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Then I drop the bloody sword and close the distance between us, putting my hands on McColl’s waist. Her eyes are wide, and she’s panting. Her face is white beneath the streaks of dirt and blood. She’s panicking a little, and I can’t say I blame her.

“Are you okay?”

She chokes out a laugh. “I am now.” She swallows thickly. “Thank you.”

“You did all the hard work. Once again, I’m impressed.”

“I hate to break this up, but we need to go,” Orion shouts from behind me.

I push out a heavy breath. “It’s fine,” I tell McColl, letting her go. “We can trust him.”

She nods once, even though her lip trembles in fear. The whites of her eyes are still overly large. “And the dragon? It’s him I’m worried about.”

“We’re safe,” I tell her, giving her hand a squeeze. “And the dragon is a her.”

Orion slides down his dragon’s leg. He is dressed in riding leathers.

“Kian,” he says. “You’re back.” He is grinning broadly as he walks up to us. He pulls me into a bear hug, smacking me once on the back. “Looks like I got here just in time. Delphine and I saved your ass.”

“You sure did.” I laugh as we let go of each other. “It’s good to see you, old friend.”

Orion’s gaze lands on McColl. “Who is your lady friend?” He sniffs the air. “That was nice work. You can wield magic?”

I ignore the question. “This is McColl. She helped me escape. McColl, this is my friend Orion.”

“Hi…um…” Her eyes are firmly on the dragon, who stands quite still except for the occasional blink of an eye. “It’s nice to meet you.” She still doesn’t take her eyes off the beast. “I’m sorry; I’ve never seen a dragon before. I’ve only ever read about them.”

“You are quite safe,” Orion says. “We are tethered…ahhh…bonded, I suppose you could say. Delphine does my bidding.”

The dragon turns her great head, looking at Orion. She snorts in clear disgust, a plume of smoke rising from her nostrils.

“Okay…okay…girl. We understand each other?” He lifts his brows. “Is that better?”

The dragon huffs, looking away.

“I suggest we get going before more guards arrive. I saw several groups of them headed this way and from different directions. It would seem that you are wanted.” He grins.

“Our horses are gone.” McColl looks longingly into the distance.

“No.” Orion shakes his head. “Horses will not get you past all the fae closing in. We’re all going to have to ride my dragon.” He turns and pets his beast’s neck. “Who wants to mount up first?”

13

McColl

Ride a dragon?

Me?

All three of us?

I suppose that Delphine is more than big enough to carry all of us at once.

“Up there?” I point at the sky above like an idiot.

“Delphine will take excellent care of us,” Orion says. He has dark, thick hair and green eyes similar to Alaric’s.

Although this Orion person called him Kian…not Alaric. I knew it. Not that he ever denied that Alaric wasn’t his real name. He just wouldn’t tell me what his real name was.