Series: Lords of Rathe Series by Meagan Brandy
Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
A whisper of movement against the floor cuts off my thoughts.
I snap my hand out, fingers hooking as if to catch a throat, but all I come up with is air.
Unease sits in the center of my spine, coiled tight, watching the horizon like something is about to pop out at me. There’s a snap above me, and my head tilts up just as a long, curling shadow slips across the leaves overhead in the familiar silhouette of a tail.
My fingertips warm instantly, heat blooming across my palm.
I drop my gaze back to the codex, pretending I’m not suddenly on high alert. My heart tightens in that quiet, coiled way it does when a fight is coming. The words blur, meaningless, because every ounce of my attention is stretched out across the grounds, listening for the wrong breath, the wrong shift of wind.
Slowly, casually, I nudge the codex off my knee.
I bend to pick it up, fingers sinking into the soil. As I rise, I let the book fall from my palm again, and the moment it hits the ground, I whip the fistful of dirt into the space directly in front of me.
It hits something solid. Something invisible, wafting out into a cloud that starts to take shape.
The air splits with a surprised cough, and the glamour collapses, peeling back like torn cloth until a gifted girl wearing the same Rathe U uniform I do snaps into view.
I don’t give her a second to think. My knee drives up into her gut, folding her in half with a strangled wheeze. My other leg sweeps hers from beneath her, dropping her hard onto her back, and before the breath can even leave her lungs, I’m already straddling her, dagger pressed to the hollow of her throat.
The girl snarls up at me, her lips curling. “Bitch.”
“Says the girl on the ground. Bet you’ve never seen that little dirt trick, have you?” I lean closer, pressing the blade tighter to her throat. “Don’t worry, it’s something only a poor little giftless would know.” I fake pout.
“We know it was you!” she screams. “You’re going to pay! You’re already screwed and you don’t even know it!”
I frown, ready to argue when her eyes begin to glow a deep yellow. I act before whatever magic she has explodes out of her.
I slam my forehead into hers, the crack echoing through the clearing. Her eyes go blank and her body limp. Warm trickles of blood slip down my forehead and across my nose. I shove off her chest, wiping her blood from my brow with the back of my hand, and push to my feet with a sigh.
“Fool,” I mutter, brushing dirt from my pants and adjusting the dagger at my boot.
I dust off my codex, and start walking toward my dorm, already annoyed at how fast the peace of the grounds disappeared.
Fuck did she mean I’m already screwed?
I know that I’m stuck here and all, but I am sort of starting to like it. For now. But that’s beside the point!
How would she know that?
Am I being played?
“Damn girl, shut the fuck up,” I utter to myself. Since when do I go getting all paranoid?
Since when do I give a flying fuck about any of that?
Despite myself, my thoughts continue to run. Now I just want to get fucking punched hard enough so that I can take a damn nap.
That girl back there doesn’t know how lucky she is, getting her mind to shut up for five minutes. I did her a favor.
Just as I’m about to pass the last stone perch that signals the exit of the Flying Grounds, the shadow reappears. It glides between the trees in a way no person could soundlessly manage.
I pivot hard and throw my dagger. The blade sinks into the dirt with a solid thunk, just where I intended, and something enormous exhales.
The trees shudder, and then he steps out.
Ruby-red scales catching light like molten glass with wings tucked tight against a body big enough to flatten half the university if he felt dramatic about it. His long neck curves toward me, eyes glowing as bright as the Forbidden Gems back on Exile, a deep, volcanic red.
Dragon, and not even a fully grown one.
“Thank you,” I say lightly, like I’m greeting an old friend. “I know that was you, the snap of the branch.”
His pupils widen, round and bright, and he lowers his head a fraction, huffing a warm breath across my skin.
“Did you see her?” I wonder.
He snorts, a plume of smoke curling around my knees.
“Smelled her.” I nod. “Of course.”
A deep rumble vibrates through the air, low and warning. His long neck coils then stretches toward the earth, gaze darting toward the far end of the field.
Slowly, he backs away, the ground trembling with each step, his wings unfurling like a banner of fire and shadow.