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I could sense her smiling. Really?

Yeah. But maybe … you should wait to do that until …

Until what?

Until I’m ready for something like that. Shit, could dragons blush? I felt like I was blushing. Now, get on, Pendragon. You want a ride or not?

She laughed and continued her climb. All right, all right.

Before I lose my fucking mind, I muttered softly.

I can hear that, you know.

I felt my maw split. Did dragons grin? That grump Nyxaris probably didn’t. As for my uncle—Viktor’s head would probably fall off if he ever tried.

I gathered my wings and launched. Bloodwing fell away beneath us. Pendragon made a sound that was half gasp and half delighted curse and clung tighter. She knew what she was doing, I told myself, as I felt a pang of concern thinking of how high we were. The last time she’d been wrapped in my arms it had been different. This time … well, she seemed so small up there, perched on my back. I could hardly feel her at all unless I focused. Then another bright, giddy laugh spilled out of her like it had been trapped, and I stopped thinking about anything but showing my girl a good time.

Faster, she demanded breathlessly. Go faster.

I banked hard, enjoying the way she screamed in surprise. The wind roared. The ocean waves were tiny white specks below us. I flew farther and farther out over the water. Up here, nothing could touch us. With Pendragon on my back, everything felt … right.

I forgot I could be this happy, she whispered. And to have this feeling with you.

I know. It feels like …

Like magic, she supplied.

Yes. I focused, feeling her breathing against my scales, the weight of her thighs against my back.

There are beautiful things in the world, Blake, she murmured. I felt her hands loosen slightly from where she’d been gripping my spines. Because she trusted me. Blake, she said.

Yeah?

Thank you for reminding me.

I carried my rider through the night, with the stars sparkling above us, the darkness as our shield. Everything else might be falling apart. But we still had this. We still had each other. And we always would.

Chapter 43

MEDRA

The Dragon Court was quiet and dark as we gathered early the next morning. Classes wouldn’t begin for another four hours. It was strange to think of students still asleep, safely buried under blankets, worrying about nothing more than their unfinished essays. The thought made the knots in my stomach deepen, not in jealousy exactly, but with an aching awareness of how lucky they were. Though the truth, of course, was that they weren’t safe. Not really. They all had their own terror to carry, their own traumas to recover from. Another wave of the plague could sweep through at any time. The memory of what had happened to Veilmar was burned in everyone’s minds. That didn’t fade so fast.

But still, for the most part, they didn’t know what we knew. I envied them that. They didn’t know about Marcus and Catherine trying to crack the Veil like a piece of glass. They didn’t know Viktor had been orchestrating all of this for years. If anything, the blightborn probably saw his departure as some kind of reprieve. They didn’t know there were more dragons.

And best of all, they didn’t know, didn’t think, didn’t care about Florence.

My throat tightened at the thought of her. These last few days, my body had started guarding that name from my own mind. But she was out there, somewhere in the dark, somewhere within Viktor’s reach. I didn’t know what was happening to her, what had already happened. And the not knowing was its own special kind of torture.

A gust of wind blew in off the cliffs, and I inhaled slowly, savoring the cold air. It felt like I’d been waiting for this for so long. Now, finally, we were here. Finally, we were leaving. Soon we’d be belowground. Was there wind in the dwarven kingdom? We were preparing to go underneath the world—that was the part that didn’t feel quite real. This wasn’t a few cramped tunnels with low ceilings and torches for light, like the passages just below Bloodwing, this was an entire other realm, one that stretched out below the continent of Sangratha, mirroring it like a shadow. Zaira had been little help: The descriptions she’d given us had been short and matter-of-fact. But my mind had managed to fill in some of the gaps. I knew there were cities, towns, too. I’d tried to imagine them: cities carved into rock, wide stone streets and bridges that spanned underground gorges. Of course, we’d be bypassing the populated regions of Thrazdummar. Our journey would take us on a farless-traveled route. The road would be desolate and dangerous.

Around me was the evidence of all our preparation. The court was cluttered with supplies: bedrolls and lanterns, tents and coils of ropes, crates of rations and bandages and blankets. It was more than we could carry. Fortunately, the dwarven delegation included some attendants who would help us get our gear to the starting point. I was still vague about where exactly that was—Lord Dinesh Sharma, Blake, and Professor Sankara had gone ahead to check the passage below Bloodwing for us, so I would soon find out. I was grateful we’d have help along the way.

I watched Rodriguez hover over a basket of books and parchments like a mother hen guarding her nest. He looked like he hadn’t slept all night, his hair rumpled, sleeves rolled up, and shirt collar unbuttoned. He frowned down at a pile of supplies and began rearranging them frantically. “No, no, no,” I heard him mutter. Then, more loudly, “Who the hell put the herbal tinctures beside the lamp oil—do you have any idea how dangerous that is? These are flammable remedies. Flammable.”

A few steps away, Zaira Bloodshield narrowed her eyes at Rodriguez from where she stood inspecting the contents of another crate. She wore a heavy black cloak covered with embroidered gold runes. Her long hair fell down her back in thick braided ropes. “If the arrangements aren’t to your satisfaction, Professor Rodriguez, please do feel free to remain at the academy.” Zaira’s voice took on a dangerous edge. “Must I remind you I am one of the leaders of this expedition? I am not to be spoken to like one of your underling students.”

I eyed the Stone Keeper warily. I still hadn’t figured out exactly what a Stone Keeper was exactly, but I had a feeling we were going to find out soon. Regardless, Zaira was someone I had decided I wasn’t going to mess around with unless I had no other choice.