Chapter 14 Hannah
Hannah
Before it could paralyze me, I pushed through the fear and widened my thighs. I shoved my feet down so that I had a sneaker on top of each of the wyvern’s eyelids, then pushed, lifting my butt as I clenched my glutes and core, dropping my body down with all my might.
The wyvern’s thick and heavy outer lids resisted, trembling with the strain as it tried to wrench its eyes open.
Fuck! This was an awkward position.
The burn that ran through my thighs and butt hurt worse than the advanced Pilates course I’d taken after I’d been drinking the night before.
An almost indignant grumbling snarl rose from the wyvern, and it tried to jolt back. Kai made some sort of strangled gasping growl.
“Shut your eyes, wyvern!” I shouted, hoping it obeyed commands when someone was on top of it. Most guys did, so why not him too? I clenched my hands around the horns until my fingers cramped and tried bouncing to push them down more.
The lids gave a fraction, then another, grinding shut under force.
The wyvern screamed through its teeth, a furious, muffled sound.
Its body thrashed beneath me, but its eyes remained closed despite the lids trembling under my sneakers.
Its head snapped side to side as it tried to jar me loose.
I clung to the horns and pressed harder, my calves burning and my thighs shaking as I forced the lids down again each time they twitched.
Then they finally shut, or at least it seemed like they had. I couldn’t exactly see from this wide-stance reverse tabletop.
“Keep its eyes shut. I’ll hold it steady,” Kai bit out.
“Sounds better than dying,” I snapped back as smoke clawed at my lungs.
The wyvern bucked again, violently enough that my teeth clacked and my stomach lurched.
Still, the lids stayed sealed under my weight, the wyvern trembling with rage that had nowhere to go except into its thrashing body.
The burn through my hamstrings and glutes intensified, and my shoulders screamed at me.
Smoke curled past my face in greasy strands until everything blurred at the edges. I locked my knees, leaned back deeper, and dug my heels down when the head trembled and the beast tried to shake me off once more. The rage-filled, muted growls rumbled through my whole body.
I couldn’t see Kai anymore. The curve of my own body meant I was looking over the back of the wyvern’s head and into the sky.
The town was engulfed in flames, and the silver patterns continued to form in the sky.
I expected to see enemy soldiers charging down the street at any minute, especially from the shouts and clashes of metal that rang from farther ahead near what I assumed was the Market Square and perhaps in the streets beyond it. The battle wasn’t far away.
More silver and shadowy cords crawled over the wyvern’s neck and jaw, brightening and dimming in uneven pulses that matched the way its body shuddered beneath me.
“You’re welcome,” I yelled down into the chaos, breath tearing out of me as my muscles burned like the buildings beside us. I tried not to think of the fact that I was completely on display in this pose. Oh, fuck, it hurt! “In case I didn’t hear your thank you and all.”
A rough sound came back like half a laugh and half a snarl. “You are the most ill-timed, infuriating complication I’ve ever had, Hannah of Tennessee.”
“Had? You never truly had me, King Kairos of Grouch Land. I escaped,” I bit back.
This was the longest minute of my life, and I realized I had no idea how long it would take for him to remove the gem.
Talking had to help distract from the agony, right?
And bonus, it made him angrier, since I clearly brought out his best side.
Another grunt followed.
The wyvern jerked hard enough that my left foot almost slipped. Agony lanced through my tensed lower back, and I tightened my grip on the horns and forced my weight down again. My sneakers ground against the lids as they twitched, trying to open.
Fast and uneven footsteps pounded over stone and debris, coming toward Kai from the direction of the castle.
“What in all the cursed hells is going on?” Ashren’s breathless voice shouted. “Is she—what’s she doing to its head?”
“Hey, Ashren.” I forced cheer I didn’t feel into my voice. “I’m just being a hood. What took you so long?”
Another set of footsteps skidded to a stop closer to the wyvern’s head, and someone sucked in a sharp breath.
“Do I get up there and put the hood on now…or leave her there?” It sounded like Ashren was near Kai.
“Leave her there. Steady the wyvern. I’ve almost got the gem,” Kai bit out. "Don't let it slip or open its eyes, or the enchantment will backfire, and we'll all be dead."
What the fuck? I was literally sitting on a giant bomb? Olen hadn't mentioned that, if the wyvern opened its eyes, we'd all go up in flames! I’d thought, once the eyes were shut, the bomb risk went away.
“You can’t be serious…” Another familiar voice rose in disbelief.
