Page 93 of Kingdom of Shadows and Wings

“Okay.” I hold up my hand. “I don’t know where you got that idea, but there’s nothing between us.” Somehow, the words sound less convincing out loud than they do in my head.

“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that. Don’t think I forgot how the sparks were flying this morning.” Olive props her hands on her hips. “I can’t believe you had the balls to call him an obnoxious asshole! What happened when you snuck into his room, anyway?”

“First of all, I never specified that he was the obnoxious asshole in question.” Even though he totally was. “If he inferred as much, that’s on him. Secondly, I’m kind of beat. Can we table this conversation for later?”

Olive’s shrewd eyes study my face. I try not to blush but can feel the warmth climbing my neck. She cackles and claps her hands. “Oh my gods! You hooked up! You hooked up with Instructor Tall, Dark, and Broody!”

“What? No!” Cringing, I slap my palm over her mouth and do a quick check of the stable. Empty. Thank the gods. For once, luck is on my side. “I didn’t hook up with him. Not like that, anyway. We just?—”

Olive rips my hands from her mouth and squeals. “You just what? Planted the parsnip? Fed the kitty? Swallowed his sword? Took a trip to pound town? Did the no-pants dance?”

I’m glad there’s no mirror around because my face must be bright red. “No. We just kissed. That’s it.”

Her eyes go round like saucers. “Ha! So somethingdidhappen. I was just giving you a hard time. I can’t believe you actually kissed him. How was it? Is he a good kisser? I bet he is. No man with the kind of confidence and sex appeal he oozes could be bad.”

As I remember our kiss, my skin warms for an entirely different reason. “The kiss was good. Perfect. But don’t get excited. He kicked me out right afterward and told me to go find another fledgling if I wanted a hookup, because he wasn’t on the menu.”

Olive winced. “Oof. Sorry, that’s rough. Maybe he was just trying to push you away.”

“I don’t really want to talk about it anymore. I want to know why you were so freaked out when you first saw me.”

The excitement dims from Olive’s face. “You know how Bigley announced there was an intruder in the dorms?” She waits for my nod before continuing. “Well, he broke into our room.”

I go still. “What?”

“Yeah. And there’s more.” She casts a worried glance at me, and my nerves begin to vibrate. Whatever she has to say next, I’m not going to like. “He had a dagger out and jumped you in the bed. Or, he at least jumped the clothes you stuffed under the blanket, thinking it was you. We all did. If Helene hadn’t been in the bathroom, I’m not sure what would have happened. She caught him while he was focused on your bed and woke me up. Between the two of us, we managed to subdue him.”

I stare into her concerned eyes as my mind attempts to process the news. “Does that mean…do you think someone targeted me to kill me?”

I don’t realize my hands are shaking until she clasps them in her own. “Torno told us not to jump to any conclusions before we have all the information. She also told us not to share details with anyone but fuck that. If someone’s after you, you deserve to know.”

Wild thoughts race through my head. Leesa’s scribbled note to keep me away from Flighthaven. The tombstone with my name. The freakish experiences with the eyril and the escaped dragon.

It’s too much to handle when I’m already close to passing out. I need sleep first. Maybe with a fresh mind, things will make more sense in the morning.

Once we finish caring for the alicorns, we leave the stable. Dawn isn’t too far off. If we hurry back, we might luck out with a few hours of sleep.

Chapter Thirty-One

The next morning, I wake up to a note from Thorne slipped under the door, canceling our training session. No explanation. Just a single curt line saying he can’t make the lesson.

I stare at the black letters on the white page. The precise, harsh pen strokes don’t surprise me. Thorne’s tidy room and background as a soldier speak to his discipline. In a couple spots, the ink is thicker, though, almost as if the writer paused to second-guess his wording.

When I catch myself still staring at the page minutes later, I stifle a groan. Wow. Am I really standing around, pouring over Thorne’s note as if his handwriting will unlock the secrets of his soul? It’s a new low, even for me. Especially when yesterday’s shitshow should be claiming all my attention.

The grave marker, the intruder, the attempted stabbing, the escaped dragon, my hallucinations over the eyril field. I don’t know what to make of any of it. I wish I understood why Leesa felt the need to play cat and mouse games with me. The only conclusion I can draw is that my sister was scared and believed sending me the letter or the book directly came with too much risk.

Still, the image of my name on that gravestone is permanently seared into my eyes. I can’t help but feel betrayed…by both my mother and Leesa.

I came to Flighthaven hoping for answers. Instead, with each passing day, I grow more confused. Do all the strange things happening to me tie together somehow? Or am I just blessed by a god that specializes in the bizarre and inexplicable?

Shaking my head at my own foolishness, I stash the note in my nightstand and fish out the book Royce gave me from beneath the mattress. I smooth my palm over the leather-bound cover. Of all subjects, why Tirenese history? Hopefully, an answer lies within the pages. If Leesa went to all the trouble of getting the book, along with a coded note, to Royce, then I have to believe there’s something important inside. Nothing left to do until breakfast but start reading.

In the aftermath of such an eventful night, the mess hall at breakfast overflows with rumors and gossip.

Despite repeated searches, no one located the missing black dragon. Privately, I celebrate his newfound freedom. I hope the dragon flies far from this place and never returns. I hope he soars above the Cyne mountain range, enjoying the sun warming his hide and the wind flowing beneath his wings. Traitorous or not, I go as far as to hope the dragon finds a herd of wild dragons to join, even if that means settling in Tirene.

There’s only one person I could share these hopes with. Too bad he canceled on me. I avoid getting drawn into the conversations as much as possible, snarfing down my oatmeal and leaving early to curb my rising frustration over everyone’s obsession with how to recover the beast.

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