Page 9 of Under Restless Skies

He blinks, fanning his face with his long lashes, then a corner of his mouth lifts. “Well, obviously. You started it.”

“How exactly did I start anything?”

He shrugs. “You were staring at me like you were starving and I was a juicy shrimp.”

How insolent. I tilt my head and narrow my eyes. “Perhaps I wanted to see if it was rotten.”

He gives me a broad smile. “So you were considering devouring me?”

I sigh, annoyed that he can threaten my life in one breath and joke about it in the other. “Why did you come here?”

His playful smile fades, replaced by an intense, piercing stare. “I saw what you did. You have some special powers.”

For a second, I think he means magic, and a ripple of cold traces my spine. The idea is so outlandish, so absurd. Magic exists only in stories. He means jumping down the tower. Physical powers. Or my ability to realize that there was no ball.

But I need to be sure. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing, of course.” His chuckle is obnoxiously light and playful. “You’re right to hide your talents. But… I have a proposal for you.”

Could he be tricking me? Was everything part of a plan? I don’t know, and all I do is cross my arms. “So you want something, after all.”

He points at me and winks. “Not as much as you do, no. But I can save you.”

“Save me from the alleged death sentence due to your own actions, you mean?”

“Not my actions.” He clenches his fist and changes his tone. “I’m just a cog. Insignificant. Replaceable. I’m nothing. When you’re nothing, you can’t defy power. It’s how things work. You wish I had spared you, but I had no more choice than you did. No more power than you did.”

“You’re a Sky Academy instructor, are you not?”

“I’m not. I’m nothing, just a second-year recruit. They let me man the Foros table, but that’s not power.”

I stare, surprised. He does look too young to be an instructor, but it still doesn’t make sense. “You’re too old to be a recruit.”

“Old?” His eyes widen, and he places a hand on his hip. “Oh. My joints! I’m so, so old!”

I shake my head, unimpressed with his nonsense. “Twenty is the limit.”

“Fine. I’m a special case. Special, and not special. Given a wisp of power, hardly enough to make any decision, to have any influence.” He snorts, his tone shifting into anger. “You think I like wielding power that’s not mine? I hate it. Hate being an instrument to be used by others.”

His rage sounds sincere—a facade cracking. “I’m sorry,” I mutter, unsure what else to say.

“I don’t want your pity.”

“It’s not pity. It’s just…” I’m not even sure what I feel. All I know is that I don’t want to keep circling around what’s truly bothering me. “Do you at least know why? Why they made me fail?”

He shakes his head. “No idea. Frankly, it makes no sense. You were brilliant in the tower test. You’re everything the academy wants. Why wouldn’t they take you? I don’t know, but I don’t make the rules. I can’t defy them either. Not yet, at least.” He focuses his eyes on me. “But what I can do is help you find the answer. Help you understand why they did that, or rather, who did that.”

“How?”

“I have no power. True. But it’s all about to change. Once I accomplish my mission, I’ll no longer be nothing. I can get you a pardon, can even get you in the academy, if it’s still what you want. Would you like that?”

“Of course. But in exchange for what?” I’m not ignorant to think he’s here offering me freedom at no cost.

He runs his fingers through his brilliant, black hair. “Your powers interest me. I had it all planned, ready to do it on my own, but then I saw you, and realized there was a piece missing. That piece is you. Come with me, help me with my mission.”

“To do what?”

“Steal dragon eggs from the riders.”