Shadowborne: Fang (Emberquell Academy #3)

Chapter 1

~ brEN ~

I lay awkwardly in the dark, my body still under the quilts, one foot out of the thick, soft bed and almost to the floor, frozen, because Donavyn stirred.

The bond that linked our souls, that sense of him in my chest, fluttered, half-alive because he wasn’t fully awake. Usually, that would warm my chest with anticipation of the moment his eyes opened and he searched until he found me.

But it wasn't even dawn. And tonight, I had no choice. My orders were clear: I had to get out of his quarters that I secretly shared, without his knowledge.

Donavyn sighed, rolled towards me, then reached under the thick covers, his hand slipping to the hollow of my spine.

Fuck.

While I waited for him to sink back into unconsciousness, I allowed myself a few, short minutes to wallow in the sensation of his callouses scratching my skin, and that possessive splay of his hand on my back.

God, I loved this man…

His broad shoulders lifted the quilts high, but his handsome face was half-buried in the pillow, while the blankets scrunched under the hard line of his jaw.

He’d pulled his dark hair into a knot at the back of his head before we slept, but it had been tugged loose by his movement in sleep—and by my fingers curling into it when we’d made love the night before.

There had been one moment, a jolt, when he’d had me naked on the couch in the living room, that I wanted to cower, to hide my bare flesh from the light. But Donavyn’s eyes flashed and he growled, taking my hands and pulling them away from my body, displaying me.

‘I told you, no shame,’ he growled in my head through that incredible bond we shared. He'd had to, because his mouth was otherwise engaged in kissing his way up my body. The words were a gift that warmed me, and brought my emotions close to the surface.

Smiling to myself, I drank in the sight of him, usually so upright and vital—now peaceful and vulnerable in sleep.

Even in this dim light I could make out the shadow of scruff on his cheek.

He’d need to shave when he woke. I’d never been able to decide if I found him more attractive with stubble, or without it.

All I knew was that staring at him in the dark made my belly churn, and turned my mind back to the heady night before.

But no matter how beautiful he was, I couldn’t let him delay me any longer.

Heart thudding in my ears, I blew out a breath, biting my lips when, the moment I began to ease out from under his hand, he stirred again, a frown creasing his brow. If I didn’t get far enough away that he couldn’t sense me, I’d wake him.

Ronen had been very clear: That couldn’t happen.

It took long, barely-breathing minutes, but eventually I slid out from under his hand, slipped out of the warmth under the quilts to the thick rug that protected morning feet from the chilly stone floor.

The night before, I’d casually left out a set of clean leathers on the chair where Donavyn usually sat to put on his boots. Grabbing those, wincing when the leather creaked, I tucked them under my arm and rose to my feet.

Shivering in the pre-dawn cold, I tip-toed from the large, dark room that still felt like Donavyn’s, and took the time to close the door inch-by-inch until the latch clicked and I froze, waiting to hear him stir again. But he didn’t.

Thank you, God.

I dressed hurriedly in the living room, while scanning the dragon Keep below through the window, and mentally reviewing my orders and the position of the moon: I had to get to the woods beyond the stables now.

The trip would be faster if I used the main stairs in this building—a low risk at this time of night, but not without potential for discovery.

Furyknights, even the Officers and high-ranking men, were sometimes called out at strange hours.

Since only my squad brothers knew about our bond, even when Donavyn was awake I had to sneak in and out of the apartment via a little-used stairwell on the western end of the building.

Most of the Officers accessed their quarters via the central lobby and wide stairways climbing to each floor.

The rear stairwell was narrow and dank. It emerged much further from the stables, and would slow me.

As I buttoned my jacket, I assessed the height of the moon and estimated the time remaining before I’d officially be late to this rendezvous.

Turning for the door—my boots still in my hand to keep my socked feet quiet on the stone floor—I decided the risk of finding an excuse for being in the Officer’s building in the early hours of the morning was less than being late for this meeting.

But my nerves ratcheted up as I slipped out of the apartment, quickly pulled on my boots, then started down the wide, stone stairs, keeping to the shadows, and checking around corners before trotting down to the next landing.

Eventually, I made it to the massive entrance lobby without meeting anyone, darted across the wide, moonlit space scattered with couches and rugs, the furniture all in leather and heavy wood, sized for the rugged men who called this building home.

