Page 35 of Ash and Feather

I hurtled into the palace surrounded by tumbling flames, passing seamlessly through walls and magical wards before finding myself hovering above the stairwell leading up to Dravyn’s bedchamber, of all places. From the looks of it, I’d caught him mid-ascent.

The cramped passage allowed little room to maneuver, but the instant the flames began to clear—and he spotted my face within them—he reacted, snatching me from the air as I plummeted to the floor.

We still tumbled down a few steps thanks to my momentum, crashing hard onto the nearest landing. Dravyn caught himself against the wall beside a tall window, bracing me in front of him, hands tightly gripping my sides.

Bits of fire drifted around me. As Dravyn held me more tightly, more securely, the flames lengthened and drew closer,like a second embrace melting into my body as though to build it up and fortify it.

Dravyn kept me steady, looking me over as if he still wasn’t convinced I’d really just appeared out of thin air.

Honestly, I wasn’t entirely convinced myself.

I wrapped a hand around one of his arms. Squeezed.Definitely solid. I lifted my other hand to his face, brushing his cheek, letting my fingers linger against his skin.Definitely warm.

He was real—and more importantly just then,Iwas real.

I washere.

Slightly dizzy, yes, but the entire experience wasn’t as disorienting as I’d expected it would be. My mind was already clearing, my nerves settling, ready to do it all over again.

I felt I could have gone anywhere in the realms in that moment—especially if I knew I could find my way back to Dravyn like this. That he would break my fall and catch me no matter the flames and chaos I carried back with me.

“Hi,” I said to him, brightly.

He cocked his head, regarding me with a wry smile. “Will you ever stop surprising me?”

“I don’t plan to,” I replied, smiling back.

He looked up at the ceiling, like he still thought there must have been some hole in it that he’d missed, some skylight I’d actually tumbled through.

“Do you realize what I’ve just done?” I asked, nearly bouncing from the excitement humming through my veins.

Several emotions seemed to be competing for dominance within him as he lowered his gaze back to me. Concern flashed briefly over his features, but he settled them into something closer to admiration as he said, “The lessons with Mai went well, I take it.”

“Actually, they were disastrous for most of the day.”

“They were?”

“Yes. But I felt you returning to this palace moments ago, and I was able to focus on you at that point. My magic seemed to do the rest. It was almost...easy.”

He didn’t appear terribly surprised by this. “I felt you, as well. I knew you were drawing closer—though your entrance was still unexpected, I’ll admit.”

“I’ll try to aim for a door next time.”

He laughed a bit at this, the look in his eyes deepening to something more than admiration. Something I couldn’t readily name, but which made my entire body flush with fresh heat.

I felt you, as well.

It was rapidly becoming more than a mere feeling. The longer we stood there, wrapped in our shared flames, the more it was becoming like a compulsion—a need to be even closer to him than I already was, like a wave pulling back to the sea it was a part of.

He arched a brow. “Are you all right?”

“The magic…it still feels like it’s drawing me toward you.” My words were little more than breath between us. “Even though you’re right here.”

He considered this for a moment, his hand lifting and caressing my cheek. “Magic can…intensifywhatever emotions you might be experiencing in a given moment. It’s probably that at work, more so than the lingering traversing spell.”

“Intensify?”

“Anger, fear, sorrow. Or in this case…” He let the sentence hang in the air, his gaze dipping briefly to my lips as he dragged his thumb across them.

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