Chapter 34 #2
“I’m at a loss,” he said with a slight shake of his head. “I don’t understand how any of this is possible.” He touched my cheek. “But if bonding with a wild eagle brought you back from the brink, then you won’t hear me complain.”
I leaned into his touch. When I met his gaze, his eyes immediately dropped to my mouth.
Warmth blazed inside me. I parted my lips.
It was all the invitation he needed as he pulled me close, and his mouth met mine in a searing kiss.
Behind us, Tempest fanned out his wings in disapproval, but we kept on heedlessly.
I pressed myself against Talon, my hands plunging into his thick hair, but careful to avoid his wound.
He groaned as the kiss deepened. His tongue stroked over mine as he held me against the hard length of him.
We kissed each other like it was the last time. And maybe it was. His hands were simultaneously firm and gentle as they roved over my back. When he reached the sensitive skin of my neck, I let out a soft moan.
He pulled away with a shuddering breath, and my insides shook. “I was so terrified I would lose you.”
I felt the loss of him already. My body craved the feel of him against me, but I knew we didn’t have much time.
“I’m here and alive thanks to you. But as much as I want to keep doing…
that…we have to go back, Talon.” I took hold of his hand, the calluses rough against the skin of my palm.
“I can’t leave Shazeera behind. Who knows what the emperor will do to her the moment he realizes I’m gone?
” My eyes filled with tears. “I’m terrified for her. ”
He shook his head obstinately. “I was an idiot for allowing you to face that thing in the first place. I nearly got you killed. Baz, Zamir, and Kestrel died because I didn’t take the threat seriously enough, and if it had succeeded in taking your power…
” He trailed off, his face full of self-reproach.
The moment he said their names, the pain of grief hit me hard, making my tears come faster as a lump welled in my throat.
I thought of going to Naharu with them, only a few days ago.
Guilt nipped quickly at the heels of my grief when I knew I wouldn’t even be able to think about their deaths right now—not when Shazeera needed me.
“I refuse to risk your life again,” Talon continued.
“It’s my decision—”
“Then I will go with Neo to rescue her,” Talon interrupted, “and you will stay here, where it’s safe.”
I pushed my hair off my shoulder, suddenly irritated by the weight of it. “You expect me to just sit here and wait to see if you can save her? When I’m too far to communicate with her? You won’t even know what you’re walking into, and you will need my help.”
When he remained silent, Tempest suddenly took a step toward him, his talons scraping against the ground with a menacing sound. Talon watched him warily.
Tell him you don’t need his permission, Tempest said, eyes locked onto Talon. I will fly you wherever you want to go.
“I think you already know that I can go wherever I want at this point,” I told Talon. “But it would be better if we make a plan together.”
Talon looked back at Neo for a moment before nodding reluctantly.
“Then we will return, though I can’t imagine anything worse than taking you back to the place that nearly got you killed.
You’re right, though; we’ll have to come up with a plan first. We can’t just fly into this blind.
The Devourer is almost certainly still alive. ”
The color drained from my face. “You don’t think the wind power I unleashed was enough to kill him?”
Talon shot me a sympathetic glance. “He looked me in the eyes just before I grabbed you, and I doubt he would have the decency to die from his wounds.”
“So that…thing…is still alive, and I just left Shazeera there? Alone?” Before, I had been afraid the emperor might do something to Shazeera in retaliation for my leaving the palace.
But the idea that the Devourer might leave the west wing and threaten my heart’s sister was enough to steal the breath from my lungs.
“Whatever we do, we need to do it fast. I can’t communicate with Shazeera from this far away, so I have no idea what we’re walking into.
They could already have hurt her.” My voice broke on the last word, and a knife twisted in my heart. Tempest made a sad sound of sympathy.
“Then we should fly straight for the pasture to rescue her,” Talon said. “If both your eagle—”
“Tempest,” I interrupted with a glance up at the eagle, who was closely following our conversation. “He said his name is Tempest.”
I was wondering when you would finally introduce me, Tempest said, ruffling the feathers of his neck.
I shook my head. You’ll have to excuse my lack of manners.
“Tempest,” Talon repeated. He bowed toward the eagle. “Forgive me for not using your name. I am Commander Talon.”
Tempest inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment.
“Then if both Tempest and Shazeera consent,” Talon continued, “Tempest can carry both of you back to your people.”
Easily, Tempest said.
I’m so thankful to have your help. Out loud to Talon, I said, “I don’t think Shazeera will mind flying again if it means we get to go home. What about you and Neo? Will you come with us?”
He shook his head, and my stomach sank. “Neo and I will fly to Mistral to tell them everything we’ve learned about the Devourer. I will convince them to join forces with your people.”
I nodded slowly, heart pounding. Mistral was far, and its people had every reason to be wary of a Zephyrian.
But I trusted Talon. If anyone could convince them, it was him.
Still, a quiet fear settled over me. If they didn’t want to ally with my people—if they refused to fight—then who would stand against the Devourer?