My attention jerked in that direction, and I forced a grin when I saw Blue Eyes looking up at me.
His mouth opened, and then he closed it as he stared. “You can’t stay like that forever.”
A defiant laugh clawed its way out of my chest despite the burn. “Watch me.”
My legs trembled harder, and my muscles screeched in protest. Sweat slicked my palms in the gloves on the horns, and it was like the wyvern sensed my distress. It surged and arched its neck as it tried again to wrench its head free.
The world lurched, and so did my body.
I slid an inch, maybe two, and hot panic blazed through me. I slammed my heels down again and leaned on them with everything I had, forcing its eyelids to stay shut.
“Hold.” Kai’s urgent voice turned to a rasp. “Ashren, add more restraints to the head and neck. The gem is nearly freed. Gavriel, prepare the sleeping draught for it. Hannah, I will signal as soon as it’s free.”
“Well, don’t hurry on my account.” I tried to ignore the hate mail my muscles were sending directly to me. “I could do this all day.”
“I don’t think you should.” Gavriel's blue eyes were wide and white-rimmed as he stared at me. “Isn’t your leg injured? I thought you got shot.”
“Gavriel!” Kai barked. “Eyes off her, and prepare the sleeping draught. Keep watch for attackers instead of her leg.”
Silver light flared along the side of the wyvern, and the beast stilled even more.
The resistance beneath my feet spiked with a brutal push that made my thighs tremble so violently my vision flashed white. Bend me over and fuck me. I couldn’t hold this position for even another minute at this rate.
“Good,” Kai growled. “Almost there. That’s my good—” He paused for a moment. “That’s…effective. Keep your thighs steady and your feet planted, Hannah.”
I hated how my stomach flipped at his words. Had he been about to call me his good girl? Fucking arrogant bastard. I pressed my heels harder and stared up at the night sky. My muscles burned like they were tearing apart, every second stretching thin.
The tremor in my thighs turned into a full-body shake.
The kind that started in the muscles and climbed into the teeth.
My heels dug into the wyvern’s lids until my arches cramped and my body became drenched in sweat.
Heat pulsed up through the soles, slick and angry, and my grip on the wyvern’s horns slipped a fraction as sweat pooled in my gloves.
A metallic snap rang out beneath me.
The pressure under my feet changed like a cord had been cut inside the beast. The lids still fought to open, but the fight in them stuttered.
Kai grunted again, and something clicked. “It’s free. Get clear, Hannah!”
Relief and fear slammed into me. I let my weight shift forward and off the lids, then dragged my feet backward toward the ridge of its snout, keeping my hands clenched on the horns. The wyvern’s head jerked.
The band of shadow and silver around its jaw tightened again.
The angry grunt that rose from its chest made it sound like the beast was now more confused than rabid.
I steadied myself and looked down. Kai and Ashren stood in front of the wyvern like anchored storms, shoulders rigid and hands lifted.
The shadows and silver cords wrapped tight around the beast’s jaws, throat, shoulders, and the base of its wings held it steady while it trembled and snarled through clenched teeth.
The purple gem was nowhere to be seen, thank goodness.
“Gavriel.” Kai’s words came through his teeth. “Draught. Hannah. Off!”
My legs were jelly, and my calves twitched uncontrollably.
I shoved my weight backward, rolled off the crown of its skull, and slid down the ridges of its neck with my chest pressed to its scales as I dismounted in an undignified fashion.
The world tilted as the wyvern shuddered, and my stomach lurched into my throat.
I hit the curve of its shoulder and lost purchase. Air ripped from my lungs. My palms slapped down, caught on a ridge, and I clung there, knuckles white. My feet scraped for traction, finally finding a shallow groove between plates of scale.
Stone, smoke, and firelight swam together below. I forced my hands to release, slid, and struck the ground hard.
The street still vibrated with the wyvern’s restrained fury, but it did not seem so powerful now, even if the air did taste like burning oil and charred wood. My lungs burned with every inhale.
Kai’s gaze cut to me like a command. “Go wait by the castle gates, and we will talk.”
The order set my temper on fire. My legs wobbled, but I turned anyway, forcing myself into motion toward the alley that I believed led to Market Square, where Olen had told me to go.
Each step felt disconnected, as if my feet belonged to someone else.
The bruise in my shoulder pulsed with my heartbeat, but I was gaining momentum.
“Hannah!” Kai’s voice snapped at me, closer than it should have been. “Don't be obstinate. Our physician will care for you.”