Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
When we finally come to a stop, I look up into a beautiful pair of deep brown eyes, so bottomless I feel completely untethered. I could lose myself here entirely, stare for an eternity without exploring past the surface or noting every ribbon of amber that draws me in even further.
“What the fuck are you doing, Mairi?” His voice booms, vibrating through my own ribs.
Reality comes crashing back in with the speed of an arrow, and I recoil, but there’s no give in the arms that hold me suspended over the forest floor.
Dain Aetos hovers above me, one hand braced on the ground to my right, the other splayed across my back, as though he—
My eyes fly wide. He sheltered me from the worst of the impact. He knocked me out of the way. He’s holding me against his torso like I’m something he needs to protect.
But I know better.
“Get off me!” Anger courses through my veins, hotter than any fire a dragon could produce, and I shove both my hands against his immovable chest.
His eyes flare, and he moves with disconcerting speed, untangling himself from my frame and jumping to his feet.
My back hits the ground, but I don’t lie there longer than a heartbeat. I scramble to my feet as the tip of the orange’s swordtail passes by.
“I’m going to ask you again. What the fuck are you doing?” he shouts, the tendons in his neck straining as his hands curl into fists at his sides. “Are you trying to die?”
“What business is it of yours?” I yell right back, disregarding every rule and regulation that’s been thrown at me since Parapet. This asshole got my brother killed.
“I’m your fucking wingleader!” His hands fly upward like I’m the one who’s out of line here. “I’m responsible for you!”
“Like you were Liam?” The rage gets the best of me, and I fly at him, throwing a fist up toward his face.
He retreats a step and I miss, causing me to nearly trip. “If you want to talk about your brother, it’s not going to be while you’re swinging at me.”
“Fuck you!” I surge forward and swing again, despite the difference in our heights. “You got him killed!”
“Stop it!” He catches my fist, then traps the next one when I try my left hook.
“It’s your fault they were sent to Athebyne!” Screw my hands; I still have feet. I kick out at him, and he grunts when I make contact with his shin. “I hate you!”
He yanks my hands and spins my body until my back is against his chest, and he holds my fists captive at my own collarbone. “Not as much as I hate myself, trust me.”
“I don’t,” I seethe and debate headbutting him, but I’m an inch or so shy of his chin, so that maneuver isn’t going to help me.
“For fuck’s sake.” He holds me even tighter, keeping me from moving. “If you want to hit me, ask for a challenge, but I’ve seen you fight, and it’s not going to end well for you.”
“Let. Me. Go.” I bite out each word through gritted teeth.
To my complete and utter surprise, he does.
I stumble forward, then pivot toward him so I don’t give him my back. Not that he couldn’t have just killed me outright if he’d wanted to. My chest heaves with exertion, but he just stands there, covered in dirt from our tumble but otherwise completely unfazed. He didn’t even break a sweat, which feels horrifically unfair.
“Are you done hitting me?” he asks, lifting his brows.
“I haven’t decided.” I roll my left shoulder as it starts to ache. A quick glance tells me I hit something, because there’s a tear in my uniform and that’s definitely blood wetting the fabric.
“I appreciate the candor.” He stares down at me, emotions flickering across his features too fast for me to get a read on what he feels. “Yes. Violet made it abundantly clear that I am the reason your brother was sent to Athebyne, and I live with that every fucking day. What I won’t live with is you throwing your life away in the middle of Threshing, screaming at a dragon that you don’t want to be a rider.”
“And that’s why you just broke Codex?” I hurl the accusation like a punch, and given the way his eyes widen, it hits. “Yeah. You interfered.”
“Fuck.” He laces his fingers, then rests them on the top of his head and closes his eyes. A deep breath later, he looks at me again. “At least I have your life to show for it.”
My stomach lurches and I drop my gaze, realizing how close I came to that not being true. I just hurled myself toward a dragon.
“Are you all right?” he asks.
I study the root structure of the tree to my left.