Page 6 of Dragonrider Academy: Episode 8

When he didn’t stir, concern knotted itself in my gut. I struggled upright and winced as the sheets fell from my body.

I wore a simple pair of soft pajamas, but the short sleeves didn’t hide the unusual bruises that blossomed black and blue spheres all over my skin.

What in all the realms was going on?

“Killian,” I tried again and tugged against his iron grip. He still hadn’t let go of me and now I was positive that the feather was glowing. It burned brightly and emanated an intense hum.

He groaned, giving me a small sense of relief that he was indeed alive.

But he still didn’t open his eyes. He seemed stuck in some sort of trance he couldn’t get out of.

I’d seen this before, but not on this end of things.

When I’d been feeding my power to Solstice’s egg trying to keep her alive.

Killian… he was doing the same thing for me.

Using all of my strength, I dragged him onto the bed, but I only managed to roll him on top of me.

“You weigh a ton!” I complained as his body crushed mine.

He groaned again, then settled with his nose into my neck, making my heart jump.

We’d cuddled before, but this felt… different.

Shifting his hips with mine, I managed to edge him off of me enough to be able to breathe. I rested there for a long time as I contemplated how to get Killian to stop feeding me his strength.

“You can stop, now,” I insisted, as I rolled him onto his side.

He still wouldn’t let go of my arm, but I managed to straddle him and slap his face.

“Killian,” I insisted, but he still wouldn’t wake up.

Sighing, I restored to the last thing that I thought might work.

“You owe me one,” I said as I leaned in and hovered over him. It took a moment of courage before I closed my eyes and pressed my lips to his.

Lately, when we kissed, it always resulted in a dangerous release of powerful energy. I wasn’t sure what had changed, but it had felt like something was building that couldn’t be stopped.

And when the power rushed through me, leaving me breathless, Killian’s eyes flew open.

Then he grabbed me, crushing his mouth to mine and I sank into him, unable to think of anything else as my soul practically left my body.

CHAPTER 5

“You’re alive,” he said when he finally pulled away. His bright, white-washed eyes glistened with unshed tears as he cupped my face with one hand.

The other still clutched the feather.

Clearing my throat, I tried to calm the butterflies exploding in my stomach as I leaned back and took his hand into mine.

I unfurled his fingers and gazed at the feather that now burned with tiny tufts of golden flames.

“I assume I’m alive because of this?” I asked.

He glanced down at it as if he’d forgotten he’d been holding onto the magical feather.

“I suppose so,” he admitted after a moment, then closed his fingers over it. When he opened his hand again, the feather was gone.

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