Page 67 of Dragon Rivals of New York

I think of the way Sora keeps wanting to repay us for every kindness, her desire to earn her place and please the people around her. Maybe we’re not so different, the two of us. Maybe none of us are.

Chapter 33

Kyro

“Weneedtosneakinto the temple.” Sora hops up on the kitchen counter, looking so comfortable in Jethro’s house that my heart aches. After tomorrow, she might not remember this place at all.

“There are too many of them.” With my hip against the counter next to her, I place my hand on her knee, needing the reminder that she’s still here.

Jethro goes to the cupboard and pulls out a bag of coffee grinds, my favorite roast from my favorite coffee shop. I wonder how he knew, or is it also his favorite?

We slept late, but I still feel exhausted. Coffee is just what I need.

Jethro hip-checks me, shoving me aside enough that he can get into the drawer where I was leaning and pull out acoffee liner. I’m grateful the bag he’s got in his hand is already ground, because I don’t think I can handle any loud noises this morning. There’s still a tinny ringing in my head, and even though I can hear now, everything sounds muffled, like my ears are stuffed with cotton.

“We can’t let Midas and Adrianna attack again. What if—” Sora’s voice chokes off, and she shakes her head. “We just can’t. But… I’m not ready to give up on this.” She waves a hand between us. “We have to find another way.”

I slide my hand up her thigh, giving it a squeeze that I hope is reassuring, but my whole body feels heavy with uncertainty. Every scenario I run through ends with people dying and her forgetting us.

“I might have an idea.” Jethro keeps his gaze on the coffee as he pours measured scoops into a little dish on a kitchen scale. Of course the man makes fancy coffee. I usually just throw some ground beans in the coffeemaker and forget about it.

“What is it?” Sora asks him.

He stops what he’s doing and looks at me. “You won’t like it.”

I cross my arms over my chest and repeat Sora’s question. “What is it?”

He flips the switch on an electric kettle, keeping his face turned away from us. “We swim.”

My blood chills. “Swim?”

Dragons are creatures of fire. We don’t like being submerged under water. We can go without oxygen for long periods of time in order to fly high into the atmosphere—so breathing isn’t the problem. It’s the water, the lack of heat, the trapped feeling that comes with all that weight crushing our wings.

“What about Sora?” I ask. “She won’t be able to hold her breath the way we can.”

Jethro shrugs. “Scuba diving gear.”

Our mate wrinkles her forehead and scrunches her nose. “Don’t you have to be trained to do that?”

“We won’t go deep,” Jethro says. “I’ve got a friend who’s an instructor. I’m sure she’ll help us and teach you everything you need to know.”

I silently shake my head, thinking about all that could go wrong with this plan.

Jethro places a hand on my shoulder. “They won’t expect us to come from below.”

My gaze slowly lifts to his. I take a deep breath and blow it out. “Okay.”

“You aren’t going to argue with me?” His mouth hangs open.

“No.”

“You’re not going to point out how ridiculous this plan is?” He steps close enough for our toes to touch. I can smell the mint on his breath from his toothpaste.

“Is it ridiculous?” I ask.

“It’s risky.”

“I know.” I look down at his hand still on my shoulder and place mine over his. “And I’m with you.”

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