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“I see practice is still needed,” Landers said with a smirk as he lifted me from the ground.

He’d taught me to tether when we first came to Locdragoon, and it was the hardest of all the magic I’d learned to wield. No matter how hard I focused my mind on where I wanted to go, I always landed a few feet off.

“I may need more practice in tethering,” I said, sauntering over to the glass doors separating the sitting room and balcony as a mischievous smile spread across my face. “But, I have gotten quite good at other things.”

I pushed open the doors and walked out onto the terrace as Landers followed after me, his arms crossed across his chest. Pulling myself up onto the stone railing, I started walking it like a balance beam. Landers took three rapid steps toward me as I feigned falling and a laugh flew out of me at the bewildered look on his face.

He ran a nervous hand through his hair as his eyes narrowed on me.

“You have made your point.” He stretched his hand out to me. “Now,pleasecome down from there.”

I grinned down at him, winking, and pushed myself from the ledge.

My name exploded from his mouth, the sound of it frantic as his body shot over the edge of the railing and watched me fall through the air.

Wings erupted from my back and beat against the wind, bringing me back to the balcony’s ledge as Landers dragged a hand down his face.

“That was reckless,” he said, amusement braided into the worry that coated his words.

“That, my King, is called fun and you should try it. It’s good for the soul.”

Landers smiled up at me, finally letting out a long breath as he hoisted himself up on the railing beside me.

“Do you trust me?” I asked, slipping my hand into his.

His eyes locked on to mine. “With my life.”

A smile split across my face at his words as I slid my arms around his waist, then stepped off the ledge.

We fell, careening toward the ground as I laughed against his chest, the sound echoing into the night.

“Hyacinth! Open your wings!” Landers yelled as we quickly approached the earth, his grip tightening around my body.

His heart raced against my cheek as my shadows detonated from me. Tendrils reached out, grabbing hold of the castle’s structure and held fast as we bounced inside the inky net that caught us.

Landers clutched his chest, panting as he looked over at me with wild eyes.

“Who knew,” I sang, my shadows pushing me toward his side, “our great leader would be scared of a little fall.”

I leaned over him, my curls falling over my shoulder as I looked into emerald eyes that glittered back at me.

A laugh bellowed out of him, a loud, full-bodied sound that made my heart swell inside its chamber. My smile grew wider at the joy that seeped into the usually hard lines of his face.

His laugh was my favorite sound.

Landers slipped a hand behind my neck, pulling my lips to his, and kissed me.

I poured myself into that kiss, poured every ounce of love I had into it. It was the kind of kiss that scribes wrote legends about, that they would speak of when they thought of love.

“I love you,” I whispered against his lips, leaving a gentle kiss on each of his cheeks as I slid into his side, nuzzling underneath his shoulder. His arm wrapped around me as we looked up into the night, the stars sparkling above our billowing hammock.

“I love you, Hyacinth,” Landers breathed into the sky.

Tucking myself further into his side as the wind sent a chill through my body, I let myself feel it—feel this small moment of joy before it was ripped from our lives.

Chapter ten

ATALIIA