Page 131 of Fae Reckoning

In the end, not counting Einar and Saffron, we’d recovered three hundred and sixty-nine dragons in different stages of their development. There’d even been dozens of babies in eggs, and those I wasn’t yet counting.

Talisa’s pristine gardens were now trampled. Thedragons who’d been in her dungeons the least time had already begun to frolic and play. Those who’d been there the longest, the ones with the deepest and most gruesome injuries, had at least begun to watch them with increasing interest. Several of them took turns warming the eggs. I prayed that when they hatched there’d be no sign of Talisa’s interference. In the prison where she’d kept them, we’d discovered evidence that not only had she been taking their blood and power for herself, but also that she’d been experimenting on them. It was too early to tell, but logbooks suggested she hadn’t been the first of the royals to do so. Her father Erasmus the Bloody almost certainly had. Scholars, along with Ivar, were scouring every written entry they could find to ascertain how far back the horrors went. Already these experiments seemed responsible for the presence of dragon features in other species, such as the dragon-like feet of the goblins.

“They’re such beautiful and magical creatures,” I said.

“No doubt they are. And now you’ve freed them. Wyn…” His voice, deep and steady, the one constant in my life before I had any true idea of the Mirror World, hitched.

I gazed up at him.

His smile was unexpectedly wobbly, but it reached his eyes. In the light of midday, they shone blue more than green.

“You saved so many of them. I’m so proud of you.”

For the first time since surveying the carnageof the battle, relief—or maybe pleasure—pushed out the nausea thickening my throat.

“The Dragon Mother would be too,” he added.

I snorted. “Yeah, right. She doesn’t even know I exist.”

“I’ll make sure she does.”

My stare snapped back to his. “Are you … are you going back to Nightguard, then?”

“I am.”

My chest tightened; my heart started racing. I found myself nodding. “Of course. Of course you are. I can’t expect you to stay here when you belong there. I’m just … I’m gonna fucking miss the hell out of you, X.”

His smile widened as he bumped my shoulder with his. “You can’t get rid of me that easily. I’m coming back.”

“You are?” I breathed.

“Of course. How many times do I have to tell you? I go where you go. I stay where you stay.”

“But—”

“Butshit. No matter what, you and me, Wyn? We’re forever.”

I uncrossed my arms to rush into his. When he pulled me tightly against his chest, I could breathe again.

“Thanks, X. I never want to have to do without you.”

He chuckled gruffly. “Someone’s gotta keep you from taking life tooseriously.”

My ear pressed to his steady heart. “True.”

“I’m only going back to settle things with Malessa, or Flint if he’s back. I can’t very well disappear and not return. I made a vow.”

I pulled back to look at him solemnly. “To protect the dragons of Nightguard.”

“Yup. And you know we protectors take that vow seriously.”

“Very seriously. How are … do you think they’ll let you out of it?”

“Yes, I do. There are dragons to protect here, too.”

“I won’t let anything happen to them. They’re safe now.”

“I know that. But their presence will be enough to convince Malessa to station me here, I’m sure of it.”

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