Page 48 of Dreams and Dragon Wings
I just dive.
Air responds to my thoughts before I can even finish thinking them. Glittering purple threads rush past, sweeping under Aurelia, slowing her fall.
More magic ripples in her wake, streaming in the wind. So much untapped potential.
Deep in the darkest places of my soul, my Shade stirs.
The things I could do with that magic. Withhermagic. It would be so easy. To wield threads of Spirit. To bind Aurelia’s soul to mine. I could keep her with mealways.
… Or I could consume her very essence—her most precious gift of all—before her body even shattered against the earth.
Her magic could be mine. My own.Mine.
“Naei,”I snarl aloud, refusing to listen. Refusing to surrender.
Please, I pray to my God.Help me.
I cannot do this without Him.
“Bene!” Aurelia shrieks, her hands reaching out for me.
Flattening my wings against my sides, I fall all the faster. My front paws extend, claws reaching for the beautiful fae beneath me, ready to snatch her out of thin air.
But no. I might hurt her. I would never forgive myself if I hurt her.
I shift in the next moment, transforming into my human form. The wind catches at my clothes, my cloak. The Corona Ignis shifts with me, settling heavy on my brow.
Above me, shouts ring out into the night.
Friedemar.
“Shoot him down! Now! Do it now!”
A mad laugh explodes from my throat, but the bitter tang of Aurelia’s fear across the bond brings me back to the present. Back to the fact that we are still falling.
With a twitch of my fingers, I draw the Air already wrapped around her tighter, closing the distance between us until there is none at all.
Screaming, wide-eyed, she flies into my embrace and slams against me.Hard. I wrap an arm around her waist, pinning her to me, steadying her as I slow our fall completely. Leaving us hovering.
Warmth. Light. Summer. That is what she is.
These are the things that flood my senses, drowning out all else.
The shouts of the soldiers racing along the ground beneath us like agitated ants. The screams of Friedemar far overhead, demanding my head. The clang of the bell still ringing in the distance, warning of danger—warning ofme.
They are nothing to me with Aurelia in my arms once more.
“Bene,” she whispers, that single word shivering through the scant space between us.
I shiver right along with it, basking in the melody of her voice.
Na mavelen sha. I missed you.That is what I want to say. But when I catch sight of the wound splitting her lip, the blood on her chin, I forget all else.
I reach for her, longing to lift her face toward mine. Within my hold, she trembles. Within my soul, a long-buried longing stirs. Hers? Mine?
Or that which belongs to my Shade?
My hand freezes before my skin ever makes contact with hers. Better I not risk it.
