Page 201 of The Black Witch

When I look back up, Yvan’s fiery eyes lock onto mine, alight with a defiance that kindles my own.

* * *

That night, I dream.

I’m in Yvan’s barn, bathed in the faint light of a lantern’s glow. Instead of just a few pages fromThe Bookscattered thinly about, thousands of them carpet the barn’s floor.

A figure emerges from the shadows. Yvan. His outline shimmers, fluid and indistinct, then rapidly coalesces into a solid presence.

He strides toward me, green eyes blazing. The pages swirl around his feet, the thin paper light as feathers. Without hesitation, Yvan pulls me toward himself and joins his lips to mine in fierce urgency.

I gasp, stunned by the intensity of his unexpected kiss. I feel the warmth coming off his skin through the rough wool of his shirt as I melt into his hunger, the feel and taste of him molten. Like honey warmed to scorched liquid, shuddering through me.

I slide my hand up the taut muscles of his neck, through his hair. Feel his hot breath on me as he kisses my neck, my face, my hair, my lips, as if starved for me.

“I love you, Elloren,” he says, his voice ragged.

The warmth blooming inside me swells and fills my heart with a happiness so raw, it hurts. It feels so right to be with him. Like coming home after a long, impossible journey.

“Yvan,” I breathe against the sharp line of his jaw. “I love you, too.”

Out of nowhere, a fierce wind whips up.

The pages ofThe Bookswirl and lift, then cyclone around us, taking on a fierce life of their own. I cry out as the pages push between us and force us apart, their sharp edges scraping mercilessly at my skin.

And then I can’t see him. I can only see a wall of white as thousands of pages roar around me, the sound deafening.

“Yvan!” I scream.

But it’s no use. He can’t hear me over the roar ofThe Book.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Naga

“So, Kelt,” Ariel asks Yvan as we trudge through the woods en route to Yvan’s dragon, “is there any chance that your dragon will eat the Black Witch here?”

I see the corner of Yvan’s lip twitch up, but he keeps his eyes on the path ahead. “I suppose it’s possible,” he replies.

“Or perhaps it will envelop her in a ball of flames,” Ariel muses gleefully.

I scowl at her as I trip clumsily over a tangle of roots. She knows full well how much I hate it when she calls me “Black Witch.” But I’m worn down from arguing with her. It’s impossible to reason with Ariel, and telling her I hate something just prompts her to do it more.

My brothers, the Lupines, Andras and Wynter silently accompany us. Unlike me, none of them trips over anything. They are all so annoyingly stealthy.

“Ariel likes to bait me,” I complain darkly to Yvan, whose lip curls up a fraction more.

Diana was the one to convince Ariel and Wynter to accompany us, since they can talk to dragons with their minds. Aislinn has volunteered to watch over Marina.

Although Ariel views Diana as something of a barbarian, never quite trusting the Lupine not to snack on her feathered friends, there’s something direct about Diana’s manner that is often able to pierce the fog of rancid darkness Ariel seems perpetually enveloped in and tormented by. So, in the end, Ariel’s curiosity won out, and she agreed to come, her decision bolstered by the fact that Wynter is joining us, as well.

“I’ll be able to speak with the dragon,” Ariel gloats at me, “and I’ll be able to direct her as to which of your limbs she should tear off first. But you won’t know what I’m telling her. It will have to be a surprise.”

“Well, then, why don’t you just practice your silent communication skills starting now?” I wearily reply.

Ariel smiles wickedly and flashes her long, stained teeth at me. “Perhaps I’d feel friendlier toward the Black Witch,” she says to Yvan slyly, “if she hadn’t kept me up all night.”

A sickening panic shoots through me and halts my steps. Ariel slows then stops, as well, the rest of our party following suit as they regard the two of us with wary curiosity.

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