Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ALINA
It pained me to see his quiet despair. Tynan was always confident and strong, surrounded by loyal and fearless friends, but right now he seemed lost and strangely vulnerable.
My heart broke seeing him like that. His pain tormented me and I could not understand why.
I barely knew him, I did not know his motivations and thoughts.
But I had seen the intensity of his distress, and it did something to me.
In this moment, I wanted nothing more but to soothe his discomfort and remove his anguish.
As soon as my hand landed on his shoulder, Tynan looked at me in a way he never had before.
Our eyes locked and I saw the rawness of his stare, his restlessness, and dozens of emotions he tried to hold back.
In the back of my mind, I had the sudden realization that I was reading him as if he were an open book.
The revelation did not alarm me; on the contrary, I felt enormous relief knowing that I could help. And I wanted to help.
His expressive dark eyes searched deep into my soul and I welcomed the new intrusion, the connection that somehow formed between us.
A sudden noise came from the front of the store and Tynan’s hand drew a knife from his belt.
Something was walking through the storefront, throwing furniture around, taking slow heavy steps. I knew what it was, so did Tynan.
I looked at him. Slowly, he moved his hand down. He leaned his head back against the wall, and closed his eyes.
The dull, paralyzing fear I felt almost every moment made me want to scream, cover my face and refuse to move, or do anything. Yet Tynan, Frid, Victor, and Sol lived this way. I could not imagine going on like that for days, months, years.
In the moments that followed, I understood something crucial about Tynan and the others.
They were survivors. They made rules that kept them alive, one day at a time.
All the things I knew about the world did not apply to this land; ravaged by monsters and abandoned by the gods.
I hugged my knees and my eyes closed almost against my will.
Together we sat on the floor side by side in complete silence, waiting for the sunrise.
“Alina. Alina. Wake up!”
I opened my eyes, startled. My head was pressed against Tynan’s chest and the wet spot on his leather suit made me realize that not only I had passed out in his arms, I also drooled all over him. I wiped my mouth and moved away, feeling disoriented and embarrassed all at the same time.
“The dragon’s moved on. We need to take our chances and get the hell out of here,” he said, getting up to his feet.
I tried to fix my hair, avoiding looking at Tynan. When I did, there was a shadow of a smile playing on his lips. Almost immediately my cheeks flushed.
Gods, I hated the paleness of my skin that plainly showed me blushing even before I realized it was happening.
“I still don’t want to go with you,” I muttered.
“You can’t stay here. We need to leave the wastelands. You can figure out how to escape next time,” he said and I stared at him, not believing my ears.
“Do you have any water?” I was silently praying he had some on him. He did not respond as he scrutinized my face. “What?” I asked.
“Did you . . . leave . . . without any?” he asked quietly, and I immediately felt defensive.
“I didn’t have time.”
He looked like he was going to say something, but changed his mind and handed me his leather flask.
I could not drink fast enough, but realizing that I was not being very lady-like at that moment, I turned away.
“Finish it up,” he said quietly when I tried to return the pouch back to him.
“What about you?”
“I’m fine,” he said, averting his eyes when I placed the flask back to my lips.
Tynan offered me his hand, and I got completely lost in his eyes. Almost against my will, and my better judgment, I reached up. A slight tingling prickled my skin when his fingers closed around my hand. Still holding my gaze, he helped me get to my feet as if I weighed nothing.
Unable to take it any longer, I lowered my gaze, and the odd connection between us broke, all at once.
“Thank you.” I returned the water pouch and he strapped it back to his belt without saying another word.
The next moment, he opened the storage room door and we entered the corridor, heading toward the storefront. The bright morning light shined through the cracked glass, shards of which were everywhere on the floor and surfaces.
The bodies of two crawlers were lying on the floor. The monster did not gorge on the dead creatures. The smell and the memories of the previous night, the growls and the suffocatingly sweet scent of the decaying corpses made me want to empty my stomach. I looked away, biting the inside of my cheek.
