Page 122 of A Storm of Fire and Ash
“Choose wisely,” She called, her voice sending goosebumps down my body. She sounded more like a Queen than she ever has before. “Because once you take a step, there will be no turning back.”
I wanted to wrap my arms around her. Kiss her. Fall to my knees and bow.
Then the air shifted.
A ripple of something primal moved over the courtyard, brushing along my skin like a living thing. People screamed.Wings.
That’s when it hit me—like the world itself shifted under my feet.
Ninaria’s power didn’t just touch me; it slammed into me, surging through my veins like a lightning strike made flesh. It was sharp, wild, and intoxicating, every pulse of it setting my blood on fire. My breath caught, my pulse hammering in my ears as her magic curled around mine—not gentle, but fierce, possessive.
She didn’t give it to me. She claimed me with it.
Her essence coiled through me like ivy finding its way up ancient stone—wrapping tight, leaving no space between where I ended and she began. It was a challenge anda promise all at once, daring me to match her strength, to rise to meet her. I felt my own magic rise in answer, locking with hers until the two became something greater—something unstoppable.
The air around me shifted, heavier, hotter, and I knew… I was no longer just a warrior. I was bonded. Fully, completely, irrevocably. With her fire in my blood and her strength in my veins, I was no longer just worthy of a dragon.
I washers.
I wasworthy.
I didn’t need to look up to know Ninaria was in the sky—and she wasn’t alone. I could feel her, and I could feel the deep, burning presence of Elara’s dragon right beside her.
The sound of their wingbeats rolled over us, heavy and endless. Shadows swallowed the sunlight. The king’s face drained of color.
Some of those who had been huddled behind Aymon now scattered, scrambling to stand behind us. Now, the numbers were on our side. But when one poor fool glanced up and screamed, the rest began edging away—putting as much distance between themselves and my mate as possible.
I didn’t move. I stepped closer, so close I could almost touch her, could almost claim that wicked smile for myself. But I kept my hands to my sides and my eyes forward, my grin matching hers—sharp, dangerous.
The ground shook under our boots.
Another scream split the air. Then a roar—deep and guttural—ripped through the courtyard, the force of itwhipping our hair forward like a storm wind. We didn’t flinch. We didn’t move. We only smiled.
The first dragon hit the ground behind us, claws like blades striking stone, sending another tremor through the courtyard. A second, slightly lighter landing followed—Ninaria.
“I’m here,”she whispered in my head, molten steel in her tone.
“As if I didn’t notice.”
“Well, you could at least gasp, maybe faint a little,”she said, her voice curled with smug amusement.“Most mortals cry in awe when I land.”
A smirk tugged at my mouth.“Great. I get the dragon who needs to be the center of attention.”
Her roar ripped through the courtyard, so loud and fierce it rattled in my bones. Aymon pissed himself, and a few guards who stood behind him fainted.
I chuckled in my head.“Alright, point proven.”
I didn’t turn around to look. The heat of their presence was at our backs, a living wall of fire and shadow.
Elara fixed her gaze on the king. “Do you remember his name?”
Aymon’s lips trembled. His voice cracked.
Gods, she was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Not just beautiful—though she was that, devastatingly so—butuntouchable. Wild. The kind of power you didn’t chain, you worshipped. The kind of fire that could either save you or burn you to nothing, and I wanted both. Every inch of her blazed with purpose, her magic wrapped around her like armor, her presence bending the world to its knees. Shewasn’t just standing in her truth—she wasowningit. Claiming it.
And all I could think was how fucking honored I was to stand at her side for it.
Through our bond, I let her feel everything I couldn’t say out loud—my pride, my hunger for the chaos she was about to unleash, and the promise that I would back her no matter how much blood she spilled.
