Chapter 14 #2
“The rock uprising,” Finley said, her smile tentative as she made Rocko disappear into her inner pocket of magic. “We fear they’re after the king’s crown.”
Smiling, Everly shook her head, pointing a finger in my direction. “So there are two of you now?”
“Impossible. The realms would crumble under that much charm,” I joked. “But Finley? You don’t duplicate perfection.”
I rose and offered Finley my hand, not certain she’d take it.
She did, and my chest loosened at the feel of her fingers sliding around mine.
I gently pulled her closer, wrapping an arm over her shoulders.
Part of me braced for her familiar retreat.
When she inched closer, I pressed a kiss into her hair.
“Perfection, huh?” Finley’s lips twitched. “You really will say anything to get me to laugh.”
Everly rolled her eyes. But my focus remained on Finley, who still hadn’t pulled away. Instead, she pressed her shoulder a little firmer against me. The warmth in that small gesture said more than her teasing words ever could.
“Elias and Kassidy are waiting for us,” Everly said, moving toward the opening. “Unless you feel your time is better spent monitoring the rocks for their supposed uprising.”
Again, Finley laughed, and that sound swam through me, pulling tight in places that had once starved for her.
“I believe Rockana will behave herself since I’m holding Rocko hostage,” Finley said, putting the rock formerly known as Luana 2.0 on the bed mat we’d shared.
Shared. I swallowed hard at the thought.
Here we were, getting a second chance, because her intended saw the way she quietly longed for me and wanted her to be happy. I could kiss him for it. If he were here, I probably would.
In fact, I planned on planting a big, grateful kiss on his cheek the moment we crossed back into Niev. But would that rub salt in the wound? I’d hate to do that to Etienne. What he was doing was noble. Kind. Sacrificial. To gloat would be cruel when it wasn’t my intention.
“Wait for me outside,” Finley said. “It won’t take me long to change clothes.”
My gaze lingered on my clothes, which dwarfed her athletic frame. My every instinct screamed to keep her that way. Marked in my scent and covered in something that said she was mine.
“Fine,” I said, my voice raspy but resigned. “But I’m enjoying the view of you in them. I might have to convince you to wear it again later.”
We found Elias and Kassidy near the beach that overlooked the bay. At the heart of their strange village was an outdoor cookery, where males and females prepared lunch for what appeared to be hundreds of people.
From the stilted houses across the bay, the people came to the island for the midday meal.
Some paddled long canoes across the shallows with precise strokes, others dove straight in, swimming the distance with long, clean lines.
I caught myself noting who favored the canoe and who had the stamina to swim, measuring their strength and endurance as if I might have to meet them on the battlefield one day.
I was surprised to find Everitt, the youngest of Kassidy’s brothers and the same fool who’d disrespected Finley, at the lead, cutting through the water as if that’s what he was made for.
Callan, the eldest, trailed him by only a head.
When they reached the shore, I caught the way Callan shoved Everitt, good-natured but with an edge of competitiveness to it.
“Don’t fill your belly too much, Cal,” Everitt teased. “Or you won’t be able to swim back.”
“Don’t worry about what I put in my belly.” Callan tousled his younger brother’s hair, making water drip into his eye. “Worry about how I’ll beat you on our way back.”
Kassidy laughed, moving to stand beside me. “Cal hasn’t beaten Everitt in a swimming race in well over a month. I worry his pride may never recover.”
I snorted, my attention lingering on the brothers.
It was a harmless rivalry, but there was always a bite of truth in the way we males tested each other.
In the way we couldn’t help but show our teeth and muscles.
George, Elias, and I were much the same when we trained, whether it was with a bow and arrow or a sword.
Especially if their females were around to witness it.
I was a good friend, though, and sometimes let them win so their mates wouldn’t think them weak.
The back of Finley’s fingers brushed my hand, but before I could hold it, she joined her hands together.
“I wonder how well you’d fare at a swim competition.” Her smile was playful.
“Which is it you’d like to see?” I asked, tilting my head as my lips curved. “Me aggressively beating my opponent, or me naked and wet?”
Her silver eyes flared, heat sparking in them, and she dragged her tongue over her bottom lip. The sight tightened my chest, and I swore her pulse kicked up at the base of her throat.
“Neither,” she said, her voice softer and huskier. “I simply want to see if you’re well-matched against Rockana.”
I laughed while Everly muttered, “Gods be with us.”
Dipping my head, I let my breath brush her skin. “The only race I care to win is the one that ends with you in my arms.”
Elias flicked my ear enough to sting. “Not all of us have our mates with us,” he grumbled although his mouth tipped up in a smile. “You don’t have to show off.”
My grin was pure arrogance and happiness. The only reason I didn’t tug Finley closer to me was because I respected her need to stand on her own.
With fast strides, Callan made his way to us, his chest dripping while Kassidy tossed him a towel, rolling her eyes when he shook his hair out to wet her.
With his towel slung over his shoulder, the siblings guided us toward a table beneath a cloth awning, piled high with roasted fish, fruits, and baskets of warm bread.
Kassidy and another female worked to clear the table of the scattered notes and parchments, evidence they’d been working while I’d lounged and waited.
Around us, the heart of Vistos stretched wide and open.
The square wasn’t truly a square but a sprawling circle of smooth stones carved from the shore to the nearest mountain.
