Page 91 of Ash

But Tyrez was already out of reach. Holding the young man close to his chest, he flapped hard in the swirling winds to climb above the ocean, heading for the cliffs.

The landing was one of the trickiest he’d ever attempted, worse even than the last time he’d tried. No true dream could possibly feel so real. The wind threatened to sweep him sideways, and then almost slammed him face first into the cliff. Tyrez sank his hind talons into the rock and folded his wings tight as he carefully set Ash down.

As though boneless, his burden crumpled to the cold stone. The wind tossed and teased the long golden hair, disguising the shifter’s face. But his shoulders shook, the blades prominent beneath the thin cloth that clung to his wet body.

Tyrez’s heart twisted. His talons flexed, but they couldn’t provide what Ash needed. He embraced his shift to human and knelt before the trembling figure.

Reached to the narrow jaw, and tilted his face toward him.

For an instant, the young man pulled back, as though he’d like to wrench his face away from Tyrez’s fingers. But then he stopped, and the eyes fastened on his own.

They were framed in a face so thin, and yet so beautiful, it threatened to tear Tyrez’s heart in two. Eyes that, on first glance, were silver. Yet when Tyrez gazed into them, he saw blues, greens, and golds—not the absence of color, but rather every possible one, swirling within their depths.

As they stared back at him, liquid pooled in the corners. Pooled, and then raced down the pronounced cheekbones, crystallizing as it did so, until what dropped off the sharp plane of his jaw was solid.

Dragon tears.

Tyrez’s thumb caressed his jaw, feeling how close the bones were beneath the skin. A Dragon, but judging by what he saw and sensed, one very close to the end. Not just beaten and starving, but sick as well. His life essence flared and guttered like a candle in a stiff breeze.

Before he even knew what he was doing, he leaned down and kissed him.

Ash went completely rigid, but he didn’t pull away. His lips were ragged, chapped and broken, but it was the sweetest kiss Tyrez had ever tasted. Energy surged between them, hooking into his soul, so powerful it robbed him of breath.

When he pulled back, the silver eyes were wide with wonder. And a question.

“Are you real? Or am I just dreaming?”

“I don’t know the answer to that. But my name is Tyrez.”

“Tyrez... ”

The wind rose until it howled around them, threatening to sweep them clear off the cliffs. Tyrez’s fingers sank into the thin jaw as it lost substance. The silver gaze shimmered.

“No. Tyrez, you have to go. Rindek—he’s—”

“Ash. You have to hold on.”

Tyrez could see the stone right through him. He’d become a ghost, his voice whipped away by the wind. His hands reached for Tyrez, but lacked the substance to touch.

As the last shreds of his form dissipated, Tyrez shouted into the storm. “Ash! I swear, I will find you...”

23

Tyrez shot to a sitting position in his bed, breathing like he’d hauled a full-sized Dragon forty-thousand feet into the air. He glanced at the time—he’d slept most of the day away.

Ash.He’d seen Ash. Spoken to him.Kissedhim.

It had felt so sharding real.

It wasn’t possible. Couldn’t be. Living dreams were the stuff of soulbonds.

Soulbonds.

His hands sought out the golden scales he’d glued to his wrists, caressing them as they offered the now familiar and soothing buzz of energy.

His mother was right. A soulbond would explain much.

He was pacing the floorboards before he was aware he’d risen from the bed. How could he be soulbonded to a Dragon he’d never met? Yet the longing had been powerful. And ever since he’d caught Ash’s scent in that cave, he’d been obsessed.

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