Page 47 of The Keeper of the Kingdoms

“By the Goddess!”she cried .“What if she—”Her words cut off with a yelp as her body tumbled onto my wing, then slipped straight off. I dared to look beneath me in that split second, hoping beyond hope I’d imagined it, but there she was, flailing in the air.

Fuuuuck!

I dove, banking sharply as I did, and leveled out just above her. I caught her quickly, and her scream cut off.

“I’ve got you,”I soothed.“I’ve got you.”

When she didn’t reply, I thought she had passed out again. Fuck, fuck, fuck! She was never going to fly again. We were done. How could I let this happen? I brought us in to land, cradling her.

I set her gently down and shifted.

“Kiera?” I went to her immediately, surprised to find her dusting herself off. I grasped her shoulders in case she fainted and studied her. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry.”

“It was my fault. I got overexcited. Thank you for catching me.” She tidied her hair as she looked around. She didn’t even seem upset about the fall. “Where are we?”

I stepped back, shocked by her calm demeanor. “Do you need to sit down?”

“Sit down? I can’t possibly sit down. I need to get back to my books and look into all of this!” She looked me up and down. “Why did you shift? Shift back! I need you to take us home.”

I blinked. Not wanting to bring up her crippling fear of flying, but at the same time wanting to check that she was in her right mind. Perhaps she was delirious from shock. “You realize you just fell off me again?”

“Yes, yes, and you caught me, but we have work to do, so come on! Be a dragon again so we can get back.” She clapped her hands to hurry me up, and not being able to think of anything else to say, I did as she asked and shifted back.

TWENTY

KIERA

“When did this miracle happen?” Zaria called as we came into land in the courtyard.

“Oh no! I need to go do some research. I can’t go to the festival yet,”I said to Jaxus, through our bond.

“You go and at least make some notes. I’ll try and delay them.”Jaxus offered as I slid off his back.

The air changed behind me in an almost audible swoosh as his form changed. The rush of his shift pulling at my chest. I bent to grab his pants from my bag, tossing them over my shoulder, so as to not see him. After our almost thing in the prep room, it was much better not to look.

I still didn’t know where that kiss had landed us. We had barely even become friends, and now, there was this whole new dimension to try and navigate.

He stepped beside me as he tied the waist, giving me a side glance which I refused to read into.

“That was the first time,” I said as Zaria, Nyx and Luka approached. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and finish something?—”

“Nope! It’s a high holy day and the festival has started already. More work can wait. My mate promised to take the afternoon off and you have to come too. I’m putting my foot down. This is my first festival!” Zaria scolded, wiping her forehead as she stopped in front of us. “Goddess! It’s so warm.”

I sighed, “Okay, but I need to change out of these leathers. It’s way too hot for them if I’m not flying.”

“Go on then. We will wait here.” Zaria shooed me off. Clearly, she was in a hurry to get to the fun.

I turned and entered the healer’s wing at a brisk pace and as soon as I was out of sight, I broke into a run, eager to buy a few minutes to make notes. I burst into my rooms, bolted straight for my journal, and hastily spilled my thoughts from our flight down onto the paper so that I could research everything when we returned later. Then, I threw on a summer dress and headed back out to meet my friends.

“Wow!” Zaria exclaimed when I appeared outside. “That dress is?—”

Jaxus turned around and when he caught sight of me, he swallowed. “Revealing,” he said tightly.

“Wait until we get to the festival grounds. It’s sweltering, so I’m betting everyone will be half-naked before sundown.” Luka smirked, elbowing Zaria. “So much to look at.”

“I don’t need to see a bunch of half-dressed females. It’s about more than that.” Zaria rolled her eyes.

“No, he’s right, that is the best part.” I grinned, feeling Jaxus’ eyes on me.

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