Vesryn’s hands tightened around her forearms. “Just because you haven’t had the luxury of time to manifest your full power doesn’t make you any less deserving.”

Letting go, the prince retreated, tapping on one of Naru’s legs. The dracovae snapped his beak but lifted a clawed foot. Ending their conversation as if he’d settled the matter, Vesryn focused his attention on casting a sliver of rending to trim back Naru’s talons.

A small part of Serenna nearly asked if he ever intended to complete the bond—or if he wanted to. But the last thing she wanted to do was pressure him if he was hesitant to accept a bond for a second time. It didn’t seem like a conversation to have while the prince needed to focus on corralling the rogue wraith. It’s obvious I need more training, so a deeper magical connection between us would only be a risk for him.

Serenna glanced back across the vale, letting the weight of the moment reign until she couldn’t stew in the silence any longer. “What will Trella do while we’re gone?” The female dracovae had wandered closer than the first time they’d visited the pair. Rousing her feathers and scales in a clatter, she tilted her eagle-like head, watching them with curious eyes.

“I’ll leave the portal open for as long as I can in case she wants to follow.” Vesryn released Naru’s clawed foot. “She normally does.”

“Portal?” Fidgeting, Serenna readjusted the sleeves on her uniform, pulling the material down to her wrists. Despite the comfortable weather from the late spring day, they wore a full set of leathers to protect themselves from the cooler elements in the skies. “Why do we need to portal?”

“We’ll save flight time moving by gateway. I’ve traveled enough with Naru that I can get us closer to the wraith’s reported location without having to fly across the realms.” Vesryn secured his hair in a topknot, binding it out of his face with a leather strap. “The hunts are going to become more difficult if someone with magic is working with those beasts, but we should be able to handle three wraith.”

“We?” Serenna followed the prince’s lead, wrapping her braid into a tight coil on the top of her head.

“Why do you think we’ve been training in the dungeons all week?” Vesryn’s attention finally flicked back to her, disintegrating Serenna’s previous apprehension. “I wouldn’t put you in danger if I thought you couldn’t handle yourself.” The prince kneeled to tighten the laces on his boots, glancing up at her. “And besides, I remember you demanding that I not hunt the wraith alone.”

Serenna sniffed dismissively. “It’s about time you decided to be sensible for your safety.”

Lunging forward, Vesryn snatched the backs of her legs. Serenna squeaked, stumbling into his chest. The prince’s hands glided down her calves before refastening the laces on her boots.

“You don’t want any loose ends tangled up in the saddle,” he said, grinning up at her, knowing exactly what he was doing to her pulse.

Serenna frowned as he knotted the leather into intricate loops, nearly tight enough to cause discomfort. “How am I supposed to untie those?”

“You broke out of the rending binds last night, so I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Rising to his full height, the prince smirked. “But considering how much you struggled, I imagine we’ll have to practice again.”

Serenna’s wordless bluster was lost as Vesryn turned and placed a boot in one of the stirrup loops. Ascending the ladder, he climbed up the side of Naru. At the top of the dracovae’s back, he settled into the saddle.

“Ready?” Vesryn asked, patting his thigh.

Serenna pinched her lips. “I’m not sitting in your lap.”

She stroked Naru’s neck, receiving a trilling chirp. Copying the prince’s motion, she hooked her boot into a looped ring and pulled herself up.

Serenna unsuccessfully swatted Vesryn’s hands away when he snatched her at the top. Seizing her waist, he squeezed her hips while dragging her down in front of him.

“I’m helping,” he said defensively while Serenna’s blood jerked in enough directions to give her whiplash. Crouching over her, the mountain of his chest stacked against her spine. The prince suggestively ran his hands down the tops of her thighs, steering her feet into a higher set of stirrups, adjusting the loops over her boots. “Just guiding you in,” he said in a voice that could only mean trouble.

To reinstate some shred of control, Serenna elbowed Vesryn’s abdomen when his lips brushed against the point of her ear. “I can handle myself.” He didn’t seem to notice her feeble protest through that wall of solid muscle.

Vesryn’s thighs clamped around hers, wedging them even closer. Not giving him the satisfaction of melting into his chest, Serenna sat up straight, putting more distance between them even though they both had ample room.

Ignoring the gesture, the prince curved his arm across her middle, hauling her back into the cradle of his lap. Sighing, Serenna let Vesryn win this round and folded into him, not quite relaxing.

Naru tossed his head and stretched his wings, ruffling his feathers. Trella emitted a screech, flapping in response. The female dracovae boldly approached, seemingly not keen on being left behind.

