ready.
“Do you want me to tell you about the time I beat Az in a fight after he tried to tell everyone I was defective?” Jobin asked, the words hitting Fox in a rush—which was how Jobin always spoke.
“Why did he think you were defective?” Fox asked, turning to look at the dragon.
“Because Az is a dirty tail-feather. And because I don’t have a proper tail.” Jobin flicked his nub. It was a few feet shorter than most and featherless.
Fox thought it might be rude to ask, but Jobin didn’t strike him as someone who’d care. “What happened to your tail?”
Jobin stretched out his neck and shook his head. “Nothing. I was just born this way. But when we were younger, I did have Chalia convinced for a whole ten sun cycles that I’d lost it in a human attack before she was born.”
“How’d she find out you lied?”
“Az told her that there hadn’t been a human attack in over two hundred sun cycles.”
“Az sounds like an ass.”
Jobin let out a snort and a warble.
“He is!” the dragon agreed.
Fox spent the rest of the day talking with Jobin, exchanging stories. By the end of the afternoon, Jobin was doing most of the listening. He was all too excited to hear about the human world and Suvi.
That night when Fox returned to the tree, he was disappointed to see Ian hadn’t hung up the signal yet, though he found a Dereyan uniform tied to a branch just a few yards up the tree.
That night he also caught sight of dark curls just along the edge of Harlow’s tent before they disappeared again.
It might have been a female soldier—as few as there were—but he’d never known one who let her hair grow out long enough to be used against her.
“Mother, I’m coming for you,” he whispered, so low he didn’t even hear his own words. But they were a comfort. He just needed to believe them.
It took two more nights before he finally saw the scrap of dirty white fabric tied to the center pole of the small tent he’d pegged as Ian’s.
It was already there when he showed up that night, fluttering in the wind.
He should have turned back immediately, but he stayed for an hour, straining to catch sight of his mother’s hair again.
It wasn’t until even the soldiers started to go to sleep that Fox left, knowing she wouldn’t be coming out that night.
Jobin seemed to know what had happened before Fox even sent him the message. By the time Fox returned to the camp, Jobin was sitting with Chalia’s feather tucked in his claw, his eyes closed.
When Fox came to sit beside him, Jobin opened his eyes, the bright purple orbs nearly glowing.
“It’s sent.”
And Fox let out a breath.
They didn’t know how long it would take for the others to get to them, but Fox heard the flap of wings just after dawn and felt his heart in his throat.
Jobin confirmed it was Chalia and the others, but Fox still felt uneasy until he saw the silvery blue wings he had grown so familiar with.
As she landed, Sofia slipped from her back and looked around the clearing until she saw Fox, standing awkwardly at the edge of the firelight.
He wanted to run forward, wanted to wrap her up.
They’d only been apart for a few days. Micael, Javi, Jacinta, and a man he vaguely recognized slipped from Chalia’s back after her.
Sofia seemed to have the same thought, stepping forward but stopping short before reaching him, her hands clenching at her sides.
Chalia, on the other hand, barreled forward, sending Javi and Jacinta stumbling back in her rush as she wrapped her neck around Fox.
“You’re okay! I knew Jobin would take care of you, but I was still afraid.”
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” he said, laughing at the rambling of her thoughts. She’d clearly projected to the rest of the group because Javi was holding back a laugh, and Sofia was rolling her eyes.
“Ian gave the signal?” she asked, ignoring her dragon’s ongoing trilling.
“He did,” Fox said. “It was up this evening, so we’re moving tomorrow night. You’ve talked about the plan?” Fox looked at the group, but his eyes kept flickering back to Sofia’s.
“Yes,” Micael said, stepping forward. “You’ll retrieve the bones from Ian. Sofia, Delio and I will help with the distraction, and Javi and Jacinta will be sneaking your mother and Sofia’s father out. Did Ian find a uniform?”
Fox motioned to the small pile of clothing sitting next to a tree. “It should fit Javi well enough. Hopefully, no one’ll talk to him long enough to notice if the pants are too short.”
“Are any of the other dragons coming?” Fox asked.
“No,” Micael said. “The plan depends on stealth and two dragons will make that difficult enough as it is. The rest are waiting for our signal once we have the bones. We should go over all the details and then rest. We can’t do anything with the sun coming up.
” Micael looked around, surveying the spot they’d chosen. “You’re sure we’re hidden here?”
“The dragons will have to stay on the ground and quiet, but as long as we’re inside this area, we can’t be seen from the forest beyond,” Sofia said, before Fox could.
