Page 102 of The Secret Keeper's Daughter

Sapphire wiggles and snorts more as I get closer.

Einar grins. “She’s eager to meet you.”

“Or eat me,” I mumble.

Harek nudges me.

My father puts his hand in front of the dragon’s huge nose. “Just like this.”

I glance between them before putting my hand in front of the beast.

The blast of air as she sniffs in and out nearly throws me to the ground. She wiggles even more and nudges her head against me, knocking me against Harek.

My father instructs him to offer his hand to her, too.

He does, and receives the same welcome I did.

“Great. Now that we’ve all met, it’s time to fly.”

My breath hitches. “Already?”

“What are we waiting for? We’ll lose the benefit of nightfall before long.”

“How safe is it?”

“Flying?” he asks.

I nod.

“A lot safer than facing that man who has your sword. Let’s do this.” He places a large blanket on her back and helps us climb on.

Harek goes first, and then helps me up. I end up between Harek and my father, who is in the front.

Suddenly, I’m glad Sapphire’s boyfriend isn’t here. Though my father’s likely right. Facing Gunnar is going to be the more dangerous feat.

Chapter

Thirty-Four

Einar’slong dreadlocks keep whipping me in the face, but it’s actually a good distraction from being so far above the ground. Sapphire’s enormous wings create a different wind from the one of us moving forward through the air. A few times we’ve gone directly through a cloud, which is colder than I’d have thought.

Harek clings to me as I grip my father with everything in me. He keeps laughing, as if this is the most magnificent thing in the world. Maybe I’ll feel the same way about it once my feet are back on land. For now, all I can picture is losing my grip and plummeting to my death.

I have to admit the view of the forest down below is breathtaking. It seems small from up here, yet when Harek and I traveled through, the trees made me feel small. Apparently it’s all a matter of perspective. I’ll have to keep that in mind when I have to face Gunnar.

My stomach knots at the thought of having to see him again. All my life, he’s forced me into compliance by any means necessary. I had to give into him for survival—not that it got me anywhere, considering the moment my mother died he was ready to hand me over to Vog.

I shudder at the thought of that having gone through. If Gunnar hadn’t warned me of his plans, if I hadn’t been able to get away in time, if Harek and his family weren’t so good to me… Would my fae abilities have come through at some point? Perhaps I would’ve killed Vog and then within a month turned into a wolf in the middle of the city.

But none of that happened. I’m here with my hunter father and a member of my werewolf pack. One half of my legacy in front of me, and the other behind. While we’re riding a dragon over the forest that took Harek and me a week to hike through.

I’m not sure what to expect once we get to Skoro. Will I be able to find the sword and leave unnoticed? Or will Gunnar figure out what’s going on and confront us? What will come of my siblings if we have to kill my wicked stepfather?

Those are questions for later. With so much on the line, I can’t worry about what-ifs. We can figure out solutions to problems as they arrive.

Harek’s grip around me tightens, and I glance down.

Skoro. We’re here. It’s mind blowing to consider, given how long it took us to get from here to the fae city.

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