Chapter 25 #2
When Vanya was asleep, I crept from the room. My thickest winter coat was not enough to stave off the frigid air seeping in at the collar and the wrists as I marched to the lair. The lantern I carried squeaked as it wavered back and forth in my unsteady hand.
Inside the lair, moonlight fell in from the oculus above, lending just enough light for me to see Rush’s faint outline waiting on the other side of the massive rotunda.
“Our ride is waiting right over here,” he said, peeling away from the wall.
“We’re flying? But there are two of us.”
“I bet your father is proud of your math skills.”
“He’s dead.”
Rush stopped so abruptly that I knocked into him, hands on his back. I jerked away like I’d touched a hot stove.
“I didn’t know,” he muttered.
“Doesn’t matter.”
He shuffled, turning to face me in the dark. “I’m sorry,” he said, firmly.
I crossed my arms as if they could shield me from his scrutiny. “I’m not getting on a dragon with you.”
He snorted faintly. “Right. But if Shep were the one offering to ride double, you’d do it.”
“Shep has manners, at least.” I hoped he couldn’t tell how fast my heart was beating.
He cracked a partial grin. “Manners. Not really my thing.”
“Everyone in Treston knows that about you. I don’t think it’s something to be proud of.”
His grin turned mischievous, and he angled his body flush with mine. “Protest all you want, but we need to go to where Myth is. And I didn’t think you wanted to risk getting spotted on the train again.”
“Fine,” I said, following him toward Azeron’s den.
He was already saddled, waiting. The saddle was large, much longer than a normal saddle.
A double. My stomach pinched at the thought of riding behind Rush.
We weren’t friends. Or even allies. Enemies with a shared problem to solve, perhaps.
That was all. Rush Covington would flirt with a zebra at the zoo.
His behavior was nothing other than predictable, and I couldn’t let him think his charm was working on me.
“All right, you know how to do this?” He turned toward me. “Oh, saints. Don’t tell me you’ve never ridden double.”
I shook my head.
The faint outline of a wicked smile crested on his lips. “Then this will be interesting. Okay, this is how it works.” He indicated the leather loops hanging from the saddle.
“I know how it works,” I snapped.
“Okay, come on up, then.” He leaped, grabbed the leather straps, and scaled his way into the saddle like a lizard on a brick wall. Instead of offering me a hand, he waited to see what I would do.
I looked down at my uniform skirt. “I'm not exactly dressed to ride.” I’d pictured the train, or perhaps a car. Warmth.
He shrugged. “That’s not my fault. Do you want to go or not?”
“Fine.” Grabbing the hanging leather straps, which wiggled with the shaking of my hands, I lifted one foot to the lowest loop that dangled beneath the saddle.
I’d finally mastered this after three months, but never with another person already in the saddle.
My foot wobbled in the strap more than I’d expected it to, and I nearly slumped back to the ground.
Rush chuckled from the saddle.
“Shut up,” I said, heaving myself upright, holding most of my weight in my arms as I wiggled my toes around to find the second loop.
This time I was ready for the way my foot would shake as I transferred my weight to the second leather strap.
My face was hovering close to his waist as I hoisted myself up to the double saddle.
He cackled as I awkwardly climbed, until my body was slumped against his in the saddle, my skirt bunched up between us.
I had nowhere to put my arm but around his waist. The angle of Azeron’s back would send me careening to the ground if I let go.
“This is priceless,” he said.
“I hate you,” I said over his shoulder.
“That’s what makes it even better. Now tuck yourself in and hang on.”
I growled a little as I circled my arms around his waist.
“That’s it. Get cozy. You’re going to want to hang on tight. And you’re going to need these.” Holding one of the handles that straddled Azeron’s neck, he reached around, fluffing up the edge of my skirt with his other hand.
“What are you doing!”
He grabbed a wide leather strap and cinched it around my calf muscle, pulling until my leg was firmly pressed against the dragon’s side. He spun around. “Now the other one.”
“I can do it,” I protested, but he didn’t stop.
Every place his fingers brushed my leg, lightning danced across my nerves.
He pulled on the strap. “Is that too tight?”
“No.”
He finished securing the leather straps around my legs and said, “There are handles by your hips.”
“I see them.”
“I only recommend that you hold those if we go upside down.”
“Upside down?”
He propped a hand on his leg and swiveled partway around. “Yes, sometimes dragons fly upside down. Surely you know this.”
“But I—yes, I know this, but I’m wearing a skirt.”
“Then I’ll encourage him to go upside down,” he said, leaning forward and patting Azeron on the neck. “Won’t you, boy?”
I slapped Rush’s back with the back of my hand.
“When we go up, it’s best if you lean forward a little. If you lean back, you’re liable to fall off. Considering your record at the lair, I’d say there’s a good chance you will anyway.”
“You were watching? I’m shocked you know other people exist.”
“It’s hard not to notice you,” he said casually.
But as soon as the words were out, the muscles in his back tensed, and I felt his quick inhale.
“Also hard to miss when someone falls off a dragon.” The laughter that followed dispelled the tension.
“There’s a long strap I can cinch around your waist, but we usually only use those with children when they’re learning to ride.
If you don’t think you can hang on, tell me and I’ll put it on. ”
The thought of his arm reaching around my waist sent the next words flying from my mouth. “I’ll be fine.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say. Now, again, handles if we go upside down. Otherwise, I want you hanging on right here.” He patted his stomach.
“I really, really hate you,” I said, fighting a smile as I leaned forward to place my hand on his waist.