Micael nodded.
They reviewed the plan over tea and some overcooked rabbit that the group had brought. Fox still ate every last bite, savoring the charred flavor after multiple days surviving on rationed dried meat and nuts. The unseasoned, chewy rabbit was as delicious as his mother’s stewed beans in that moment.
Even though Fox felt confident talking through the plan, it still reminded him of how little they knew and how many gaps lay hidden within the plan.
They were relying on Ian to show up, relying on the wolfshifters reacting to their distraction and the soldiers following suit, relying on Javi sneaking in and getting their parents without being seen.
So many pieces—so many places for things to go wrong. But they had a spy on the inside. They had the element of surprise. They had hope, and they had the gods.
Fox watched Chalia and Jobin sitting tucked against the forest floor, intertwined between the trees. Jobin was picking at Chalia’s feathers while the other dragon kneaded his back. Should he pray to the dragon gods when they were sitting right there?
He sent a prayer to Quelia and the dragons in his mind, even as he watched Chalia and Jobin.
A breeze broke through the trees, and Fox felt a shiver go through him as Chalia lifted her head and looked directly at him.
He held his breath, wondering if she’d say something, but she only blinked and turned back to Jobin.
Fox imagined the scent of the sea for only a moment before it was gone.
They doused the fire once the food was eaten, and everyone found their small patch of ground to lie down on, resting their eyes and their bodies while they could.
Fox was close to the fire, and he stared up at the pale blue sky.
His mind was spinning with the plans for the next evening, trying his best not to think of everything that could go wrong.
Of everything he needed to tell Sofia in case things didn’t work out.
He sat up, suddenly unable to sit still. Sofia was already looking at him, and the moment they made eye contact she motioned, standing up from where she’d been sitting against a tree and dipping deeper into the forest.
He followed without question as she slipped over Chalia’s tail and around a set of large ferns until they were far enough from the clearing to talk. Sofia turned suddenly, grabbed him by the collar, and crashed her lips to his.
He kissed her back. He’d missed the taste of her. It was becoming so familiar, and yet he knew he’d never have enough. He could drown in her and still beg for more.
She pulled away at last, leaving him aching. He swallowed back the groan before it slipped out. His nails bit into his palm to stop him from grabbing her back.
“You didn’t want to do that in front of your friends?”
Sofia’s eyes were dark, her pupils blown wide, and he saw how red her lips looked. Her hair was tangled from his fingers, face flushed. She looked well fucked, and it was validating to see her blink before she answered, as if she needed to pull herself together just as much as he did.
“No,” she said after a moment, “I didn’t want them to hear what I have to say to you because it’s none of their business.”
Fox raised an eyebrow, mask falling into place with a small smirk. But he felt his stomach drop. There was a seriousness in the way Sofia was looking at him.
“The last time I let myself feel anything for another person, he didn’t just betray me. He destroyed everything. He stole everything from me.”
Sofia paused, and Fox saw the way her chest rose and fell with her breaths.
“I decided I wouldn’t let that happen again,” she said.
“And I didn’t. Flor and I…” she hesitated, and Fox grabbed her hand where it was clenching and unclenching at her side.
She took a deep breath. “Flor and I tried to be more than friends, but the moment I realized I cared for her, I broke it off.”
She stopped, swallowing. She wasn’t quite meeting his eyes. Fox traced her fingers with his own, feeling the tremor beneath her skin. He waited.
“I’m scared,” she said at last. “I don’t want to lose everything again.”
He stepped forward, and she didn’t move back, letting him wrap his arms around her and pull her close.
“You’re the one who taught me that courage isn’t living without fear, but acting despite it,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“I know,” she said. “And that’s why I need you to know that I am yours as much as you’re mine.
You’ve invaded my body and my soul, and I don’t think I’ll ever be free of you.
And I don’t want to be. You’ve said you don’t deserve me, but I need you to hear that you are worthy of everything this world has to offer.
And I hate myself for allowing you to go a single day without knowing that. ”
Fox struggled to swallow. It was his turn to realize he was shaking.
“You’ve ruined me in the best way,” he whispered at last. “And when I die and they bury my body, I’ll still be loving you.”
Her hands came up, cupping his chin and bringing his face down to meet hers, and he let himself fall into her kiss. Any thought of the future disappeared, and he simply was, every nerve ending in his body firing at the feel of her against him.
He felt, and he didn’t think.