Page 73 of Draekora

Xira?she called in her mind.Can you hear me?

It took barely a second for him to respond.Everything okay, Alex? You feel… anxious.

If I was to jump off this—she sent him a mental image of just how mammoth the falls were—what’s the chance I’ll survive?

Xiraxus’s rumbling chuckle echoed in her ears even above the sound of the torrential cascade.That depends.

On what?

Whether you can swim.

Alex made an annoyed sound and somehow managed to translate it into her thoughts.If I understand correctly, when I die, you die. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that it’s in your best interests to be honest with me right now.

The draekon just chuckled louder, but he thankfully also gave her a straight answer.Jump as a mortal and you’ll be in trouble. Jump as a Meyarin and you should have a blast. But jump either way, Alex. The flight will be good for you.

Alex instantly remembered soaring with him above the clouds around Draekora and the feeling of impossible freedom that came with the experience.

Soon, he said, reading her thoughts.We’ll fly together again soon.And with his promise, his presence fled her mind.

Mustering her courage, Alex looked down the line from Roka on her far right to Kyia then Aven, jumping over to Niyx on her left. She wondered how she had come to be hand in hand with such an unlikely group of friends. And she realised with startling clarity that that was exactly what they were. Niyx and his playful arrogance, Kyia and her cynical derision, Roka and his thoughtful intelligence, and the biggest surprise of all, Aven and his unexpected affability. They reallywerefriends, as bizarre as it was. And Alex trusted them to keep her safe, mortal or not.

With an unexpected pang of emotion, she couldn’t help imagining what it would be like standing atop the falls with Jordan, D.C. and Bear beside her. Jordan and Bear would no doubt be grinning from ear to ear with the thrill of adventure while D.C. would likely share Alex’s concerns and say they were all mad if they were thinking about jumping. But Alex knew the truth—the princess would leap right alongside them, even if it meant she’d be screaming the whole way down.

Sudden homesickness slammed into Alex, a feeling that was as ridiculous as it was painful—ridiculous because she wasn’t technicallymissinganything. Her friends were all frozen in time, unaware they were even waiting for her return. But for Alex, time was still moving forward, and if she wanted to see them again, she’d first have to survive the next few harrowing minutes of her life.

Taking a moment to centre herself, Alex allowed her heightened senses to slide into place. It was like embracing an old friend or slipping into a bubble bath, so comforting as it was for Alex to allow her Meyarin abilities to take over. And when she opened her eyes, the view before her was even more magnificent.

And also much more terrifying.

Determined to embrace the wonder of the moment, she managed to paste a semi-realistic grin on her face and, with her voice only slightly shaking, said, “Let’s do this.”

With jubilant cries, Roka, Kyia and Aven all linked hands, and both Niyx and Aven strengthened their grips on Alex.

“One!” Roka called out.

Alex’s heart was beating like a hammer in her chest.

“Two!” Niyx followed.

She wondered if she would pass out before they made it over the edge.

“Three!” Aven yelled.

And, with their hands connected, the five of them leapt off the Golden Cliffs and plummeted down the cascading water into the valley below.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, all Alex could think was that Aven had been right: she had never before felt freer than she did right now.

Twenty-Three

If someone had told Alex that she’denjoy spending an afternoon jumping off waterfalls and splashing around in rocky plunge pools with the future psychopath Aven, his right-hand man Niyx and the would-be-betrothed-but-were-currently-hating-each-other Roka and Kyia, she would have never believed it. But the truth was, Alex couldn’t remember the last time she’d had more fun. For just a few hours she felt free of her worries, free of her cares. She simply lived in the moment, exactly as the Library—and Aven—had encouraged her to do.

And. It. Was.Brilliant.

After they dragged their soaking, laughing selves back to the palace and gobbled down a late dinner, the five of them all but crawled from the kitchen to their rooms. Alex barely had enough energy to change out of her wet clothes and into a silky nightgown before she collapsed onto her bed, her exhaustion sending her to an instant sleep.

But despite how tired she was, she still awoke with a start a few hours later when someone shook her shoulder and quietly called her name.

“Easy, it’s just me.”

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