Tynan stopped by the broken window, looking out at the clearing and the well in the distance. Two lone figures of the undead stood aimlessly between buildings further away. There were no signs of the monster dragon anywhere.
“Get on my back as soon as I turn,” Tynan said, his eyes searching the horizon.
“I can fly,” I protested.
“It will be easier for me if something goes wrong,” he said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” he said and I nodded.
I watched him step through the wide window frame.
Tynan was built like a warrior with his strong arms and wide back.
Every movement of his body was well thought through.
I caught myself staring at his powerful shoulders, and dark, straight hair that almost reached his shoulders.
The lines of his body went blurry and stretched out into a dragon form, still, I could not take my eyes off him.
The sunlight played with the pitch black scales as his limbs elongated, his wings spread wide.
I have never seen anyone more beautiful in my life.
His dragon was truly magnificent, one of a kind gorgeous.
I cleared my throat and stepped through the broken glass.
Trying hard not to be embarrassed, I climbed on his back, realizing how inappropriate it was that I was lying on top of the man, every part of my body fitting tightly against his.
I could not believe that even in his dragon form, I found him attractive.
My cheeks flushed and I bit my lip. Another disturbing idea entered my mind.
Did that mean that I was cheating on my dead fiance?
I had looked at another male, and there was no denying that found him attractive. I wrinkled my nose.
“Are you alright?” Tynan asked, turning his head.
His dark eyes with gold and amber specks made me lose my train of thought.
“Yes.”
Without saying anything else, Tynan soared up in the sky.
He lifted us up and immediately flew south.
I kept looking back at the outlines of the abandoned city.
A sudden jerk from the dragon startled me, I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong when a shadow from above covered my head.
I looked up, and my heart stopped. Above us was the silhouette of the undead dragon.
I could plainly see the colorless scales and the belly that had been ripped open.
“Hold on!” Tynan shouted and turned to his side mid flight, slashing the air in an incredible drop.
I grabbed his scales as hard as I could. I wanted to scream, but the air had left my lungs.
Tynan lowered us almost to the ground, avoiding the rooftops of the buildings below. I was keeping an eye on the dragon, realizing it was closing in on us with every passing moment.
Suddenly several tiny dots appeared on the horizon. It was Frid, Victor, and Sol. I recognized all three of them right away.
Tynan shifted to the side and I looked back at the monster. Seeing it so close, I was shocked by how large it was. Its empty, milky white eyes stared directly at me and the power of that stare terrified me beyond anything I have ever known.
My heart was beating in a new, unfamiliar rhythm as I watched the shape from above descending on us.
Tynan lifted us up and I tipped back, not finding enough strength in my arms to hold me up right.
Everything happened in slow motion, my body slid down Tynan’s beast, and the next moment, I was free falling toward the monster.
The wind mixed with the dust blasted against my skin and obstructed my vision.
I opened my mouth to scream and inhaled the small particles of sand that crunched under my teeth.
Instinctively, I rotated my body in the air.
With a violent crash, I smashed into the dragon, avoiding its fangs.
My hand brushed the neck of the beast, and slipped right into its back.
The monster made a hard stop and tried to reach his back with its powerful jaws.
But I held on to its scales with everything I had left.
The next moment the black dragon was right above me.
I stood, and with all my strength, jumped up, trying to reach him. Tynan was so close, but at the last moment, my hand slipped and I was falling. I saw the fear in Tynan’s eyes as he dived down, desperately trying to catch up to me.
My body moved through the air with violent force.
I opened my eyes, not able to tell where the ground was anymore.
Panicking, I lost myself to fear, and my body reacted without me being in full control.
The tingling of my skin and the familiar sense of my surroundings made me realize that I was shifting into my true form.
I could detect the light pain in my muscles and the aching in my bones as I transformed.
The free fall terrified me no longer as I turned my body and spread my wings, allowing the air currents to do the work.
In the silence that followed, l could plainly hear Victor shouting something and a loud gasp from Frid.