Page 92 of Crown of Wings and Whispers

He blinked at her, confused, but still leaned away. He was terrified.

“Urban?”

He closed his eyes. “I am…intolerant of snakes.”

I snorted. “She’s not a—”

Kivi’s sudden laughter made us all jump. The booming of her barrel chest was loud enough for the entire district to hear, and when she gasped for breath, I worried flames might come out of her mouth. She even tipped onto her side and rolled onto her wings while she got it all out. And by the time she was done, all my friends were huddled near the back door, deliberating whether or not to hide inside.

Urban hadn’t moved an inch. Instead of leaning away, he stood with his arms folded, glowering.

Kivi, control yourself.

She immediately sobered, rolled back to her feet, and shook the white stuff off her wings. She stomped her hand on the ground just two feet from Urban. “Come, MacKenzie. Let me show you the difference between a snake and anathair sciathánacha.”

I didn’t understand. “What did she say?”

Urban inhaled and exhaled violently. “Winged snake.”

I couldn’t resist another minute and threw my arms around him. “I’ve missed you.”

He wrapped his bulging arms around me long enough for a squeeze, then pulled back. His nervous gaze wasn’t on Kivi then, but on Griffon, who didn’t look happy at all. I laughed at them both.

“Rides can wait until tomorrow,” I told her. “Why don’t we deal with the broken cloches?”

Everly hurried back to us with a furry coat in her hands. “You must be freezing.”

I shook my head and explained that I don’t get cold anymore, for the most part. But I took the coat just to show I was grateful for the thought. The rest of them trickled back to us. Griffon opened one of the bags to get out the box of rocks while I explained that we were about to attempt to free the damaged stones.

“I’m not sure what will happen, exactly,” I said, “but Kivi thinks we should be safe enough.”

“Safe enough.” Brian laughed. “So an unknown degree of safety.”

“Exactly.” I opened the box and passed it around. “I don’t suggest you touch them.”

“No gemstones,” Kitch pointed out. “And no gold?”

“I guess that’s why Kivi calls them broken. I can hear them. They want me to touch them.”

Griffon explained what happened when I finally put Hank in my bare hand. “I have been assured these shouldnotturn into dragons.” He glanced at me, his message was clear—he was prepared for the worst.

To be honest, so was I…

* * *

For safety’s sake,Everly suggested Urban stay back with the boys. “Gladly,” he said, and lifted Gavin by the scruff of his neck to march the protesting child back to the patio. His nod was all it took to get the other two moving. And the thought struck me that every boy needed an Uncle Urban.

Griffon was watching me. He looked pointedly at Urban, then back at me. “Something I should worry about?”

I giggled and stretched onto my toes in a wordless command to kiss me. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”

He kissed me a second time, but still scowled. “That doesn’t answer the question.”

The way he looked at the box of stones, as it was passed back to me, explained his sudden worry. He was afraid I was about to get six new friends that might come between us. In fact, he was probably worried that any of my friends, arrayed behind us, might do the same.

To reassure him, I extended the box to him. “Hold this. And stay close. Anything happens, we’re out of here, right?”

He finally smiled. “Right.”

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