“Don't be shy,” he said, grabbing my arm to pull it forward, tucking it around his stomach until my face was pressed against his back. “This is how we will leave the school, unless you’d rather me go visit your dragon alone.”
“I don’t.”
“Then stop complaining about having to hold on to me.” He tapped Azeron gently three times with his hand. “Up.” He leaned forward, pressing his arm against mine to make sure that I was gripping tightly. Then he moved his hands back to the saddle grips. “Here we go.”
Azeron spread his wings in one graceful motion, launching us into the cold night air. I let out a small scream and squeezed Rush with all my might.
The dragon beat his wings three quick times, lifting us upward.
The air stole from my lungs, and I was grateful that Rush’s midsection felt as sturdy as a tree.
We soared over the forest, and as soon as we cleared the trees, Azeron darted forward, dipping a little as he caught the breeze. My stomach leaped clear into my mouth.
I lifted my head only enough to be able to see as we flew over the city, and as soon as the buildings became like matchboxes beneath us, I forgot that I was clinging to the duke’s son.
I forgot that I was from a family where dragon riding was never allowed, forgot that I was disliked by most of the people at my school, forgot that I was heading out to study magic.
My mouth opened and caught the cold night air, my hair tearing free from the braid Vanya had woven before we’d fallen asleep.
We coasted high on the wind, not dipping and twisting, but flying in a smooth, straight line.
The ground was far away, terrifyingly so, but this was what it was to truly fly.
Not circling the lair, obeying orders. Really soaring.
Rush, thankfully, said nothing to me as we flew, letting me take in this moment as if he weren’t even there.
Except he was. His body was pressed directly to mine.
I was aware of his every breath, every time his muscles tensed before we banked left or right, every time Rush used his knees to direct his dragon where to go.
Once or twice, when Azeron got curious and wanted to alter his course, Rush would mutter gently, “This way, Az.”
Quicker than I’d thought possible, we were nearing the part of the city where townhouses were crammed together in rows. Only the largest ones stood at the corners of the blocks, and we neared one of these, which was harder to recognize from the air.
Azeron dove head first toward the ground.
I slammed forward against Rush with such force that my cheeks squished and my mouth opened.
A scream wheezed from my lungs. Fear like I’d never experienced gripped my whole body.
We dipped down through the streets like a hawk after its prey.
Then, before I was ready, the dragon’s wings spread, and we slowed.
This time, my stomach dropped clean to the ground beneath us as Azeron leveled out in the brick courtyard.
A moment later, his feet settled gently on the ground.
No lights burned in the house or the lair, but Myth rattled the stone door of the large structure. As Rush had assured me, the duke hadn’t been here. A slow exhale.
As soon as we dismounted, his a graceful thing, mine a shaky-armed mess, Rush unlocked the lair and shifted his weight to heave open the heavy door.
“Ready?” he asked, eyes on Azeron. I wasn’t sure if his question was for me or his dragon.
Myth’s face popped out first, his nose lowering to bump my stomach. It felt like a boxer’s punch, but I laughed, keeling over to wrap my arms around his face.
“Missed you, too,” I wheezed. From the corner of my eye, I spied Rush rubbing his jaw, a puzzled look on his face.
I straightened and stared up at Myth. “Don’t hurt him,” I said, pointing at Azeron.
“Or him.” I nodded at Rush. “Understand?” Myth turned what I could only call a scowl on me, his yellow eyes slightly narrow, his nostrils flaring.
“Excellent. Now…what exactly are we going to do?” I propped my hands on my hips.
Rush slipped into the lair. “Want to ride?”
“It’s freezing. And I thought we were here to test his flame.”
His blond hair popped out of the dark lair, catching a bit of the golden lamplight spilling in from the street. “He needs to eat. Either you let him go alone, or we go with him. And the Hunt is still actively searching for a solitary black dragon.”
“Your father hasn’t given up?”
Rush’s scoff sent a swirl of white into the air. “My father doesn’t understand the words give up.”
A twist of excitement and fear stirred in my blood. “Okay. But I don’t have a saddle.”
“Then it’s a good thing we keep a spare here.” He disappeared into the lair again. “It won’t fit perfectly, but it’ll keep you from falling off.”
“Marvelous.”
I couldn’t help but smile like an idiot as we saddled my dragon.
The training saddles were not as fancy as the sleek custom ones made to fit precisely. These were simple affairs, with seats designed to fit over most dragon’s ridged backs, stacked on the underside with cushioning and fitted with more loops and hooks than the professional racer’s saddle.
Myth twitched as we tightened the straps, but I muttered encouragement to him the entire time, promising him he’d get to fly. I sensed his excitement mounting, mimicking my own. In my chest, his eagerness echoed, bolstering my spirits and erasing all hints of exhaustion.
“Are you ready?” Covington asked, patting Myth on the side when the saddle was fixed and I was secured in it.
My feet tried to kick out, but they were strapped down. I hoped my skirt remained pinned beneath my legs as we flew. I had seriously misunderstood the evening’s activities. “I’m ready.” I leaned down to pat Myth. “And he’s about to explode.”
“Then let’s ride.”
I tucked the loops that I’d used to mount the saddle into the small pocket at the back and then tied up the pocket so they wouldn’t flap in the wind.
The cold breeze nipped at my cheeks, but I was flushed with heat as I leaned forward to grasp the handles on the strap around his neck.
“Ready, boy?” I whispered, my voice shaking with the breeze.
A hot puff of air filled the courtyard, along with a few sparks that danced on the wind.
Then Myth spread his wings and took flight.