Suddenly, the wind changed.
Where it had blown gently across my face before, now it surged, fierce and cold, like I stood atop a mountain peak with nothing to hold me back from the edge.
And then, as if summoned by the very mention of Mistral, the wind spirit filled my mind.
Where Mistral’s power had threatened to overtake me once before, draining the strength from my body, now Tempest was here—his energy surging through our bond, anchoring me.
Wind caller, Mistral said, his voice curling through my mind like smoke. You found your Tempest.
I never imagined you meant that I would bond with an eagle. I tried to suppress my reaction, but it was hard when I was mentally connected and sending thoughts already. You could have been clearer.
The ways of wind spirits are not your ways, Mistral said. You were destined to find each other at the right moment.
I supposed I couldn’t expect a wind spirit to speak like I did. Still, I had to ask my next question. Will the king of Mistral listen to Talon? Will he be willing to ally with my people?
Whether he listens is not the question, Mistral said, but whether the truth reaches him in time.
I held on to those words, trying to draw comfort from them. But even as they settled in my mind, another fear rose—sharper, more immediate.
What about Shazeera? I asked, panic rising like a wave. Is she in danger?
Time is running short, he said, and my breath caught in my throat.
Then I must go to her immediately, I said, my thoughts spinning into desperation.
I will answer your call, Mistral said, but I barely registered it. My mind reeled, and a terrible desperation held me in a vise.
“Talon,” I said, my voice breaking, and he took a step toward me protectively, “Mistral said Shazeera needs us.”
“Then we fly.” He took hold of my hand and gently tugged me toward Neo. “Let’s go.”
Tempest let out an angry screech that caused us both to whip around.
No one carries you but me.
To Talon, I said, “He wants to carry me himself.”
Talon looked up at Tempest towering over us with a frown. “With no saddle or flight training? She could easily fall.”
Tempest’s feathers on his neck ruffled in obvious irritation. Tell him I would never let you fall.
“He says I won’t fall,” I told Talon, one hand on the hard muscles of his arm, “and I trust him.”
Talon let out a frustrated breath but nodded. “Fine. We’ll stick to the original plan—we go and save Shazeera, and Tempest flies both of you back to your people. Neo and I will go seek out the Mistral army and then come find you again. Did the wind spirit say where to find them?”
“He said they are to the northwest. He was vague on how they were traveling or exactly where they were,” I said, biting my bottom lip anxiously. “He didn’t even guarantee they won’t attack you on sight.”
“I’ll hold up a white flag and hope for the best,” Talon said with a flash of a grin.
“We’ll be fine. The important thing is to get you and Shazeera to safety.
” He reached out and cupped my cheek again, his gaze holding mine.
“Zara, if something happens to us, I want you to take Shazeera and fly. Don’t try and save us.
” When I opened my mouth to argue, he jumped in.
“Think of what’s at stake. We can’t allow them to hand you over to Ozul.
If we have any chance at beating that thing, you and your people need to ally with Mistral. You are the key—not me.”
I had to swallow around a lump in my throat. This man used to be my enemy, and now, I didn’t want to part from him, much less abandon him like he was commanding me to do.
He leaned down and kissed me again, his lips plush and hot against mine. He cradled my face with his hands like I was some precious thing. The kiss was gentle until our tongues met, and then searing.
When we finally broke apart, he said, “If anything happens, don’t stop. Keep flying. The Devourer can’t capture you, or else we’re all doomed.”
I hesitated. “Talon,” I said.
“You know I’m right,” he said firmly.
Reluctantly, I nodded. “Fine,” I said, and when he arched a brow at me, I added, “agreed.” I knew my role as First Daughter. I would do anything to save my people.
With one last quick kiss, he said, “Now let’s go rescue your heart’s sister.”
I turned to Tempest, who had lowered himself so that he was almost lying on the ground. I leaped astride his back before settling myself in a kneeling stance like Talon had taught me, just between Tempest’s wings. Talon waited until I was in position before leaping onto Neo’s back.
Tempest stood, and suddenly, I was looking down on Talon and Neo.
Tempest was at least ten feet taller than Neo, and when he spread his massive wings, I realized just how much bigger he truly was.
While Neo had an impressive thirty-five-foot wingspan, Tempest’s wings were at least fifty feet from tip to tip.
With only a few powerful pumps of his wings, we shot into the air.
A thrill made my heart soar as my connection to Tempest allowed me to feel what he was feeling—the weightlessness as the air lifted us, the wind running over his feathers, and the powerful flaps of his wings as we soared through the sky.
Guilt came biting at the heels of my joy, though, when I thought of Shazeera.
I still didn’t know how Shazeera would react to all of this. Using wind power and being fascinated by eagles was one thing; being bonded to one was another.
That was if she was unharmed. Anxiety made my blood pound, and Tempest responded by flying even faster, the wind forcing me down even lower on his back.
I’m coming, Shazeera, I thought.