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I wanted him to.

But then he released my tunic and stepped away, leaving me breathless and wanting.

FORTY-THREE

ZARIA

Days blurred into each other. We spent long hours riding, and many, many hours training, both physically and magically. But it was the flying I missed. I never thought I would say that, but flying was my favorite thing, and those hours were when I felt closest to Nyx.

My body was changing. I felt stronger than I ever had. I slept better than I ever had, too, so exhausted by the end of the day I couldn’t do anything more than eat and fall into my bed roll.

But I was beginning to realize the Goddess had other plans for us tonight. Nyx’s face turned to the sky, a scowl creasing his brow. “Isn’t it too early for monsoon season?”

“They have been known to come early,” I replied, fear inflating like a balloon in my chest. Monsoons hit the coast of the Desert Kingdom for a brief spell each year. It was the product of a unique weather system that spilled off the volcano coast and, though brief, they could be extreme.

“I didn’t consult with a weather mage before we left. I didn’t want to raise suspicion. I didn’t even consider…” As Nyx spoke, a few drops hit the ground—a warning from the Goddess to get under cover. The sprinkle before the downpour.

I turned in a slow circle. Not even a tree in sight. Nothing as far as the eye could see. “If the road floods…”

“Surely, the roadways are built to withstand even the worst of the flooding in the kingdom?”

I shook my head. “Maybe near the cities, but out here, the barons don’t care about the fae. They hardly bring in any taxes, so they are left to fend for themselves.”

“That’s not right. The King provides every kingdom with military units and stipends for the fae’s safety and wellbeing.”

“Maybe for the larger populations that the barons care about. The ones that generate income for them. This far out, the fae are on their own.”

“Maybe in your village, because they lived outside the law, but I have a hard time believing it’s that way across the entire Fifth Kingdom.”

“It’s not just the Fifth Kingdom. We occasionally took in new followers of the Sisters of the Sands. Fae who were turned away from the kingdoms and couldn’t fend for themselves any longer and were desperate. Turning to the Goddess and giving themselves in service by joining the commune. The more I think about it, the more I see that desperate fae don’t ask questions and will promise whatever it takes for salvation, which is how the elders must have ensured that nothing of the outside world was ever spoken of inside their walls.”

It struck me then that I understood the fae out here better than he did. He spent his whole life in the wealth and excess that was the First Kingdom, and he had no idea how other fae on the outside really lived.

“The King can’t know.”

I lifted my shoulders. “I can’t speak to what the King knows or doesn’t, but I do know we need to find cover. We can’t camp out here in this.”

“It’s just a little water. How bad can it be?”

As if the Goddess wanted to make him eat his words, the sky opened.

The rain came down, not in drops or drips, but like stones fired from above…and it was ice cold. We were soaked before we got a mile, and with an endless stretch of desert in front of us, there was no hope for cover. We’d long passed all the giant rock formations and caves that bordered the volcanic lands.

We rode on into the driving rain, heads ducked, and faces covered, but it did little to keep the water out. It soaked even our leather boots. After sunset, the real danger would set in. The temperature dropped quickly at night, bringing the other extreme of the desert. The cold sank into my bones until my teeth chattered. It should have been impossible for water to fall from the sky in the usually arid desert to be this cold.

“We have to find somewhere to shelter!” Nyx yelled, and despite our close proximity, the wind almost drowned him out.

“Where?” I screamed.

“I don’t know, but you will fall ill if we don’t get out of these conditions. We have to find something with any cover at all. At least enough for me to get a fire going.”

“You can’t get a fire going in this even with dragon fire.”

“I might be able to if we work together.”

“You’ll drain your power trying, and you’ll never keep it alight. This rain will only get worse.” I craved it, though. Anything to get warm. But I knew it wasn’t worth the cost.

“Would you rather die?” Concern flickered in his gaze.