Page 100 of Feathers and Scales

She bit her lip and stood.Embrace emotion. Yeah. I got this.The clouds drifted by under the plane and a dark figure swooped into them. Daxton.

Don’t think. Don’t think. Don’t—

Closing her eyes, she jumped.

Adrenaline flooded her as she plummeted through the inky sky. Beads of moisture showered her skin as she passed through low-hanging clouds. The wind buffeted her face and howled in her ears. Something whizzed by her face, and she jerked. Then she was twisting uncontrollably.

“Daxton,”she shouted in her mind as the dragon flew up underneath her. Gliding in at a slant, her back hit his neck, and she scrambled, hands over slick scales, to grab him. Fingers found purchase between his wing and collarbone. Groaning, she squeezed her arms around his neck and buried her face against his scales.

“I’m not trying that again,”she breathed into his mind.

“Good first try. Less mind next time,”he said the best he could. The dragon wasn’t used to conversation. Rising into the cover of low clouds, he continued to fly while scanning the area for signs of other dragons or planes.“My heading? Liverpool ahead.”

They escaped the vaporized water, and the lights of the city around the harbor appeared like a circuit board. The gray scenery warned of the sun’s preparation to crest the horizon.

“Head northeast to Manchester. We will follow Snake Road toward Sheffield,”she said.

“Images easier.”

He flew as low as he dared in case of other dragons to allow Izzy to spot familiar landmarks. She directed him using small pointers in his mind, like a directional GPS waypoint.

“There, the cottage on the mound,”she said.

Her quaint single-story abode lay off the major road, tucked in a dense lining of trees. He veered away from it but stayed near the main road. The sun was still low on the horizon, warming her back, but also making it dark enough to hide his dragon. He headed toward a small clearing in the trees.

He dove fast with tucked wings. Her stomach dropped. At the last moment, he expanded his wings. Her body jolted as he landed and ran along the ground before stopping. He leaned forward, and Izzy slipped off his back. She wobbled away from him, legs stiff from the ride. Using the trees as cover, he shifted into his human body with a brilliant flash of light. She stretched her legs to wake them up, and he joined her.

“Did you sense anything?” she asked.

“Traces.”

She nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. “I’ll walk the rest of the way.”

Along the link, his dragon tore at his limbs, fire racing along his body. He battled his need to go with her. His pain weighed on her heart. Even as her body shook with fear, her resolve stood firm.

“It’s the safest option,” she said.

“For my people. Not for you.”His thoughts came unfiltered into her mind.

“I know, but you’re my ace—I have to wait and play you when it counts.”

“And that can’t be right now?” He bent his head, hands clenched against his dragon’s demands. Izzy crossed the tall grass and grabbed his face to lift it.

“Trust me.”

He groaned and locked his fist in her hair, hauling her toward him. Their lips crashed together in blinding desperation. The link thrummed between them with trembling fear, shaky anxiety, and brightening hope. Her heart throbbed, and a dazzling fire clawed up inside her.

“Daxton…I—”

“Tell me after.”

Because there will be an after.She swallowed and nodded. When he released her, she walked away, leaving her heart with him.

She stared up at the sky. “Please let this work.”

The silence of her cottage crept across her skin.

Izzy could barely breathe, fearing Fotios was around every corner. In the kitchen, standing before the door to go down into her caverns, she breathed out, trying to calm her racing heart.