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That sobered her. Were the others still aboard the ship?
Had they gotten Caryn out?
She broke away and scanned the skies. A billow of black smoke led her to a spot in the distance. The ship was plummeting like a stone.
“Caryn! Oh, gods!Caryn!”Panic fired in her bones as the ship fell below the tree line, crashing in a fiery explosion.
Devastation knocked her to her knees. “Did they get out? Aidan, I don’t see them!”
He knelt in front of her and pulled her into his embrace, though he said nothing to assure her. Because he couldn’t. His head tilted back, eyes furiously searching the sky. A heartbeat of utter silence passed, then another. Still no sign of them. Hope withered. Her throat tightened with choking grief. She fought her tears, but they breached her lower lids anyway, falling in fat waves. The salt stung her wind-whipped cheeks and the cut on her lip.
Then suddenly Aidan exclaimed, “There! I see them.”
Her pulse leapt. Sniffing, she swiped at her tears and gazed through bleary vision, following his line of sight. A small speck in the sky slowly grew in size. She made out the shape of wings, gliding toward them.
She shot to her feet in anticipation.
But there was only one rider atop Lear, and she couldn’t make out who it was. Then she caught the glimmer of Asher’s silvery skin and her heart broke once more, the pain nearly too much to bear. “Caryn’s not with them!”
“She is,” Aidan quickly assured. “He’s carrying her in one of his hind paws.”
Sure enough, Caryn clung like a barnacle to one sharp talon that was as long as she was tall. Onnika nearly collapsed from the rush of relief. Aidan steadied her with his body.
Lear landed on the far end of the grassy meadow, taking care with his occupants. Asher jumped off him directly and rushed to peel Caryn from Lear’s talon. Caryn seemed disinclined to budge, her eyes closed tight.
Onnika cried out her name and finally she opened her eyes, searching. Once she caught sight of Onnika, Caryn scrambled out of Lear’s paw and the two raced across the meadow toward one another, nearly crashing as they threw their arms around each other.
“You’re okay! You’re okay!” Caryn half-laughed, half-cried. “I thought you were dead!”
“I thoughtyouwere dead.”
“I’m sorry!” Caryn wailed. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t. This wasn’t your fault.”
“I should have felt it coming. Shouldn’t I have feltsomethingcoming?”
Onnika shook her head. “Ishould have seenit coming. This is my fault, not yours.”
“Stop it. You’re always taking the blame. Just stop it.” Hugging her nearly too tight for breath, Caryn buried her face in Onnika’s neck, quickly drenching her with tears.
“All right,” Onnika relented, wanting only to soothe Caryn’s distress. “We’re safe now. Everything worked out. We can argue about it later.”
Caryn gave a weak laugh and then sucked in several harsh breaths. “I’m so g-glad…you’re okay.”
Lear had returned to his normal form, and the guys had gathered off to the side, slapping each other’s backs and congratulating one other like they’d just saved the world. In a way, they had. They’d saved Onnika’s world by saving Caryn. If anything had happened to her, Onnika didn’t know what she would do, how she would go on—
She brushed Caryn’s back and met something wet. When she lifted her hand, she found red smudges on her fingertips.
“Caryn?”
Caryn listed to one side and then went limp in Onnika’s arms.
