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I’d begun to see that, wondering if I had any place in his world. Perhaps Kol was right in choosing not to heartbond with me. Maybe his instincts were better than mine.
He spun me around and pulled me flush against his chest, buckling us together. Leaning down, he whispered, “I like the way you feel against me like this.”
I lifted my chin in the air, refusing to meet his heated gaze over my shoulder. “I’m sure you do. I think you just like having me bound to you and at your mercy.”
“Oh. No doubt of it.”
“Hmph. You’d best just keep your eye on the sky and your head out of the gutter.”
His arms wrapped around my front. “Later.” A quick kiss on my neck as he braced me in his arms.
I stared up at the smudge of moon hidden behind billowy clouds. “Fly, Moonring.”
“As my mistress commands.”
With one bend of the legs, we rocketed into the night sky, flying low over the lake, moving south. I gripped the straps crossing my chest, the best place to “hang on.” Though I had no real control at all. I hoped Kol understood how much trust this took for a human, placing my life in his hands. Literally.
Flanked on our right were Kieren, Valla, and Bowen, their wings dark against a mist-gray night. To the left in V-formation were Lorian, Kraven, and Conn. Because of the haze, we steered closer to the ground, rather than find cover in the clouds.
We moved swiftly over and out of the valley, crossing a rocky, barren wasteland. We finally drew close to Gladium, flying over the frosted forest of Singing Wind Woods.
I’d muffled my face behind the collar of my trench, but still the cold seeped into my cheeks and gloved fingers. Kol’s arms tightened around me. “You’re shivering.”
I snorted a laugh. “Humans aren’t built for flying in the freezing cold.” I couldn’t hide the tone of bitterness from leaking into my voice.
“What’s wrong, Moira?”
“Nothing. I just?—”
Slam!
My body jerked sideways. Someone gripped my arm. I caught a flash of yellow wings. One of Kol’s arms left me, then the other as he grappled mid-air with two, maybe three Morgons. We spun toward earth. I punched at the Sunsting soldier gripping my arm, my fist glancing off, landing nowhere. A flare of silver. A dagger. I screamed, kicking and struggling. The whole time we were surrounded and gripped by the enemy, wings flapping, all of us falling in a mass of grappling limbs.
The cries of mid-air battle echoed above us. A fireball burst from someone, beaming across the inky sky. The distinct singing of Valla’s Drakonian steel clanged against another. One of Bowen’s arrows whistled through the air, hitting a large target.
The solder who gripped my arm swung his dagger toward me. No, he wasn’t aiming for me. It was the straps linking me to Kol.
“No!” I screamed.
I was yanked away from him. A bellowing growl filled the night. I glimpsed Kol held by two Morgons as we still spun mid-air—one trying to stab a knife in his chest, the other attempting to stab him in the back. He had both men by the throats, squeezing the life out of them, his face contorted in rage. The one with a death-grip on my arm sliced through air, severing the other strap.
“Kol!”
Feeling our bonds broken, silver eyes whipped to mine. His great wings beat furiously to free himself from the grips of the other men. I dangled in the hold of my captor. He laughed, his hand wrapping my wrist.
“You want her, Moonring? Go get her.”
The vise on my wrist released me, tossing me into the night. I screamed.
So did Kol. “Moira!”
Falling, falling, falling.
Breathless. I flailed my arms, helpless to save myself.
Treetops filled my vision. Frozen, craggy branches stabbed upward, as if rocketing toward me, though it was my body plummeting down. I closed my eyes, unable to watch my death come closer. I stilled my limbs and opened my arms, finding peace in no longer fighting for control, because there was none to be had. I pictured the one who meant the most to me in all the world—hard planes, icy stare, warm hands, warmer heart.
“I love you,” I whispered into the wailing wind.