Violet light flared as the prince fabricated a shield in front of them. “This will dampen the wind enough so that the breeze won’t tear out our eyes,” he explained, twining an inverse wave of illumination into the ward to render it invisible.

He then extended a hand, opening a massive portal. Tossing his head, Naru started prancing toward the rift. Lurching with his motion, Serenna grabbed the swell of the saddle. She steadied herself, adjusting to the dracovae’s foreign gait that dipped and swayed from side to side.

The last thing she registered before entering the portal’s embrace was Vesryn’s lips skimming across the side of her throat. “Hang on,” he said, mouth skating over the shell of her ear.

Serenna shivered as the inky portal swallowed the surrounding mountain valley in darkness.

CHAPTER 18

SERENNA

It took Serenna a disorienting moment to realize they were falling. Fast. Plummeting from the sky.

Going rigid, every muscle in her legs locked against the saddle. Seizing the prince’s arm, Serenna’s shriek ripped through the terror wedged in her throat. Wind screamed past her ears as they plunged straight for the scattered clouds below.

Naru tucked his wings in tight, streaking down toward the fluffy sea, faster than a crashing comet. The steep plunge launched Serenna’s heart into her mouth. Vesryn crouched over her, leaning into the dive. His unrestrained, wild laughter thundered against her back.

A blur of mist drenched them, shading the rising sun when they dipped into the clouds. Cool water droplets beaded on Serenna’s face and clung to her leathers. Naru sliced through the wisps, rapidly cutting the air as they descended to the earth.

A sudden break in the white haze loosened the fear in Serenna’s chest, releasing her lungs so she could take her first full breath. Vast grassy plains stretched out over the landscape, thousands of feet below.

Serenna’s stomach slapped against her spine when Naru’s wings snapped out, yanking their fall to a halt. Feathers flaring, the dracovae’s body twisted underneath her legs as he tipped to one side, sawing through the atmosphere in a sweeping loop.

Panting, Serenna reclaimed her breathing. Her heart slowed its steady trampling of her ribs as her pulse settled back into place.

“I should have known you’d make a gateway to another realm in the sky,” she shrilled to the prince over the whistle of the wind. Serenna could feel him grinning behind her.

Trella suddenly burst through the layer of clouds. The female dracovae streaked past them in a blinding white blur, legs folded close to her body. Fanning her wings hundreds of feet lower, she screeched, a wild and piercing sound that only a behemoth raptor could make. Trella leveled out, gliding in looping circles.

“Can you keep yourself balanced in the saddle?” Vesryn asked.

“I think so.” Serenna loosened her shoulders, settling into the steady rhythm of Naru’s flapping. Each thunderous stroke of his wings had them dipping and rising, like a ship’s deck bobbing at sea. “As long as this buzzard doesn’t dive again.”

“In that case…” Vesryn reached forward and fastened a strap across her lap and over each thigh, binding her to the contraption. “Don’t pull his feathers.” The prince gave the dracovae’s neck an affectionate pat, running a plume through his fingertips. “If you do, I’m not responsible if he decides to roll you off.”

As if agreeing with the prince, Naru peered back at them before emitting a chorus of clacks. Vesryn shifted, bumping into her. Serenna twisted around at the prince’s jostling to see him flinging his legs together over Naru’s side.

Alarm pitched her question high. “What are you doing?”

Vesryn fabricated a shield across his face. “Flying, of course.” He smirked as if it was the most obvious answer. “It’s the best part.” And with that stupid grin, he jumped.

Serenna gasped, jerking forward to stare past Naru’s shoulder. She watched in stunned horror as the prince free fell to the earth, descending with his limbs thrown out like a starfish, catching the wind.

Frantically, Serenna looked back at Naru. He tracked the prince, pearly eyes pinned on Vesryn’s back. Frolicking with a shake of his head, the dracovae released an ear-splitting screech, answered by Trella below.

Naru’s body coiled and tightened under Serenna’s legs, ready to spring. Oh no. Wings snapping shut, he launched into a dive.

Swallowing another scream, Serenna lunged forward to seize the front of the saddle. Knees clamping against the dracovae’s sides, her fingers slipped with fear. Her hands shook from the effort of hanging on, knuckled locked around the cantle. Despite the shield Vesryn had tied off, wind whipped against her face, stinging her cheeks as strands of her braid loosened, thrashing behind her.

They soared past Trella, overtaking the prince, winning the race toward the earth. The air howled in Serenna’s ears as they shot to the ground faster than she’d imagined was possible.