We’re nowhere near the Nest, but I haven’t been this terrified in years. I can almost feel the lashes across my back. The blade that takes little pieces of me, a bit at a time, while Bolverkr and the others laugh and carve. The rack that holds me, splayed and naked, for days and days and days.
I haven’t been back to the Nest since I escaped. I knew eventually I’d need to return, to try to figure out if it holds the keys to my path home. I’ve been preparing for years.
But I’m not ready. I didn’t think it would come so soon.
I don’t want to go.
I have no choice.
Finally, my voice is firm enough to speak. “It’s been many years since I was there. How many days will it take?”
“Six if the weather doesn’t turn on us.” Fhord’s words are clipped, angry.
“Do you travel this route often?”
He pauses, as if deciding whether to answer this question. “Usually I fly,” he says at last. “My dragon was injured. The best healers are in the North. They care for her there.”
The last thing I want is to feel any kind of emotion for this man. But I understand the connection between dragon and rider. I can hear it in his voice. His dragon’s injury is hurting him more than he would ever admit. At least to me.
“What’s her name? Your dragon.”
He’s quiet for a long time. I wonder if he’ll even tell me. But then he speaks. “Tindera.”
“It’s a majestic name. Will she be okay?”
Fhord responds with a curt snap of his head. “As I said, she’s getting the best care possible. They will heal her.”
“It must be hard to be so far away from her.”
Again, Fhord rides in silence instead of responding. When he turns to me, his eyes flash.
“I’m done speaking with you. I’ve told you what you need to know. I will not answer any more of your questions. And I will not talk to you about Tindera. Not now. Not ever.”
I sneer as he spins his head to focus on the road ahead. He doesn’t see it.
I don’t know what I did to anger the gods so much.
This trip cannot go fast enough.
Chapter eight
Fhord
She's Not Mine
ThisiswhyIspent ten years trying to avoid her.
I felt her when she burst into this world. At first, I had no idea who—or even what—she was. But I knew something had arrived that could screw up everything. I knew I needed to keep her away from me.
I didn’t know she’d be so fucking beautiful.
Or that she’d be such a pain in the ass.
Or that she would be my gods-damned mate.
Who I can never, ever claim as my own.
Not that I’d ever want to. Because she is a huge, fucking pain in my ass.
