Chapter 1 #2
Her breath hitched, but she didn’t fall. Every muscle trembled with strain as she folded her wings, stillness settling slowly back into her body. Triumph bloomed, though it had been cultivated by more than her own endurance.
Every night, Jassyn and the rebel magus from Centarya had mended the new fliers, weaving strength from exhaustion. With Vesryn, she’d trained muscles she hadn’t known existed, while Fenn had pushed and prodded her in the sky until her wings buckled midair and the world spun sideways.
A gust tore across the ledge.
As if summoned, Fenn landed beside her with a muted thud, wings rustling as they tucked behind him. Onyx scales shimmered along his arms, sinking back into skin as he met her gaze. His crimson eyes still burned, pupils narrowed to the vertical slits of dragonsight.
He tilted his head, the corner of his mouth lifting in that slow, predatory curve Serenna knew too well—the one that always came before he said something meant to disarm. Or something ridiculous enough to make her want to both laugh and throttle him at once.
He’d be insufferable about this.
“You’ve finally spanned the canyon,” Fenn said, all but purring with pride and far too much satisfaction.
Of course he’d stationed himself to watch, waiting to see if she would crash or cross. Pursing her lips, Serenna folded her arms. “You almost sound disappointed that you didn’t get to scoop me out of the dirt.”
Fenn prowled into her orbit, circling with a grin that bared just enough fang to promise trouble. The faint tang of smoke clung to him, as if fire had followed him down from the sky.
“Disappointed?” His voice dipped low. “Well, who doesn’t enjoy a gallant rescue?”
Serenna rolled her eyes but didn’t move when he reached for her wing. His fingers skimmed the claw at its tip, tapping lightly. Her talons twitched in reflex, then snapped toward him with a clack, alive with impulse, as though the beastblood in her veins sought to claim him first.
Fenn’s own wing talons stirred in answer, scraping the air toward hers in a way that felt anything but innocent. He leaned in, close enough that she felt the warmth of his breath behind the tease. “And I was prepared to scorch every stone from cliff to river to reach you if you fell.”
Serenna huffed a laugh, though she couldn’t deny he’d already warped her from the jaws of the canyon often enough to call it routine.
Fenn straightened. “Stretch them out.”
Serenna obeyed, flaring her wings wide. Every muscle gnashed in protest, a sharp pull raking down her spine. Fenn slipped a palm through the slit in her leathers, stitched for her wings. Calloused fingers traced the contours at the joint, gliding over skin still flushed from exertion.
“Stronger,” he murmured.
She already felt it with wingbeats that no longer faltered, each flight no longer ending with her bleeding in the sand. But hearing it from him—feeling the pride braided into the word—loosened the insecurities she’d held tight.
“I just don’t want to be the one slowing us down in the Maw,” she admitted quietly. Her gaze slid to the canyon floor, where wraith flew like shadows, twisting around waves of heat. “I only wish we had more time.”
Fenn stepped into her line of sight, lifting her chin to tilt her face toward his. “You’re not behind. Some of our people can hardly stay upright with their wings out.”
Serenna held his gaze. He saw her as she was—sweat-slick, trembling, still burning—and called it strength.
Where she tallied bruises, he counted victories.
Some days she wanted to believe him, to breathe in the steadiness he offered.
But that belief wasn’t coming any easier, not when the cost of failure would be shared by all.
Serenna leaned back a fraction, shifting the weight of his touch without breaking the moment. “I don’t need coddling,” she mumbled, tucking her wings back in.
Fenn’s grin only sharpened. “Are you certain? My offer still stands.” He nodded toward the dunes in the distance. “I could warp you to a summit again and let you glide down. Very dignified.”
Biting back a smile, Serenna shook her head. “I’m done gliding. You’ve already ferried me to the ground too many times.”
Fenn shrugged, all false innocence. “Half my squadron flew like that the first few times. Fluttered down like leaflings—with more grace than your first attempt, if memory serves.”
Serenna snapped a wing out, aiming to clip the back of his head. With a bark of laughter, he warped away before the blow landed, the movement infuriatingly quicker than hers.
Bristling, she spun to face him, but her wings lagged behind, the heavy membranes tilting her sideways as she struggled to fold them. Fenn reappeared in a blur, catching her as she stumbled before snatching the base of her neck beneath her braid.
Serenna shoved at him, flames flaring under her skin, spitting from her fists. But Fenn’s mouth crashed against hers in a rush of heat. Instead of burning him, the fire blazing through her veins consumed the last of her defiance, leaving no room for resistance.
Fangs scraped and caught her lower lip, first a tease, then a bite of pressure that dragged out a gasp. Hunger seared up Serenna’s spine, her beastblood roaring at the claim. Breath and pulse tangling, the world shrank to the press of him, the bond humming where they touched.
