Page 24 of Jace

Was it the silly urban legend she had told him? Even if she believed it to be true, the presence of the ghost girl had been harmless enough, wanting only a ride home.

No, that couldn’t be it.

He tossed the branch far enough into the woods for it to be out of sight. A glint of metal caught his eye, and he realized what he had thought was a thicket was actually another downed craft, overgrown with ferns.

Had he frightened her with his talk of shipwrecks and restless spirits?

He turned back to the tent. It looked so small under the massive sky with the steep hillside behind it and only the little flickering fire to keep it company.

He had pictured himself inside that tent, worshipping every inch of Susannah’s small, soft body tonight, drinking in her moans and cries of ecstasy before he claimed her fully.

But instead, he would sit watch outside the tent.

This was painful, but as it should be. Their mating would be for life. It was only right that it begin happily, with eager partners.

Need still roiled in his gut and pulsed in his blood, but he tried to regulate his breath and pulse.

We have twenty standard years to win her, he reminded the dragon. She will not leave us before that time is over.

Surely, with all that time stretching out before him, he could hold back for one night.

He sat by the fire and settled himself down, his eyes fixed on the flames.

When they reached the farm, he would claim her, not before. That would give him time to explain… well, everything. It was better this way, truly.

But his heart still pounded, and his senses were filled with her scent and the rustling of her every slight movement within her bedroll.

He would taste no peace this night.

9

Susannah

Susannah sat beside Jace the next morning, with baby Zeke in her arms.

They were riding Jace’s float-ray just above the trees. Hers followed on a tether close behind, with Jace’s pack on its back.

Though she knew she was in the air, somehow, the height didn’t really frighten her.

At least, it didn’t frighten her enough to distract her from the real object of her fear.

The curse.

If she had thought leaving her own planet would free her, she was wrong.

She could still hear the woman’s voice in her ears.

You will never have true love.

At the time it had seemed almost silly. Curses weren’t real, the woman was a phony, and Susannah was just a young teen, not looking for love anyway.

It wasn’t until the accident with Nyk that she had begun to wonder.

They were still in school. He had just obtained his hover license, and by some miracle, a family member loaned him a hover car.

It was a clunker, built in the last century, using a design that was probably from the one before that. The paint job had seen better days, and there wasn’t even a back-up AI for navigation.

Most importantly, the hover boost was dead, so the thing merely rolled on the ground, as if it were permanently coming in for a landing.

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