Page 114 of Feathers of Ash and Hope

“Could have been worse. You wouldn’t be bodily unharmed if you tried something like that with me,”Daeva informs me sweetly.

Great. Why do I always have to pick the bossy ones?

Daeva caws in a way that sounds suspiciously like laughter.

“You didn’t. You were chosen. Be grateful for it,”she informs me.

I bury my face in my hands.

“Charming. I love you too,”I say dryly.

“I know you do. But how would you feel if she left you behind and went out to fight?”Daeva’s voice chimes in again. I would feel like shit, but I’m not ready to admit that yet.

“That is not the same. I don’t act without thinking, and I don’t risk myself—”I’m cut off when Daeva sends me pictures of my encounter with the dragon.

“It seems to me that you are no better than her if she’s involved. That makes you a hypocrite, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, they don’t have wings.”She sounds smug.

Her amusement washes over me.

“You humans are just ridiculous. We always fly into battle next to our mate. Everything else is madness.”

“Noted.”I huff out a breath.

But I won’t go back on my decision. She will be safer here, especially since I suspect Foley is planning something.

The camp holds no eggs and therefore no reason for poachers to come this way. She has an overview of the surrounding area so no one can sneak up on her, and the small path up the mountainmakes it impossible for anyone to get to her without passing us first.

So even if Ara is spitting mad at me, my decision is justified.

Chapter

Thirty-Two

ARA

The first signthat something is wrong is the smell of smoke. It’s faint at first but soon becomes stronger and hangs in the air like a cloying blanket, drifting down and wavering along the path the others took.

Unease tickles my back. We flew here, and as far as I remember, this path was the only way out of here other than climbing the steep wall while literally hanging off the face of this mountain.

I march over to the ledge, look down, and dread settles heavy in my gut. I have no problem with heights, but the drop in front of me goes on forever, the trees below looking as small as the seed of an apple.

Yeah, even I don’t want to climb this without a safety line. A few ledges on the way down are occupied by dark brown spots that have to be nests. Whoever those nests belong to probablywouldn’t be happy if I showed up, especially if eggs have been stolen lately. Great.

I turn away from the drop of doom and look up the mountain. Smoke forms a dark gray blanket over the forest, drifting between it like the earlier mist.

I am fine here,I try to reassure myself.

It surely won’t come this way, right? I try to make out the direction of the wind, but our camp is too sheltered, and the smoke makes it hard to see anything. If I could just get a little higher, I should be able to feel it.

I don’t think twice about it. Happy to finally do something other than sit around and wait, I start looking for the best way up the cliff.

I’m halfway up when I notice the bird circling restlessly above me. My hope that it’s one of ours plummets when I realize there is no harness and no rider.

It’s a female Strix, easy to identify by her white-and-gray color and the missing violet markings.I hope she doesn’t think I’m a threat.

The wind correlates with where the smoke comes from, and while I know nothing about wildfires, I know that is not a good thing.

Shit, what do I do now?

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