Serenna gripped his armor and hauled him closer. Her wing talons twitched, reflexive and wanting as they lunged forward, hooking into his with a possessive click. Fenn’s own locked instantly with hers, the jolt of contact shuddering across her shoulders.
“I heard Kaedryn’s druids say that talon locking in public is indecent,” he murmured against her lips, voice rough with delight. “Something about base instincts, beastblood, and scandalous mating flights.”
Breathless and undone, Serenna smothered a laugh against his mouth.
Seizing the opening like an invitation, Fenn growled into her throat, his tongue sliding past her lips. He tangled a claw in her braid, anchoring her waist with the other, as if his body alone could cage the blaze igniting in her veins.
Pulse pounding reckless and fast, Serenna’s knees wavered. Kaedryn’s warning flickered through her mind—that druid blood burned hot, untamed, unpredictable, the beastblood as dangerous as dragons themselves until time tempered it.
“You’ll have to pry our wings apart,” she gasped.
“Not a chance.” Fenn chuckled, lips grazing her jaw. “Your talons made the knot. Your talons undo it.”
She should’ve pulled away, remembered the drills waiting below, the meetings stacked tight, the hours carved thin with training. But caught in the heat of his embrace, the want in her ribs no longer whispered, but prowled. Serenna hovered at the edge of restraint, sinking into his touch.
With a defeated sigh because the world wouldn’t wait, Serenna turned inward and called the flame to fold. Unwilling to release, her talons clamped tighter against Fenn’s, like they had a mind of their own.
Magic unspooled from the hum in her chest, wings vanishing beneath her armor, claws slipping free from his. Serenna exhaled and stepped back, brushing stray strands of hair from her face.
Fenn’s eyes glowed as they trailed over her, as though she were a star streaking bright through the sky instead of sand-smeared and flushed from flight. Serenna battled the urge to drag him down into the baked earth, to combust in the blaze that look ignited.
Clearing her throat, she nodded toward the canyon’s depths, where the thrum of drills and rising magic signaled another round already underway.
“I should get down there,” she said. “My shift starts soon. And after that, I’ll barely have time to scrub this dust away before Kaedryn expects me with the guildmasters.”
Fenn chuckled. “My father put my squadron on the skirmish roster next—you’ll get your chance to knock me out of the sky.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Serenna muttered. “You’ve been unbearable since you yanked me out of bed before sunrise.”
His mouth curved, more wolf than wraith. “I do fly best with your fury at my back. Though your princeling swears he endures it more often.”
Wings vibrating, he turned toward the rim. Serenna caught his wrist, realization cutting through the exhaustion of training. He and Vesryn had been appearing at her side too often, despite how busy they’d all been.
“You and Vesryn did something.”
Piercings catching the sun, Fenn raised a brow.
“You talked,” she pressed. “Or made a schedule.”
“Schedule might be too generous a word,” he mumbled.
“You’re alternating who shows up in my chambers.” Her voice sharpened. “Behind my back.”
Fenn rolled a lip ring between his fangs. “Your princeling suggested it would be…wise. To ensure you weren’t alone.”
Serenna crossed her arms. “So you’re taking turns staking your claim?”
“Not like that.” Fenn lifted his claws, his grin cut short. “We agreed we shouldn’t take chances. Not while we’re still learning Kaedryn’s people. You and Jassyn are their symbols now—their walking proof that the world is shifting.”
“Speaking of Jassyn,” she said, staying cool on the surface. “Are you spending the night in his chambers when you’re not in mine?”
“I offered.” Fenn’s smirk returned, wicked and unrepentant. “But Lykor threatened that I’d be picking my fangs out of the dirt if I got too close.”
Serenna tossed her hands, too tired to summon more irritation. “Figures.” She turned toward the ledge, eyes narrowing against the sun’s gleam on canyon stone.
Fenn stepped beside her, his wing bumping her shoulder. “You want to dive?”
Bolstered by her flight across the canyon, fortified by the wind still singing in her chest, Serenna shifted back into her wings.
“I want to race,” she said, daring him now.
“I hope you stretched.” His fangs flashed at the challenge. “Pride cramps are vicious.”
Serenna could sense Fenn was about to warp, cheat his way to the sky before she even leapt. So she snatched him by the collar. Curling her fingers in the hair bound at his neck, she yanked his mouth down to hers.
“So does that mean you’re going to be in my chambers tonight?” Serenna whispered through the bond, her lips crashing against his.
“You’ll have to wait and see,” Fenn murmured, tugging her closer.
Retaliating, Serenna bit his lower lip, sharp enough to make him curse, but not enough to make him stop. And then, still locked in the kiss, his arm cinched around her waist. Taking one step forward, he dropped them both into the open air, dragging her with him as they plunged.