The stallion exploded into motion.
I slammed back against Dalkhan at the sudden acceleration, yelping.My nails dug deep into his forearms, certainly drawing blood.His iron grip around my waist was the only thing keeping me from flying off into the night.
Terror clawed at my insides as I squeezed my eyes shut, the wind becoming a violent hurricane that whipped my hair across my face.Torak’s hooves pounded against the earth like a war drum.
I was going to die.I wasabsolutely, completely going to die.
Then his voice flowed through the chaos, not spoken aloud, but pouring directly into my mind like warm honey.
“Open your eyes.”
I shook my head violently, my entire body rigid with terror and eyes still clamped shut like my life depended on it.
“Open them.I’ve got you.”
His voice was a soothing balm, slowing my racing heart just a fraction.I pried one eye open, keeping the other sealed shut against the rushing world.
Gradually, as his presence continued to anchor me, I opened both.
The landscape that swept past us was breathtaking.We flew across the moonlit meadow like we were riding the wind itself, Torak’s powerful strides eating up the ground beneath us.The landscape had blurred into streaks of silver and shadow, but instead of terrifying, it was magical.
“That’s it, little flame.See how beautiful it is?”
I drew in a shuddering breath.Slowly, so slowly, I loosened my death grip on his arm.The terror melted away, replaced by something else entirely.
Exhilaration.
We stopped by a lake, each ripple catching the moonlight and hurling it back like scattered diamonds across water.The waves lapped hypnotically against moss-covered stones.
There was nothing else around us—just the endless stretch of soft green grass, tall trees standing like silent guardians, and clusters of wildflowers pulsing with an ethereal glow.Their petals shifted in the warm breeze.Midnight blues bleeding into deep crimson.Bursts of golden yellow melting into burning orange.
Fireflies wove through the air above the water in lazy spirals, their bodies winking out, only to blaze back to life again seconds later.They drifted and spun, some coming close enough that I could almost reach out and catch one.
Dalkhan and I collapsed onto the grass together.I stretched my legs out and leaned on my elbows, my head falling back until my hair fanned across the ground in dark waves.The air wrapped around me, thick with the intoxicating perfume of night-blooming flowers and the clean, mineral scent of fresh water.
When I finally looked down, Dalkhan was watching—his eyes dark and intense, like I was the only thing that existed in his world.
“You’re staring.”
“I am,” he replied, inching closer until his leg brushed against mine.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but heat crept up my neck.
My smile died as Iznia flashed through my mind.Her rage.Her claws aimed at me.
Dalkhan’s expression dimmed.He reached out to brush a strand of hair from my cheek, his fingers lingering against my skin.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just…” I sat up straighter, crossing my legs as I picked at the grass between my fingers.“What happened with Iznia… How many more women should I expect to come after me like that?And how many times are you or Azmik going to have to—”
His voice cut through my rambling.“It won’t happen again.I made sure of that.”
“But…why?”
“Because I can.”
That wasn’t the ‘why´ I was hunting for, but something in his eyes—cold and utterly final—made me swallow any follow-up questions.
