Page 56 of Kingdom of Shadows and Wings

“That the dragon was still alive and suffering?”

“I mean, wasn’t it obvious?”

He pats Zephyr’s muzzle. “Clearly not to everyone, or else they wouldn’t have stood around with their thumbs up their asses.”

I frown, mentally reviewing the events. I ran up. Laid eyes on the dragon. Knew he was still hanging on. “I’m not sure. There was a lot going on, and with all the pounding in my head and the mass confusion, I can’t remember exactly what happened. I probably saw his chest rise or his eyelid twitch or something.”

He considers that for a moment, then nods. “Probably.”

His tone strikes me as a little off, but whatever. I’m too busy congratulating myself over the discovery that the distraction worked. We walked this entire time without me freaking out. Hope rises that I’ll get the hang of this soon.

Powerful wings start to unfurl beneath me, and my newfound confidence dissolves. I freeze and squeeze my thighs around the alicorn’s sides. “Holy hells. What’s he doing?”

“Take it easy. He’s just stretching his wings. I’ve got the lead.”

“Are you sure?” My voice rises by several octaves. “That felt a lot like flapping. Not just stretching.”

Zephyr’s silvery wings unfurl the rest of the way, the gleaming feathers catching the breeze and fluttering.

Panic claws through me.

He’s going to take off.

Without thinking, I fling my right leg over the saddle and jump.

Thorne catches me, grunting as our bodies make contact. Terror transforms into prickly awareness when I register the sensation of my breasts mashed against his firm chest. As his warmth surrounds me, my stomach clenches. Lust coils in my belly and steals my breath. Time stands still as his pupils dilate, the silence between us seething with unnamed desires. The tension binds us until Thorne snaps free with a jerk of his head.

He drops me like a flaming stick and puts space between us. Angling his face toward the ground, he walks Zephyr in a circle. “So are you ever planning on telling me why you’re so petrified of alicorns?”

Huh. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say my flight instructor’s the one desperate for a distraction now. I nibble my lower lip, debating. I could tell him to mind his own business but that seems a little ungrateful. Annoying or not, he is helping me, and despite Mother’s paranoia, there’s no real reason to keep the event that triggered my fear a secret.

“When I was four, I was riding an alicorn with my father when we were attacked. My father was wounded, and I fell off the alicorn and almost died. My father saved me but succumbed to his wounds later.”

He stops abruptly, causing Zephyr to toss his head. “I’d be careful about who you share that story with. Who told you that? Your mother?”

“Partly, but I also remember bits and pieces. My father’s laugh….then screams. Fire. Falling.”

I shiver, goose bumps erupting over my skin like clouds blotting out the sun.

“Do you know what prompted the attack?”

My upper lip curls. “Nothing except for the brutality of the Tirenese. We were only one of several attacks that day, half of them on children. I try to keep an open mind toward Kamor and other kingdoms that come into conflict with Aclaris, but Tirene could go up in flames and I wouldn’t shed a single tear.”

I can tell my answer displeases him by how his jaw tics, but I don’t care. If he wants to judge me for loathing the kingdom responsible for my father’s death, he can be my guest. I don’t owe him or the Tirenese a damn thing.

He clicks his tongue and walks Zephyr toward the stable. “That’s enough for today.” When I try to trail his moody ass, he waves me off. “You’re free to go. I’ll return Zephyr to his stall.”

I watch him retreat for a few moments before walking away, cursing flight instructors with moods that change faster than a threatened chameleon changes colors. Whenever we’re forced to spend time in each other’s company, the highs and lows I experience in rapid succession give me whiplash.

Despite his infuriating personality, something draws me too him.

It’s the expression in his eyes when he gazes off into the distance. And how he seems closer to the animals in his care than any of the other staff.

Beneath that arrogant exterior, Sterling Thorne is lonely. I’d stake a year’s allowance on it.

Because if there’s one thing I’m an expert on, it’s loneliness.

Chapter Nineteen

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