Page 137 of Wings of Ash & Flame
“You’re insufferable,” she muttered past the lump in her throat.
Dawson’s gaze dropped, slow and deliberate, to her mouth. “And yet…” His lashes shadowed the fire in his eyes, and the way he looked at her sent a dangerous current through her veins. “Here we are.”
His breath skimmed her jaw.
Her fingers curled into the collar of his leathers.
He dragged his tongue over his lower lip.
Her blood roared. She didn’t just want him. Sheneededhim?—
A guttural, pained cry split the night.
They jerked apart. Dawson shot to his feet.
Alaire’s hand went instinctively for her daggers—only to grasp at air. Dawson had collected them before their training session.
“Solflara!” she shouted down the bond. But the bond was silent. Empty. She hadn’t silenced their connection, yet there was nothing. Panic gnawed at her. Something was wrong.
She cursed herself for being too distracted by Dawson to notice sooner.
“I can’t reach Solflara.”
“Beck isn’t answering either.”
Another gut-wrenching cry echoed from the brambles.
“Did you hear that?” Alaire whispered, scanning the shadows.
Dawson nodded, jaw tight.
Scraping followed—a body, or something worse, being dragged through the darkness.
“This isn’t another training exercise, is it?” Her eyes flicked to his.
“No.”
Alaire surged to her feet. “Then let’s go.”
“No. You stay here. I’ll check it out.”
She scoffed. “Do you think I’m going to sit here polishing pots while you play hero? We’re partners, Dawson, whether you like it or not. And if that has anything to do with Solflara, I’m coming.” She planted her hands on her hips. “Not up for debate.”
His jaw worked. “Fine. Stay close. And try not to do anything reckless.”
Alaire gave him a doe-eyed look, even as panic clawed at her ribs. “Reckless? Me? Never. Lead the way, prince.”
Thirty-Three
That smell.The putrid stench of rot was disgusting. As they trudged deeper into the forest, they moved carefully, hoping to discover exactly what they’d heard.
Feels like we’ve been at this for hours.Their conversation under the stars felt like eons ago as the night sky lightened to shades of violet.
The bond between her and Solflara was still nonexistent—cold where there should’ve been warmth.
For the umpteenth time, she wished she had her magic.
Every hair on her body stood on end as Dawson stopped in front of the mouth of a cavern. Something about this place felt infinitely wrong. A thin layer of mist swirled around their ankles.
