Eloise exhaled and rubbed her temples. “Okay. I don’t love this, but I know that look on your face.”
“What look?”
“The determined one. You’ve already made your mind up,” she said.
Arthur stayed quiet. He clearly knew better than to insert himself where he wasn’t invited.
“You,” Eloise said, pointing her finger at him. “You’re responsible for her.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Arthur said immediately.
“If something happens to her?—”
“I’ll take care of her,” hesaid. “I promise.”
Eloise held his gaze for a long beat. Finally, she nodded.
“Fine,” she said. “Then we’re packing. And you’re not forgetting your chargers again.”
She strode toward my bedroom without a backward glance.
I stood there in stunned silence.
Arthur leaned slightly toward me. “Your friend is… formidable. I haven’t been that intimidated in years.”
I smiled, nerves buzzing. “You have no idea.”
14
ARTHUR
I had carried riders before—injured clan members who needed transport and hatchlings who wanted a bit of fun; my mother, once.
It hadn’t felt like this.
Artemis rested between my shoulders, her legs tucked along my sides, her hands fisted into the ridges of my scales. She was doing everything right. She was trusting me.
And I was painfully aware of her.
Every shift of her weight, every small adjustment of her position ran straight through me. Not just through muscle or bone, but deeper, in a place that had no business paying this much attention to a human librarian I had known for less than two days.
Why could she hear me when I directed my thoughts to her? Not even dragons in my clan could communicate with me through their minds.
I flexed my wings and angled us higher, focusing on speed and trajectory. Focus had always grounded me.
She shifted again.
Not to adjust her balance. Not to settle against the wind. This was different. Small. Repeated. Almost hesitant.
I felt it.
Heat flared low and sharp, instant and undeniable.
Oh.
Oh.
The vibrations of my body were affecting her.
