Page 83 of Shadowborne: Reckoning

His eyes were piercing, and I couldn’t get a bead on what he was feeling.

‘Donavyn, what—’

‘Your brothers have arrived.’

My brows shot up, but I covered quickly, leaning down to brush crumbs from my leathers as I murmured an apology to Grace, who nodded elegantly and squeezed my hand with a sympathetic look, then I turned and followed Donavyn out at a brisk walk.

‘Why didn’t you call me through the link? I would have come sooner, I only stayed in case Ruin or Hanson showed up with Grace there.’

‘I learned this bare moments ago. I’d harnessed the dragons and when you didn’t come quickly, thought I should make an appearance in case Hanson was there and you needed back up. But Kgosi reached me as I was in the hallway outside. They flew over, high—but we can’t have them land their dragons near the city, in case they’re seen. We need to fly out to them. Or rather, you do.’

‘Of course, but—just me?’

‘I’m going to take Benji to fly over Hanson’s herd. Kgosi has had an idea about how he might connect with some of the dragons—through Benji—without undermining a Primarch’s authority, or breaching the herd bond. If they allow him close, we’ll try it this morning.’

That was news. My head spun, but it was a relief, my anxious heart racing, but with anticipation more than nerves now, because we could finally do something.

The minutes of running out of the castle and down to the dragons seemed to take forever. My heart in my throat, my body convinced that something would stop us. But there was nothing, no one. Most of the nobles were still asleep, or taking their powders to rid them of headaches.

We had hours until we had to be at the banquet tonight, and my brothers were near?

‘Did you hear, Akhane?’ I sent to my dragon. ‘And do you know where to meet them?’

‘I did, Little Flame! And I do! Let’s go!’ she bounced on her front feet, flapping her wings and chirping to urge me on as we reached the lawn outside the stables where they awaited us.

Donavyn caught my hand before we split, pulling me to a stop. I drew up short, panting quietly from the run. He handed me the rucksack I hadn’t noticed he was carrying over his shoulder, his expression serious.

“Food. They’ll be hungry,” he said softly, looking at the sky over my head. “We still don’t know where Ruin is, or Carnage, and you’re going to the mountains where many of the feral dragons herd. It was the safest place for them to land. Just… be careful.”

I nodded and stretched up on my toes to kiss him. “I love you too.”

He grunted, but when I started to pull away, he caught my chin and kissed me again. “Fill them in on everything while you’re out of the castle. We don’t have the bond with them, and their dragons won’t be close enough to communicate with ours. We’ll have to speak, and write things down. Cover as much as you can while you know you can’t be overheard—then get your ass back here.”

I nodded and kissed him one more time, then threw the straps of the bag over my shoulders, tying them at the front as I ran to Akhane. I laughed when she shrieked the moment I clicked into the safety strap, and lumbered into a run to take off.

‘Tell Akhane not to draw more attention than she must—’

‘We’ll be back in hours. Don’t worry. Good luck with the dragons.’

I felt his indignation, but he didn’t warn me again, and I was smiling as we flew away.

Finally. Finally, I could do more than just sit and wait for men to talk to me.

“There she is.”

I ran across a small clearing as my brothers emerged from the shadows under the trees and threw myself into Gil’s chest. He swept me up and spun me around, laughing while Voski chuckled behind him. Somewhere off to our right the dragons were reuniting too, but I’d left Akhane to greet them.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” I said breathlessly when Gil set me on my feet. I turned to Voski, who smiled and pulled me into his side, but Gil was already talking.

“We received the Commander’s order for silence, but holy shit, Bren. What’s going on? Even silence for the Shadowfang? Ronen was ready to rip someone a new asshole when we told him we were both under orders and couldn’t say how long we’d be gone.”

“We need more eyes. And more skilled sneaks,” I said, with a soft laugh, though my nerves were returning now that they were here and I realized what we had to achieve. “There’s… a lot. And a lot we still don’t understand.” I hardly knew where to start.

“Debrief now?” Voski asked quietly.

I nodded, then caught the glance that passed between them. Which is when it hit me—they were worn out. Dirty, grimy, probably hungry. They looked like they’d barely stopped to sleep on the trip, let alone wash. Which was likely true. They’d gotten here in just a few days.

“You guys need to eat. Do you have any rations left?”