Page 59 of Blood On His Lips

“Raniel.”

I scrunch my nose again. It’s old tongue, and hard to say the right way.

“Renaud,” he says a moment later.

That’s easier to say.

He’s not Faronne, but if he and Maman are friends, then he must be safe. And if I want to come back here, then I have to share too. I slide my hand into his, and before I wake up from my nap, he does show me some of the best places.

* * *

I climb up Raniel’s black tail, scampering onto his back, the castle ruins of Avellone at our back. He twists his great, long neck around to eye me, and stands.

“Are you ready?” he asks.

I’ve been nagging him for years to take me flying but he keeps saying he isn’t a pack mule. Whatever. So I made him a deal; if I can hide in the forest for twenty-four hours, he will take me flying.

I won.

Ha. Édouard began training me a year ago, though Raniel has been training me much longer. I’ve learned to use my Skills, to survive in the forest, to hide when there are bigger, badder predators than me. Which is most of the time.

Raniel is the biggest, baddest predator of them all. But he’s mine.

I shriek in excitement as he lifts his great wings and takes off, wind rushing into my face. This isn’t real, not really. We are in a weird pocket of time and space I’d stumbled on when I was a little girl, a pocket created by his mind. But because we are both Juhainah’s descendants we can both do the same things.

Raniel says that one day I’ll be as strong as him, though my avatar isn’t a dragon. It’s a kitten. A cute kitten, but I still feel disgruntled.

Cats are snacks,I think.

Cats are sly,Raniel corrects me.And they can move between the realms at will. They cannot be imprisoned or commanded. Your avatar will grow when it’s needed.

I want a dragon.

We can’t always have what we want. Embriel has difficulty with that lesson, as well.

But do you think I’ll be a dragon?I demand. I’ve asked the question hundreds of times.Do you?

I think you’ll be a harpy.

Hey!I punch his muscled back. He huffs a puff of hot air, then folds his wings, and dives. I shriek some more, laughing even though he meant the crazy air antics as a punishment for striking him.

He’s my best friend though. He wouldn’t ever let me fall off.

After the flight, he touches down on the beach, and I climb down his back and throw myself in the sand, grinning up at the sky.

“That was fucking awesome!”

Language,he says, and the dragon condenses into Raniel’s familiar warrior shape. He sits in the sand next to me, wrapping his arms around his knees and gazing out at the sea. Then he sighs.

“Little one, remember I told you my mind isn’t safe for you?”

I stiffen and sit up. My heart is beating faster now, and I start to protest, but he lifts a hand. He glances at me, eyes flashing bright blue. That means it’s time for me to shut up. He might be my best friend, but he’s still old, and very powerful.

“When you were little, it was safer, but you won’t be a child much longer. Wandering around at will in my mind will have consequences for us both.”

I swallow. “Are you—are you going to leave me?”

“No. But I must construct some boundaries, little one.”

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