Page 37 of Ashen Wings

“Let’s not pretend I don’t already know your truths, Nova Lindwen. Own them unapologetically. He’ll talk to you because…”

“I’m exhausted,” I snip. “The plan hasn’t changed, I’ll accompany you to Storm. Now, I’d like to go to bed.” My thoughts spiral, leaving me a tangled mess of panic-stricken thread. I came so close to admitting the truth—one I haven’t even allowed myself to acknowledge in over twenty years.

Jace’s fingers curl around the settee armrest. His gaze kindles to a restrained fury, but he stands and makes for the door.

“Good night, then,” is all he says before turning the corner down the hall.

16

Just before sunrise, Tenebris and Jace are waiting in the front courtyard. While I begged my head to shut the fuck up, only a sleepless night of quiet fury found me. There’s a heaviness as I descend the steps and follow the curve of the hall toward the back exit. Maybe if I was brave enough or empathetic enough I’d have just admitted the truth, but I’m scared and selfish and this life of cruelty has most certainly fucked me up beyond repair.

I shift my pack strap to the other shoulder and exit the arboretum, leaving the rounded stone columns and carvings to slumber in the quiet dawn’s light.

Every thought quiets when my gaze locks on Tenebris’s glittering red eyes. Regardless of form, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to staring into those irises—like polished garnet and lifeblood.

“All packed?” Jace asks, securing the shoulder strap of his black leather breastplate. His hair is slightly disheveled, either he too had a rough night’s sleep or he and Tenebris took one last sky patrol this morning. I tell myself it’s the latter as I cinch my pack to Tenebris’s saddle. A growl rumbles in the dragon’s jaws, sending my heart crashing up my throat.

“Is this right?” I gesture toward the pack.

Jace chuckles and pats Tenebris’s side. Fuck, even a single scale is larger than his palm. “Yes, Tenebris just isn’t thrilled about carrying the extra weight.”

The dragon huffs but shifts to lower the foot hold.

“You can communicate with him when he’s in dragon form?” My stomach lurching over the immense power beneath those four giant legs.

“Of course. All bonded riders can. Think of it like a link or an offering from the gods. When I accepted Tenebris into my mind, it allowed him access to all of my thoughts, emotions, even my intentions. I am an extension of him just as he is me,” Jace says, climbing up Tenebris’s hind leg. He settles into the saddle and offers a hand. My throat tightens at the thought of closing even the slightest of distance between us, but I take it and place my foot in the hold.

“Careful of his spines here.” Jace points to a ridgeline of bony black stones between Tenebris’s wings as he helps me into the saddle. “They’re a bit sensitive and the old grump’s rather ticklish.”

I tuck into the seat, my thighs clenching around the leather. If I weren’t strapped into a harness, tethering me to the biggest, most terrifying dragon on the fucking continent I might laugh. Jace describes Tenebris like he’s an old friend rather than a near-immortal leviathan.

“Now, flying lesson—when we take off, keep your arms close and your head low. Same during quick maneuvers. If we’re forced to gain altitude, only slow steady breaths. The air up there is thinner and it’s harder to breathe so you don’t want to expel too much energy or get your pulse up. Got it?”

“I—” The questions flee before I can ask them, and I’m left blinking like an idiot at the Midnight King.

“Great.” He smirks. “We’ll fly until we’re close to Storm’s border. Then it’s on foot from there,” he explains, lacing his arms through mine. My back straightens as I breathe in his all too consuming scent. The last time we were this close he threatened to kill me, and even now my heart slams against my chest in an unrelenting rhythm.

“You ready?” he asks, his breath warm against my ear. I fight the gooseflesh rising on my skin and nod.

Tenebris stands and just the movement of his body has my stomach rolling.

“Oh, and Nova?” Jace whispers, his lips grazing the curve of my ear. “Don’t close your eyes.”

With that, Tenebris spreads his wings and we launch into the air, like an arrow loosed through the sky, but our trajectory is perpetually vertical. My thighs clench around the saddle as we rise, higher and higher, at speeds no human was ever made to withstand.

A scream builds in my throat, but I bite my cheek. I won’t humiliate myself in front of Jace fucking Ashborne. Not today. Not ever. Tenebris’s body ripples with the flow of air around us and the breeze on my face draws tears from my eyes.

“You alright?” Jace asks, his grip never faltering around me.

“Fine,” I manage, but I'm so far from it I might piss myself.

The fortress grows smaller as we continue our ascent, flying higher and faster and farther through the cloud cover. A cool mist cocoons us and the world goes blurry for a moment.

Then, a glorious sunrise swirling endlessly into the horizon. My breath catches as I take in the utter divinity of the skies, and for the briefest of moments I can taste the vast freedom up here. It’s sweet and spiced like the freshest summer fruit.

Tenebris levels out and we cruise for a while, following the sun as it traverses the sky above us.

“Gods,” I whisper, entirely enamored with this foreign world. Shadow, Smoke, even Sovereign, feels worlds away—like we’ve flown through the cosmos and found ourselves in an entirely different realm.