Chapter 5 #3
I bared my canines at Hoshiko, ready to fight the dragon who’d become my best friend. His body shook in reply, white smoke puffing from his nostrils.
I didn’t need to move toward Finley when my body had already placed me there. Every line of me angled toward her, shielding, while my gaze locked on Hoshiko.
The bond pulled tighter, urging me to protect. Claim.
I called to my own smoke magic, and while I kept it bound inside me, I felt the way it stirred beneath the surface of my palms.
“I don’t like this,” Hoshiko said. “You cannot guard your heart if you keep her close. Let her ride with Everly.”
“She rides with us.”
“Brenton—”
The magic that lived in my soul rose and rose, the need to release it making my very bones ache and burn. “She rides with us.”
A plume of smoke sparked from my palm, and I fisted it to keep my magic under control. But for unknown reasons, this was how all fae’s magic had been in the past year. Either not responding at all or releasing more than we intended.
I held on to my magic while it continued to slip through my control.
A fiery cloud erupted from my clenched hands, and I jumped on top of Finley, drawing her to the ground before my smoke magic could burn her.
A flood of heat washed over my back, but Hoshiko stopped the eruption before it reached anyone else, harnessing it into a tight circle that shrank until it dissipated.
When Hoshiko joined his magic with mine, it replied, the tendrils of my magic calming and settling back inside my soul.
My dragon eyed me with open suspicion.
“I didn’t do that on purpose,” I said, panting. While I was angry and frustrated with him, I’d never set out to harm him in any way.
When we rose, Finley put a tentative hand on my arm. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” My gaze swam over her, from her face down to her boots as I inspected her for injury.
Satisfied, I turned, knowing everyone had seen the grand finale of this show, and gave my friends and sister a thumbs-up.
“For my next trick, I’ll awe each of you into believing I have my life together,” I said.
George snickered.
That earned me enthusiastic applause from Zayne, who squealed something that sounded like my name. I bowed and threw him a quick kiss while Teddy watched me, her forehead creased with worry lines.
I pointed at her. “Take care of my nieces and nephews.”
She rolled her eyes, and I turned my attention back to Hoshiko, ready to land on my knees and beg him if I must. Because Finley was going with me. There was no alternative.
“Very well, Brenton,” Hoshiko said, his tone careful. “She may ride with us.”
I rounded my tense shoulders before I turned a smile at Finley. “Up you go, milady.”
“I don’t know, Brent.”
“Don’t mind him. He missed our morning meditation session, so he’s a little grumpy.
You’ll be fine.” Ignoring Hoshiko’s snarl, I reached my hand out for her, immediately wishing I hadn’t.
She wouldn’t reach back. Time and time again, I’d tried, and she never reached back.
Fisting my hand, I dropped it. “You have my word, he won’t harm you. ”
She slid her fingers under the long sleeve of her fighting leathers, toying with whatever jewelry she wore.
It was a nervous twitch of sorts that I found endearing.
Then again, I found far too much about her endearing.
Her eyes held mine, and in them I saw every promise I’d ever made, every promise she’d broken.
Her smile built tentatively, and when she nodded, nerves fluttered in my stomach.
“What is your dragon’s name?”
I was grateful when Hoshiko held back his answering snarl, although I felt his frustration through our bond.
“His name is Hoshiko. It means child of the sun.”
Her smile grew, a soft curve of her full lips. It was a precious gift I cherished. It sparked a connection between our bond with a silent conversation I very much wanted to be a part of.
No, I couldn’t want any part of our bond, not if I was to survive this mission with what remained of my heart intact.
I could watch out for her and nothing else. I could be her protector, but not her friend.
“Like you,” she said.
When I angled my head in question, her smile fell, and she waved a hand nervously in front of her face.
“Because you like the sun,” she clarified. “So you’re kind of like a child of the sun, too. Unless you no longer like the sun?”
Her words were like a soft, clear melody. Knowing she remembered that from our youth ignited a glimmer of hope in my soul. Foolish, stupid hope that I had to temper down.
“You remember that?” I asked, my throat thick and dry.
She drew her attention to my boots before she met my gaze. “I remember a lot of things.”
And me? I remembered everything.
She approached Hoshiko with tentative steps, and I bit back my relief when he didn’t growl at her.
I patted his side, waving my hand at her so she’d do the same.
With her teeth sinking into her plump bottom lip, she reached for him.
