I will protect you, Lily,” I murmur in her ear, hoisting her up close so that I can breathe in her scent.
And yet, I’m not sure if it’s the truth.
This wound is a bad one, the ache setting in from the worm’s saliva deep within my wing joint spreads into my shoulder. Like fiery daggers? It is not ideal.
But I will not let my Lily know how bad it is, she’s already terrified, and I promised I would protect her with my life, and I meant it. She is the one for me. I can tell it in the way that she’s protective of me too, that she feels the same, even if she is too stubborn to admit it to herself.
As much as her stubbornness annoys me, I can also appreciate it. It is her chosen armor, and since she does not have the skills of the Draegon or wings or talons, I will allow her her emotional armor until she is ready to admit how she feels.
I can sense the change in her too, and as I breathe in her delicious scent, noting the delicate flavor of the slight submissive quality she has gained, indicating that she is ready for our mating, I am filled with hope and regret. We are falling faster by the second, and I cannot guarantee that we will have time to complete it.
I am unsure of what Ken has in store for us, but I refuse to let this fall be our end.
I grit my teeth, and hold on to Lily tight, making my body understand what’s at stake. Her. Then I force my wings out fully, using all of my hard-won control over my injured wing.
The outer bone does not hold, and the pain searing through me as the membrane on the outer segment of my wing begins to rip with the force of the wind pushing up against us as I try to slow our fall is nothing compared to the anguish I would feel if I lost my delicate human.
My teeth clench together until my fangs pierce through my lower lip, and I do everything in my power to make sure that my wings don’t give out.
Lily’s legs scrabble as she tries to rearrange herself on my body, wrapping them around my waist as best she can, which is smart.
“Clever,” I tell her, but the words are probably lost to the force of the gale.
It feels like it’s been forever, but I know it’s probably been less than a minute.
I blink as a sudden light brightens the world around us, and Lily gasps in surprise as light and heat blast against us.
“Hold on tight,” I tell her, roaring the words to make sure that she’s heard. “I’m going to have to roll.”
It’s not the way that I’d like to land, but it’s an emergency way to break our fall, one that all draegons are taught as younglings.One that I’d hoped I’d never use again, especially not with a female—my female—holding on to me like I’m her whole world.
She is already mine.
“Tuck your head in tight,” I scream at her.
She does what I say without complaints or asking for clarification, and her sweet trust in me has been hard won, something that I will absolutely guard with my life.
At this point, I’m not sure that we need to seal the bond for me to know that she’s the only one that will ever have my heart.
“It’s going to hurt,” I tell her.
“I’m fucking tough!” she screams at me, and I can’t help but laugh in spite of my fear for her and for what’s to come.
I haven’t been able to get a good look at whatever horrible new challenge Ken has designed for us but based on the heat and the way the station opened up beneath our feet, I do not have a good feeling about it.
“Right now!” I yell, and I’m not sure if it’s for her sake or mine as I tuck my feet and prepare to take as much energy and force from our fall into a headfirst roll.
My ankle screams as I make contact with the ground, still too fast due to my injured wing, and I bounce up, tucking into a roll pulling Lily with me, my wings arched over her body protectively.
The injured segment doesn’t fold properly, and pain shoots through my entire body as the outermost bone pops from the impact. Now it’s completely useless.
I grit my teeth to keep from making any noise, from worrying Lily even more.
We roll once, but I can no longer hold my wing in as tightly as I need to, and I grunt as momentum pushes us sideways until we finally come to a stop.
Rocks have embedded themselves in my injured wing, and I can hardly manage to tuck it in where it should be, much less hold it upright.
My wing is broken now. Not just torn, the exterior structure of the bone having taken too much damage to sustain any type of flight now.
