“Perfect.” His restraint vanishes in an instant. Gone are the measured, precise thrusts. He growls into my neck and drives wildly with his hips, consuming me with abandon, and I realize that this is what I craved beyond anything else, even beyond his secrets—his loss of control.

I want to be the only person he unravels for.

Holding on to his shoulders, I push back into every thrust, swiveling my hips and savoring the shout he lets loose when he finally shudders beneath me, his shadows blasting through the room. Rock cracks and water bursts from the aqueducts.

My heart races as I grin.

“Fuck.” His forehead rests against mine, our chests heaving as we fight to catch our breath. “Just when I think I can handle you, I completely fucking lose it.”

“That’s my favorite part.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” He brushes his lips over mine, and he locks his arms around me, keeping me from melting off his lap. “Death of me, I swear.”

“What do we do now?” The question slips out before I can stop it. After all, I’m the one who’s been fighting this—whatever this is.

“We have options.” He caresses the side of my face and studies my eyes. “First, we can stay right here and go again. Second, we can clean up, get dressed, and sneak up to my room, where we can go again. Or third…” He pauses. “We can clean up, find a water wielder to dry our clothes, get you into one of my flight jackets, and fly to the rendezvous to drop the daggers—”

I’m up and running, grabbing for my clothes before he can even finish. Of course I’m going with him.

“I’m guessing that’s a no to options one and two?” he says with a disappointed sigh.

Though gryphon riders are not capable of producing signets, they are not powerless. In fact, some would argue that they’ve honed lesser magic, especially mindwork, into the deadliest weapon of all. Underestimating them is an error.

—GRYPHONS OF POROMIEL, A STUDY IN COMBAT BY MAJOR GARION SAVOY

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

The thing about being two riders in an assumed relationship who happen to be bonded to a mated pair of dragons is that no one thinks twice about a midnight flight to get away, and there is no better view of the stars on the Continent than from Tairn’s back.

“I still do not approve,” Tairn lectures as we cross the barrier of the wards a little after midnight.

“And yet, we’re still flying,” I counter, shaking off the feeling of wrongness that sinks further into my bones with every wingbeat. From experience, I know it’ll pass once we’ve been out beyond the wards long enough for my senses to adjust.

“Only because I vowed to let you make your own choices after Resson, not because I agree with you.” He follows the slope of the peak, banking left to skim the landscape. Tonight’s full moon means keeping a low profile. “This is an unnecessary risk.”

“One Xaden and Sgaeyl take all the time.” I stop fighting the wind and lean forward as he dives, grinning into the wind.

“The shadow wielder is not my concern.”

“Sgaeyl is.” The saddle’s straps dig into my thighs, a constant reminder that I can’t keep my seat without it.

“Sgaeyl would never be taken down by something as puny as a gryphon.”

He scoffs. “And as for losing the shadow wielder, she would be emotionally inconvenienced, that is true.”

I scoff at his bluster. “An emotional inconvenience? Is that what I am to you?” If so, then we don’t need to worry that my death would cause Tairn’s, or Sgaeyl’s and Xaden’s.

“You’re currently a prize annoyance.”

The wind steals my laughter, and I brace as we approach what looks to be a forested valley. The edge of the nearest ridgeline glows with the light from a Poromish village, but I’m not sure which one.

Tairn flares his wings, and gravity catches up with us, forcing me deeper into the saddle in the instant before he lands at the edge of a dark lake, jostling every bone in my body. Before I can get my bearings, he swings, leaving me grasping for the pommel as he puts his back to the water, facing the open meadow.

“That was abrupt.” Good thing I’m still strapped in.

“Next time, you fly and I’ll ride.” His head sweeps from left to right as Sgaeyl lands next to us, Xaden on her back.

“He’s still pissed that I came along,” I tell Xaden, reaching for the buckle.

“You’ve gotten strong enough to handle Aetos,” Xaden says, already moving for Sgaeyl’s shoulder. Moonlight catches on his swords as he dismounts.

“I’m more worried about the company the lieutenant keeps than Aetos,” Tairn growls. “And don’t even think of dismounting, Silver One.”

“I’m sorry?” I pull the leather through the first loop.

“Undo that strap and I’ll launch.” His head swivels, eerily snakelike, to glare at me over his shoulder.

My jaw drops. “You can’t be serious,” I whisper in a hiss.

“Try me.” His golden eyes narrow into slits. “I agreed to come to the drop-off. I did not agree to endanger your life when we are easily within a wyvern’s flight from Zolya. I, too, remember what happens to dismounted riders.”

“You’re being an overprotective ass.” Not that he doesn’t have a point. Maybe I’m not the only one with bad dreams.

“I am a credit to my line.” He swings his head forward, completely dismissing me.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be able to hear everything from up there.” Xaden’s voice carries from where he stands just ahead of Tairn and Sgaeyl.

“Says the guy whose dragon isn’t putting him in the corner,” I grumble.

“I could have refused the rendezvous. This is a compromise.” Tairn chuffs. “They’re approaching.”

It’s on my tongue to fire back, but I close my mouth when I hear the wingbeats of gryphons. The sound is softer than those of dragons, less enunciated. Like a gale wind instead of a drumbeat.

Seven gryphons—a full drift—land in the clearing ahead and walk forward, their formidable heads darting left and right as they glance between Tairn and Sgaeyl. The gryphons are about a foot taller than Xaden, and though I can’t make out colors well in the moonlight, I can see their razor-sharp beaks just fine from here.

“Please tell me you recognize them,” I say to Xaden, my heart pounding. Power rises under my skin and charges the air around me.

“I do. You will in a minute, too,” he replies as if we’re meeting friends at the local tavern.

Tairn lowers his head in a gesture I recognize as both a threat to them and a favor to me, allowing me to see the rest of the approach.

The gryphons, half eagle and half lion, halt about twenty feet away, and three of their fliers dismount, leaving the pairs at the edges ready to fly at a moment’s notice.

Our trust is as thin as December ice. One misstep and the fracture will have deadly consequences.

The trio walks toward Xaden through the knee-high mountain grass, and I recognize the one in the center almost immediately as the veteran that came upon us at the lake, then fought with us in Resson. Her face is a little more drawn, and she has a new scar down the side of her neck that disappears into her uniform, but that’s definitely her.