Dozens of pavilion-like structures framed the outer edges, with high-arched beams of dark wood supporting sweeping canopies that swayed with every gentle gust of wind.
Beneath them were long, communal tables, sturdy enough to withstand dragons landing nearby and worn from generations of shared meals.
Unlit firepits dotted the center, waiting for the evening when flames would rise, and the entire place would glow in gold and amber. I could picture it. Laughter that echoed, music that carried, families piled close.
It was a place built not just to eat, but to gather and celebrate. To belong.
It reminded me of Respandora, where the children of mages long ago gathered once a month at the square with pots of stew brought from every home. Where lanterns were strung between pillars and children weaved between legs.
Two different realms, different people, but the same heartbeat of community.
When we settled in, each of us filling our plates with food, the chatter of the square wrapped around me. Conversations, footsteps, laughter. It was all there as one unbreakable whole. An entire island eating together like a family.
“How is Solana?” I asked, drawing my attention to Kassidy.
“Resting,” she answered, a dark shadow crossing her features. “Her breathing’s a bit easier, but she still hasn’t stirred.”
Beside me, Finley straightened. “Could I see her? I’d like to know if it’s the same magic I sensed in the hatchling.”
Rather than answer, Kassidy tilted her head, her eyes steady. “Why did you run off after the attack the other day?”
I bristled, every muscle in me ready to step in, while Finley’s body grew taut beside mine.
“No one, not your mate, your king, or your friend, would tell me,” Kassidy pressed.
Finley’s attention flicked to Everly. A single nod passed between them, and some of that tension in Finley’s shoulders eased.
It was true, though. Each of us had refused Kassidy’s question. It wasn’t our place to speak on magic we barely understood.
“Even your dragons kept their silence,” Kassidy said. Her voice was stern, but beneath it was something closer to concern and not anger.
“You don’t have to reply to her,” Hoshiko said in my head.
Chin lifting, Finley inched nearer to me. “I should, though. Kassidy has a right to know.”
“Remember what I told you,” I said, through Hoshiko’s mental connection. “You are a dragon.”
Her smile was small, but there. “I am a dragon.”
“Your magic may not be gentle, but it is yours,” Hoshiko said, mirroring my words from the previous night. “You are a warrior forged in fire, yet your soul is gentle. No magic can take that from you.”
Finley pressed her shoulder against mine, where I felt the tiniest tremor leave her body. Our bond hummed with that release. The tension along her back loosened, and with her chin tilted, she looked more like the female I’d always seen—unyielding and unshakable.
“I ran because my magic needed to be released,” she said, her voice steady. “My magic not only lets me see if magic was used in a death but also is death itself.”
Pride swelled in my chest at the way she held herself— my brave dragon. Elias and Everly shifted closer.
“When released, my magic kills anything it touches,” she continued. “Sometimes, I lose control of it, and I need to get away so I won’t harm anyone.”
Kassidy’s expression faltered, her eyes lit with fear. The bond I shared with Finley tightened with the sting of rejection. On the outside, she remained unshaken, but I felt the way she internally shrank, bracing against Kassidy’s growing fear.
Before Kassidy had the chance to cut Finley down further, I stepped in. Not to shield her but to stand at her side.
“You see her magic as a danger,” I said. “I see it as power restrained. Strength that has saved me, saved Elias, saved countless others. She’s here because she chooses to fight for us, even when it costs her. That’s not dangerous. That is bravery and loyalty.”
“What do you call it when she loses control?” Kassidy asked.
“That isn’t of Finley’s doing but my own,” Elias said. “Last year, my mate and I forfeited our magic so our healer could absorb it to heal a friend. In losing my magic, it seems all magic in Niev began to malfunction.”
“I didn’t ask who’s to blame,” Kassidy said, leaning her elbows on the wooden table. “What do you call it when her magic escapes her hold? When death pours from her without her consent?”
Unflinching, Finley’s eyes met Kassidy’s, and her voice did not waver. “I call it a reminder that my magic is not gentle. That it can take, as you said, without consent. That’s why I left yesterday. So I would not harm anyone here.”
“Will you always be able to contain it long enough to be clear of others?” Kassidy asked.
“I can’t promise you perfection, Kassidy.
” Finley’s tone gentled. “But I am vigilant. I know my magic and feel it when it rises. Everly offered to help me with training. Although I’m cautious to take it, her advice has already proven helpful.
” She brushed a finger across my knuckles, looping her pinky around my own.
I held it fast. “You fear for your people. I understand. I do not wish to endanger anyone. That’s why I train every morning, so that discipline holds me when control slips. ”
“No,” a female whispered. “There’s more to your magic.”
“This is my younger sister, Willow,” Kassidy said. “She is a dragon-bound. Similar to a healer in your realm, but she uses her dragon’s magic to heal others.”
“I can feel your death magic.” Willow’s eyes locked on Finley’s, sharp and unblinking. “But there’s healing in you too. My dragon and I share a line between us. I feel the same line inside your magic.”
Finley drew in a sharp breath, her shoulders tensing as if Willow had pressed a hand to an old wound. For all the years I’d known Finley, she only knew herself as one thing. Death. To hear another name. Healer . . .
Her chin didn’t lower. Not even when her fingers trembled slightly in mine.
I squeezed back, reassuring her, while a storm twisted and raged inside me.
The air around us grew heavy with the silence that followed. All the while, Willow’s words lingered, impossible to ignore.
“But there’s healing in you too.”