A quick flash of pink and orange glinted from the jewelry at her wrist before she tugged the sleeve back down.
A pretty blush covered her cheeks as her slender throat bobbed again.
She looked back at me, a nervous laugh parting her smiling lips. “Would it be okay if I climbed his scales now?”
“Yeah, sure.” I ran my hand through my disheveled hair. It wasn’t that I didn’t practice good hygiene or comb my hair, but that it rarely did what I asked of it. “Do you want me to show you how?”
“I’ve seen Etienne climb atop Aelus before.” She gripped the first scale, ready to hoist herself up. “I think I can manage.”
I couldn’t help the way I flinched at Etienne’s name, but at least she didn’t acknowledge it.
“Have you ridden atop Aelus before?” I asked.
She stopped climbing to look down at me. “This’ll be my first time riding a dragon. I’m eager to scratch that item off my list.”
My chest tightened. “What list?”
She wavered before she hoisted herself up to Hoshiko’s back, close to his neck. Not expecting her to answer me, I made my way to my dragon’s back as well, sitting behind Finley so she could sit in front, where she could fully experience her first ride atop such a grand creature.
It wasn’t simply the wind that would play across her face, but the intoxicating view from a dragon’s back that she wouldn’t fully grasp from behind me.
In the long summer days, our realm was exquisite, with tall trees sprawled across the expansive earth, pristine blue lakes, mountaintops reaching up to the fluffy clouds, and tiny pixies fluttering and playing from sunflower to sunflower.
At the west end of Reignom, where Elias kept his cottage, the forest took over every inch of the land with a swathe of green, only catching glimpses of the small ponds we could see between the hammock of the treetops.
I was careful not to sit too close to Finley. The distance was good. Yet the warmth of her body called to me. Her scent was an alluring blend of earth and something sweet. But just like Finley, not too sweet. That sweetness was subtle, secretly wrapping itself around me until it held me hostage.
She peered back at me over her left shoulder with a timid smile on her lips.
Her eyes, though, those mesmerizing silver eyes, shone with wonder and joy.
“A couple of years ago, I started making a list of things I wanted to do, things to look forward to. Riding a dragon was at the top of that list. It was a silly thought. I knew I wouldn’t be granted a Guardian.
I hoped, though”—she cleared her throat—“when Aelus approached Etienne to be his rider, I hoped a dragon would choose me as well. Obviously, none did, but I’m grateful for this experience.
” She patted Hoshiko’s back before she trailed her palm across his smooth scales with a soft stroke. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Hoshiko shivered at her slight touch, and the laughter that spilled from her flooded through me.
Sama took to the sky without warning, with Nalari right behind him. When Hoshiko crouched, I set my hand at Finley’s waist and leaned in until my breath whispered across the back of her neck. She stammered, the sound breaking on a rush of air. Her heartbeat quickened.
I let my hand fall away, fingers curling against nothing, and fixed my gaze on the ridge of Hoshiko’s neck. Anything to keep from dwelling on the way mine pounded too wild, too hopeful.
“Lean into Hoshiko’s neck,” I told her, tapping her outer thigh.
Goosebumps rose along her neck while her pulse slammed harder.
“Push your legs against him to grip his sides,” I said.
Rather than spiral into the sky as he often did with me, he flew with the same quiet patience he’d shown me when I was learning to ride. His wings fanned out to steady us into a glide while Finley’s head turned from side to side, absorbing her surroundings.
In the air, her delight was immediate, and it coiled around my heart with an almost painful twist.
She pressed her forehead to the back of Hoshiko’s neck, her unfiltered joy radiating from her. Her shoulders hitched at the same time I scented her tears.
I leaned closer to her, my hands on her side, running my thumb in small circles over her uniform.
“Are you okay?” I asked, my tone heavy and thick.
Mission or not, I’d turn us around to find Etienne and strike him down if he’d hurt her. If he was the cause of her tears.
She nodded. “I’m happy.”
Her words rang true, confusing me even more. Although, truly, it shouldn’t, given the many reasons Teddy found something to cry over, especially when she’d been pregnant with the twin babes.
“Why are you crying, then?”
She huffed out what sounded like a laugh. “Sometimes I cry when I’m happy. This . . . riding atop Hoshiko’s back is a dream I’ve been too scared to hope for.”
“I . . . I’m glad you’re happy.”
More than that, I was glad I was the one to bring her this joy.