Page 74 of Fae Exile

I snorted.

The dragon added nothing.

I asked.

And just like that—when I was in the process of composing a few dozen questions about her existence, ours, and how to save everyone, to get us started—I blinked, and the dragon appeared twenty feet from me.

Still perched atop the queen’s throne even though she seemed much too massive for it, those black eyes glimmered as they held mine.

I sucked in a gasp so deep it was as if I’d been underwater all that time?—

Too loud—noise crashed into me all at once.

“We carry her,” West was saying to someone while Azariah said, “It’s now or never. She won’t wait long.”

Saffron whimpered, and it took me what felt like ages to understand I sat on the floor with him on my lap, his eyes glistening with worry.

And I lay atop Rush’s thighs, clutched in his arms.

A handprint was singed onto my bare skin, burned through my clothing. Across the inner swells of my breasts glowed an outline the size of Rush’s hand, the precise shade and luminosity of his moonlight.

As I watched, the handprint pulsed once, twice, thrice ... before fading into my chest, leaving behind a faint outline, like a stretchmark that could only be seen from a certain angle.

“El,” Rush breathed across my cheek.

I looked up and found him gazing down at me.

“Oh, by dragonfire, Elowyn. My El. My love. I...” He sucked in a breath, shook his head, as if there was too much he wanted to say all at once. “You came back to me. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

Tears welled in his eyes. “I hurt you so horribly. It doesn’t matter if you ever forgive me or not, I’ll never, ever hurt you again. I don’t care what anybody does or what they threaten, I’ll never so much as harm a single hair on your beautiful head.”

His chest heaved as he pulled me closer against him. “Never mind. I lied. I do need you to forgive me. I do need you to understand I never wanted to hurt you. That I only did it to keep you alive. I couldn’t think of any other way. I still haven’t. I promise you I’ll make you feel safe with me again. I promise you I’ll be the mate you deserve.”

“Rush,” Ryder said from somewhere beyond him.

I wasn’t looking away from Rush. Nearly as much as the dragon’s eyes had held me their captive, so did his.

“We have to go,” Ryder insisted.

“She’s not ready to move,” Rush answered, gazing into my eyes, his forehead scrunched with emotions I suddenly found myself timid to identify.

“She’ll have to be. We’re too exposed.”

“Besides,” Hiroshi said, his voice sounding close, “now that she’s scaled, she’ll have to free the others. If there’s any chance of doing it, we have to go.”

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