I draw a breath and let it out in a sharp exhale, trying to banish the tension coiling tight in my shoulders.
Maeve places my luggage on a large boulder beside hers, then turns toward me, planting her hands on her hips. “Well? What are you waiting for?”
I glance down each of the crossroads. “Can we not just walk?” I ask.
Maeve’s lips tilt sideways. “The roads are snowed over, and the cottage is hours by carriage. I have no intention of walking all the way there.” Then one of her eyebrows arches up. “Are you afraid, Professor?”
At her words, the dragon lets out a low rumble.
I think he’s laughing at me.
My fingers curl into tight fists at my sides.
I’ve sailed the Charmed Sea. Have braved siren-filled waters and lived to tell the tale. Am I afraid now, in the face of a dragon?
“No,” I say. But Maeve keeps giving me that same look, and I’m quite certain she knows it’s a lie.
“Then let’s go.” She grabs our luggage and turns toward the dragon. Raelan unfurls one wing, lowering it so that she can walk up its length and settle into the space at the base of his neck.
I still haven’t moved.
Now they’re both staring at me.
“Severin D’Arques,” Maeve finally says, a hint of edge to her tone. “Get over here. He doesn’t bite.” She blinks, then leans over to meet Raelan’s huge glittering dark eye. “You don’t, right?”
Raelan rumbles again, sending a plume of steam billowing from his nostrils.
I cannot believe I’m about to climb onto the back of something that most believe to be extinct—thatIbelieved to be extinct. As a historian, this unsettles me in many ways.
Finally, I force my feet to move. With every step I take, the dragon looms larger, until I have to tip my head all the way back to look up into his gold-flecked eyes. Maeve looks down at me, and she reaches to offer me her hand.
“You did say you trust me,” she says softly, one strand of purple hair floating across her cheek as she smiles at me.
That I did. And somehow, it’s still true.
I step onto Raelan’s wing, then reach for Maeve’s hand. My fingers close around hers, and she helps steady me as I scale thedragon and then settle behind her. Raelan’s body heat rises up through his scales, warming me despite the sharp nip in the air.
Maeve leans back slightly, her body fitting against my chest with gentle familiarity. I slip one arm around her waist, and our bond flares.
Raelan lifts both his wings out to the sides, their span causing his wing tips to brush the neighboring trees, knocking snow to the ground.
My heart rate skyrockets.
“Are you sure about this?” I ask as Raelan stands to his full height, making me grip Maeve’s waist for dear life.
Her only answer in an untethered laugh, one that feels at home in the wilds of winter.
Raelan begins to pump his wings. The sound is like thunder, and it causes the air to buffet around us, sending the snow churning chaotically in every direction. Then he launches himself into the air and takes flight. I almost scream.
The world drops out from beneath us. One moment it’s there, and the next, it’s gone.
I fear I’ve made a mistake.
I gasp, every muscle in my body clenching tight, my breath trapped in my lungs. My arms wrap tight around Maeve’s waist, my legs hugging Raelan’s scales as he climbs higher and higher into the winter sky. We slice through wisps of thin clouds that leave moisture clinging to my face. The wind feels like it’s trying to tear me from Raelan’s back.
Just when I think I’m about to be flung to my death, Raelan evens out, his wings making soft fluttering sounds as they cut through the air.
And I make the terrible,terribledecision to look down.