Then I was outside, into the courtyard, and I could finally breathe.

But as I crossed the flagstone and jogged up the path towards the stables, a niggle of unease twisted at the center of my chest.

Donavyn’s words, growled the night before, echoed in my head.

I told you, no shame.

My lips pressed tight. I knew I’d done nothing wrong. But the thought of meeting one of the other men, particularly an Officer, knowing what he’d think when he saw me sneaking across the lobby… it was hard not to feel some flutter of disgrace.

I was the one who’d insisted that Donavyn not tell the Furyknights about our bond—yet, it was as much for his protection as mine.

Donavyn, my Commanding Officer, our General, and Battle Commander, rider of the dragonfury Primarch, and twice my age, would never have allowed himself to touch me if our dragons hadn’t mated and drawn us into their bond.

As the first female Furyknight, I was also the first woman ever sucked into a dragon bond, and Donavyn speculated that was why the bond had drawn us together so tightly.

Thinking of him, my body thrummed. Here I was, newly awake, and already aching to have him again. Was this insatiable hunger just because the bond was new? We’d only discovered it a week ago. Would it ease? Or, in twenty years, would I think of him and still ache to have him?

As I passed through the courtyard in front of the dining hall, running for the stables, I grimaced. Everything was so fucking complicated.

I had already faced prejudice and cynicism in my climb to Furyknight. I’d already fought the sabotage of men who believed I’d only achieved the pin because of the king’s personal favor. But I knew I was meant to be here. Akhane had Chosen me for a reason.

I had to make it to this meeting.

I pushed the niggling thoughts aside, crossed the cobbled walkway, and took a shortcut through the thickets that bordered the launch hollow.

The moon still hovered a hairsbreadth above the silhouetted peaks when I made it to the little clearing with the lightning-struck tree stump, where I’d been told I’d receive more information.

When I first made it to the tree, barely panting, my nerves fizzed in my chest. But the clearing was empty.

I frowned, mentally reviewing the conversation I’d had with Ronen, my Wing Captain, and the leader of our squad.

…I stood at ease, trying to hide my nerves while Ronen leaned back against the desk at the front of the emptying classroom, his arms folded, nodding at each of my brothers as they passed on their way to the door.

It wasn’t until the door closed behind Voski, that Ronen clawed a hand through his unusually messy brunette hair and turned those penetrating, gray eyes on me.

When Ronen really looked at me, I always felt like a little sister caught sneaking out at night.

He wasn’t my father. But his disapproval meant more to me.

“You can ignore the patrol assignment I gave you for Thirdday,” he said without preamble.

Shit. I really had done something if he was taking me off a shift.

“You’ll receive new instructions that morning, that will be followed without fail, do you understand?”

I didn’t at all, but I nodded, and swallowed the lump rising in my throat. “New instructions from…?” Was he saying Donavyn had orders for me? My brothers knew about our bond—they had to. So why wouldn’t he have just—

“You will meet a messenger in the clearing with the lightning-struck tree no later than when the moon touches the peaks.”

I waited, but it appeared that was it.

I frowned. “High moon on the early morning of Thirdday, at the lightning-struck tree,” I repeated slowly.

“No one can know, Bren. And I do mean, no one.” Ronen’s gaze grew pointed. My heart sank.

It was happening.

We’d barely found each other. And now we might be separated? Already?

Donavyn had warned me: Between impending war and our roles in it, orders and missions for both of us might need to be covert. We’d agreed neither of us would push the other to reveal anything we’d been told to keep silent.

But Donavyn had warned me because he already knew how difficult it could be. Especially if those orders pulled us away from each other without notice.

That thought dropped my stomach to my toes.

Realizing Ronen still waited for a response, I swallowed hard and nodded. “I understand.”

“Do you?” he asked carefully.

“Yes. We’ve discussed this possibility in advance.”

Some of my Wing Captain’s tension ease out of his posture—but that only made me more tense. He must know it would be bad news.

Shit.

“Good,” he said quickly. “I should have known that our leaders would prepare you for this. Very good. Well, then…” Ronen’s voice warmed. His eyes crinkled into a smile and his lips curled up on one side. “You have your instructions, Furyknight Kearney. Go and be blessed.”