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My cheeks heated, and I averted my eyes, lowering them. Which was the wrong choice. I got quite the view of bronzed skin and hard muscle and—I swallowed, closing my eyes.

He pressed in, his warm breath on my ear. “You know me. Feel it, Zaria. You are my ryder. This is where you belong.”His voice… It was familiar and yet not. A voice I knew in my soul yet had never heard. It curled around me, delivering some sort of comfort.

My entire body reacted to him, growing warm from the inside out as a shiver ran down my spine.

Even if he was lying about the rest, I was beginning to sense this much was true.

I knew him.

But I didn’t know what that meant.

FIVE

NYX

She passed clean out. Thankfully, she hadn’t backed far enough away, and I caught her before she could go over the edge of the landing. I carried her through the open doorway into the healer’s wing.

“What do you have for us, Nyx?” Kiera asked, gesturing me toward an empty bed.

I laid Zaria where I was directed and looked my old friend in the eyes. “She’s my ryder, and I think she has Dragon’s Bane poisoning.”

Kiera gasped. “No. You jest.”

“No jest. I found her. But there was Dragon’s Bane burning all around her. She inhaled a lot.” I stepped back as Kiera pressed a stone to Sol’s chest. I didn’t fully understand the sacred symbols and crystals used for healing magic, but I knew she’d be checking her lungs and blood.

Dragon’s Bane could lead to blood poisoning if respiration didn’t fail first.

“Where did you find her?” Kiera shot me a half glance.

“It’s best you don’t know,” I said carefully, not sure how much trouble my brother would get into for all of this.

“What did you do?” She gave a flat look. We’d started our training the same year, and Kiera had never taken any of my shit. She saw through my charm from the moment she met me; it made me appreciate her more.

“Will you focus on the patient?” I said in a poor attempt to change the subject.

“I’ve already diagnosed her.Her blood will need to be cleansed to remove the poison, but she will be fine in a few days. You haven’t found your ryder only to lose her.” Kiera straightened and fixed her healer’s robes, then grabbed a pair of sweatpants to toss at me.

I caught the sweats and exhaled, letting some of the tension and exhaustion out of my shoulders. “Thanks.”

“I should go into the sweatpants business as often as you lot need them. I’d make a fortune.” She signaled to a healer’s apprentice to take over Sol’s care and slipped from the sectioned-off area. I felt torn, but Sol was in the best hands, so I followed, pulling on the pants.

“If you do, can you dye them more favorable colors? Gray is entirely boring. I’d love a cobalt or azure.” I leaned against her herbal prep counter while she gathered what she needed.

“As if you need anything more to bring out those eyes of yours. It’s already sickening how the ladies in the court follow you and your brother around.”

I flashed a grin. “It’s because we are dragons, not because of our looks.”

“It can be both.”

“At least you’re immune.”

“You don’t have anything I fancy, and marrying a flyer sounds exhausting. I’ll pass.” She handed me a bundle of herbs and a knife before looking me over. “Do you need something? How long have you been awake?”

“A couple of days?” I closed one eye, trying to remember as I took them and prepped them the way she’d shown me years ago. This wasn’t my first time lingering where I didn’t belong. Hiding in the healer’s wing became my sanctuary a long time ago. “You’re smart to stay away from flyers. We don’t make great partners—too much time in the skies. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

“Is that why you refuse to marry?” She side-eyed me as she prepared a small potion. She pushed it into my hands, and I gladly downed it. Liquid energy wasn’t the best thing to consume, but it would keep me upright to deal with the consequences of my excursion.

“Obviously.” There was more to it than that.A female ryder was never a good arrangement for an unwed male flyer. Any fae I’d marry would be jealous of our close bond and the time we spent together, and I’d known all my life that was coming if I ever found her again. Now I had the extra battle of dealing with a ryder who didn’t even want to be here. I shook my head and forced a smile to my lips. “I’ll be too busy training my ryder for some time to come.”