Page 24 of Ashborne Forged

To my surprise, Voski whirled, taking my arms and rubbing them, his anger giving way to concern.

“Hey. Just breathe. Don’t listen to this idiot.”

“I am definitely not the idiot in this meadow!”

‘Don’t worry. I’ll get it under control. I’ll handle this. And him. Just breathe.’

I heard his voice in my head, echoing as if through a long tunnel, but he was standing right over me, rubbing my upper arms, his expression dark with concern.

I blinked. “Did you just—”

Voski’s eyes flew wide and his hand shot up to silence me. He turned back on Gil, growling at him. But his voice was in my head again.

‘The bond… the dragons… It lets us speak this way.’

I was stunned. And ecstatic. We could talk in our minds? Like we did with the dragons?

As Voski turned back to argue with Gil, I tried to reach him that way. But I didn’t know if he couldn’t hear me, or he was just too distracted.

Koa appeared in my mind, and I mentally leaped to her. ‘Koa! I think he spoke in my head! Can I do that? How?’

‘The bond gives this. But, it heals still.’ She sent me that image of the shriveled sapling, now soaking up rain and sun. ‘With time, it will grow.’

I was sad to know I couldn’t reach him that way. But prayed it wouldn’t be long.

I was about to pull Voski back, to encourage him to calm down, because he was truly angry at Gil. “…do not fuck this up for us. We need time. Not jokes!”

Gil raised his hands and some of the tension went out of Voski.

“Fine. Fine. I’ll talk to Ronen. Buy you some time.”

Voski stopped yelling, but his tone remained sharp. “You don’t tell him this. You shouldn’t even know.”

Gil looked exasperated. “How am I supposed to buy you time without telling him? Shit is going down right now, bro. Ronen won’t take you off patrol for a whim!”

“I don’t care. This is between me and Grace. You tell him…” Voski suddenly went still. My heart jumped. But then he spoke, very quietly. “Tell him I have a mission. A short one. Just a few days. While the General is gone. If you tell him, he’ll believe you.”

Gil’s expression was half-incredulous, half-rage. But he arched one brow and tipped his head toward me. “And the explanation for where she’s disappeared to?”

Voski swallowed. “Mates. Our dragons are mates. She has to come with me. She’s cleared to fly now.”

Gil’s lips thinned and he shook his head. “You sure about this, Vos?” he asked quietly. “False orders? If the General finds out—”

“He’s gone. He won’t,” Voski insisted. “Unless you tell him.”

They stood there, glaring at each other. And even though I knew Voski was trying to protect me—protect us—it just felt wrong.

“Are you sure you want this?” Gil scratched the back of his neck. “That’s a serious offense.”

“Say I was called up last minute, and I just passed on the orders through you so they’d know. If you keep your mouth shut and they still find out, the blame will land on me.”

They glared at each other until Gil sighed, and shrugged. “It’s your funeral,” he said finally.

Voski’s shoulders slumped with relief. “Thank you.”

Then Gil looked out at the meadow, and up at the night sky. “You’re going to have to get out of here. With the dragons. Patrols won’t catch the treehouse, but they’ll sure as shit see the dragons out here, day after day.”

“Leave it to me,” Voski said quickly. “You get Ronen to believe we had to fly, and bring us some clothes? And rations?”