Page 117 of Veiled

He drags his hand down his face, “I didn’t want to upset you and ruin the great night we’d been having by making you think there was still something between us. But then I ruined everything anyway.”

“I don’t care that you’ve dated people before me, Aiden. We’re not in middle school. I’ve obviously dated people before you since you were friends with my ex.”

I hear him grumble, but I continue.

“But I’m not ok with you lying to me. I want more than that. I deserve more than that.”

His face falls with guilt, but I wait for him to decide where he wants to go from here.

“I’m so sorry, you’re right,” his voice is somber, “you deserve to have everything.” When I don’t speak still, he asks, “Will you forgive me?”

“No more lies.”

“Okay.”

“No, Aiden, I’m serious, say it.”

“No more lies,” he promises. “Now, can I please hold your hand?” He holds his hand open the same way he did the night we met, only now it’s a question. A prayer.

The second our skin touches, he pulls my hand to his mouth and kisses the back of it before holding it to his face. “For the last hour, all I could think about was what I would do if our dance was the last time you’d ever let me hold you.”

“Aiden…it was an argument. Couples have those, ya’ know? But I’m still here.”

His eyes close for a second, relief softening every line of his face.

“You have no idea what you mean to me,” he whispers.

Chapter forty-four

Annalise

“Ikeep forgetting how many recruits in Charlie Company dropped this class. I guess tossing you all on dragon back in the first month really helped thin the herd.” Lorenson laughs from the front of the classroom.

“Anyway, you’ve all read the safety protocols, yes?” she asks as if she didn’t test us on them herself.

“Good. Now, forget half of them. Dragons don’t follow manuals, and once you’re bonded, neither will you.”

Definitely not the direction I thought this was going.

“The truth is, you are here to become elite. And to be elite, you have to be able to think for yourselves: make the hard decisions quickly, and then live with the consequences."

She paces slowly, letting her words sink in. “Yesterday, the Bravo class recruits who were chosen last weekend to become riders secured their bonds. Today, I’m going to teach you about the dragons who might be willing to bond with you six months from now.”

She stops, sweeping her gaze over us, meeting every pair of eyes.

“That does not mean they will bond. Bonding is sacred. Dragons choose once in their lifetime, and they will not choose unless they find a rider whose soul aligns with theirs. When they bond, it’s for life…yours and theirs. If your dragon dies, you die. And when you die, you take a piece of them they can never give again. Most of the dragons willing to bond are much older for this reason, but we do have some youngins’ who haven’t quite hit their first century, in this bonding group.”

Instructor Lorenson flips the projections of the forty-two dragons who are considering bonding, and gives a brief description of age, personality traits observed, and any of their known triggers, so we can avoid being scorched.

“Is there a way to know which magical abilities each dragon has and what magic their rider will gain after bonding?” Oscar asks.

“No. Dragons reveal their gifts only after the bond is sealed. Until then, even the spell casters cannot discover what will emerge. Color, lineage, gender—none of it has ever shown a pattern. Each bond is its own mystery.”

He processes her answer for a heartbeat, eyes brightening with curiosity, then shoots his hand up again.

When she nods to him again, he asks, “What abilities tend to appear the most?”

“Elemental magics are by far the most common: fire resistance and control, water shaping and being able to breathe underwater for short periods of time, and then minor earth manipulations such as encouraging plant growth or triggering small tremors.