Page 123 of Three Dark Kings and the Gilded Serpent

With that, Antony eases back, Stellen’s swords near-singing as they run across the black steel at Antony’s throat.

In a flash, Antony takes to the air, leaving Stellen to sheathe his weapons and turn to me, his white hair falling across his face.

We’re alone now except for Nara and the serpent.

Stellen takes a breath, the quietest inhalation sending warmth across my chest. “Will you ride with me?”

I’d already be at his side if it weren’t for the serpent. This beast saved my life. I’m not about to leave him.

The serpent makes the decision for me, sliding around me in a wide circle and hissing softly before he takes to the air without me. He flies back toward the mountain range. Possibly to find Maxim.

I don’t waste another moment.

Sprinting across the distance, I crash into Stellen’s arms. He hoists me off my feet and rains kisses on my cheeks, forehead, and then my lips. I sigh against his skin, the cool of his mouth easing the heat of my bruised lips.

Pressing kisses across my cheek, he reaches my earlobe, where he hums softly, sending a shot of heat to my core and making me gasp. And then smile.

I close my eyes and breathe in his icy scent, taking peace from his strong heartbeats. “I thought I lost you.”

His serious voice makes my heart squeeze. “And I you, Thyra.” His hands feather my back. “But death could never keep us apart.”

I search his eyes, running my fingertips across his jaw. “You’re…”

“Not so heartless anymore?”

He gives me a sudden, lopsided grin. “I’m reacquainting myself with all the emotions I haven’t felt for a long time.” His smile fades, his expression solemn again. “You gave me back my heart, Thyra, but you nearly paid with your life. Promise me you won’t do anything like that again.”

I catch my breath at the intensity of his command, drowning in the melody of his power as it seems he’s battling with the compulsion to command me with his Voice.

“I will promise no such thing,” I say firmly. “I will not lose you, Stellen. Not to death and not to darkness.”

His mouth swoops to mine and his kiss consumes me, my armor shivering at my soft moans.

“Very well,” he says, pulling away and leaving me gasping, his eyes twinkling. “Then I will also promise no such thing.”

Before I can drag him back to me, Nara nudges my back, demanding my attention.

I bury my hand in her fur. “Brave Nara,” I whisper before Stellen lifts me onto her back. He scoops to retrieve the leather hide that fell to the ground when he charged at Antony. After carefully refolding it, he hands it to me, filling my arms with it before he slides on behind me.

As Nara takes off at a gentle run, I ask, “What is this?”

“A dragon’s hide.”

I nearly drop it. My right hand suddenly burns where it presses to the leathery material, a sensation I can’t explain and haven’t felt for hours.

Stellen’s lips are instantly at my cheek, his arm tightening around my stomach where he slipped it between my body and the hide. “Your heart, Thyra. What’s wrong?”

I shake my head, uncertain why I felt a sudden, deep horror.

“The stories my father told me about dragons made it clear: they were vicious creatures. The Battle of the Fire Dragons killed thousands of fae long before the Dragonstone Blade was created. But this feels…wrong.”

“The death of any majestic creature is to be mourned,” Stellen says, “no matter how warmongering dragons may have been.”

Nara veers farther south, putting distance between us and the border, and Stellen murmurs at my ear. “Antony wasn’t wrong about staying out of sight. The Ember Fae tolerate me, but only as long as they need me. I need to be careful.”

We’re close enough to the border that I can home in on the devastation from afar. The fighting appears to have stopped. Farther north, a pall of black smoke is visible within the night’s darkness. If the dark channel hadn’t been dispersed, that smoke may well have created a dark conduit for vampyrs. I have so many questions about Antony’s mother, but first…

“What happened to make the fighting stop?”