Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Kerrigan held on tight and mirrored his position as they moved into a rocky outcropping. Her heart thudded in her chest as they gave chase, threading through the tall rocks at record speeds.
And this rider, while not as well or as recently trained as Kerrigan, did have the advantage of the surroundings. These were clearly familiar to him. As they moved through the rocks, taking pin-tight turns, she felt their lead slipping. They couldn’t let him get away. That was her only thought as she was taken on his wild-goose chase through the mountains.
But the farther they got away from Ravinia Mountain and the safety of the House of Shadows, the more she wondered if this was planned. Were they luring her away on purpose? Was this scout more advanced than she was giving him credit for? She didn’t know. Only that if she let him get away, the Society would immediately know their current location. And with only two dragons, they could do considerable damage to the mountain before Kerrigan was able to rally support for her cause—before most of Alandria even knew she was still alive.
She swore that wouldn’t happen.
The people needed to know she was alive. Hiding out in the mountains was only helping the Society. She wasn’t going to turn herself in or doing anything rash like Fordham suspected, but hiding wasn’t the answer either. The people needed to have hope, or else there would be no rallying call left.
That all hit her in a moment, and she pressed her urgency on Tieran, giving him a final boost of energy. He slid around the next rock outcropping and slammed sideways into the rock, sending it raining down onto the other dragon.
A cry rang out from the rider as rocks fell onto him. But they were still going, moving out of the worst of it as Kerrigan and Tieran pressed in closer and closer and closer. They just needed another minute.
They pulled up alongside the other dragon, bumping against the larger beast and then veering out of its way as it tried to throw its larger weight into Tieran. Without the bulk to stop him, they could only poke at him. They needed to be smarter, since they weren’t larger.
The rider’s eyes flared at the sight of her recognizable red hair and freckled face. “You’re alive!”
He shouted the words as if he found them unbelievable. He must not have been there the day that Bastian had sent the might of the Society against her. That likely made him local. Was he scouting for them? Wrong place, wrong time?
“Land!” Kerrigan yelled back at him.
The Fae male’s face contorted at those words. “I won’t land! You’re the one who came after me!”
“If you won’t surrender, then we’ll have to make you.”
“Make me!” the male yelled in fury. “They said you were a bitch.”
Tieran snarled in fury at the insult. It was a step up from being called a leatha but still wholly unoriginal.
“Well, never mind,” Kerrigan said on a laugh and moved to standing.
Because what the male didn’t know was that she now had Fordham’s powers at her disposal. The Daijan bond had wrapped itself around their powers, and they could share. She could feel the shadows come to her hands as fierce and terrifying as the first time she’d seen Fordham do it. And the benefit of shadows was that she could jump.
Which Kerrigan had never done before but was prepared to do to take him out.
And then Netta appeared overhead.
“Mine!” Wynter shouted.
From one second to the next, Wynter launched off Netta’s back. Midair, her entire body disappeared, and she landed squarely on the back of the other dragon. The male looked shocked at the sight of another person on the back of his dragon. His instincts took over too late. Wynter was a formidable fighter who could see the auras of someone’s magic. It gave her an edge in almost all ways in a fight, except for when her magic couldn’t work on Kerrigan, when Kerrigan had been wearing the Ring of Endings. The ring that was currently on Bastian’s finger.
“How?” the male gasped before Wynter’s fist cracked into his face.
He fell backward, and his dragon roared in anger. It whipped sideways, and Wynter careened to her knees, clinging to the beast. If she wasn’t careful, it was going to send her flying. She hadn’t had the training for this.
“Kerrigan!” Wynter screamed. “Catch.”
Kerrigan only had a second to process what Wynter was saying, and then she bodily threw the Fae male off the side of his dragon. When his dragon dove for him, Wynter was already gone, back on Netta’s comforting back, and racing after him.
Kerrigan swore at the sight of the Fae free-falling toward the rocky outcropping below. She and Tieran pushed down at the same time. He was only a few feet past them. Tieran reached out and grasped him between his claws. He pulled up quick out of his dive, missing the other dragon’s claws by inches. Then he sped away from the rocks.