Page 42 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile

Instead of drawing his sword, Merrick pointed upward, and when the wyvern inclined her head, he kicked hard to breach the surface.

A scream—filled with raw panic—met him, and he realized the group still on the ship hung over the railing, shouting at him, Ardow, and Raine to “get out now.”

Ydren let out something akin to a scoff as she twisted her body, allowing first Raine, second Merrick, and then a very hesitant Ardow to climb onto her back.

The wet scales were slippery, and when Ydren straightened her neck, towering over the sea to bring herself higher, Merrick had to admit he was forced to squeeze his legs with everything in him not to slide off.

Behind him, a yelp left Ardow, and Merrick sighed when the man began slipping backward.

Quickly snatching hold of his tunic, Merrick ensured the human stayed on, albeit at an awkward angle, ignoring his grumblings.

They didn’t have time for vanity.

“She’s my friend,” Raine called out to the faces, now level with them, still frozen in fear.

Even Venko, who should have been used to her after the days on Midhrok, seemed apprehensive.

And Loche…

The mighty regent couldn’t hide the twitch of his hand toward his sword as his gray eyes swept across the beast, and Merrick knew it wasn’t becoming, but he smirked at him, eliciting a narrow-eyed glare in return.

“She knows where Lessia and the rest are,” Raine continued, and Merrick snapped his eyes to his friend instead. “She’ll take us there. You need to follow. She’ll guide you so that you can escape the storm, or at least the worst of it.”

When Zaddock, of all people, nodded first, Merrick called, “Go now! We have no time to lose.”

He didn’t bother to ask how Ydren knew where Lessia was.

This was their best chance.

The wyvern whipped her head back to stare at him, and the same determination that blazed within Merrick could be found in her glossy eyes.

But it was the small ember of hope that also glittered in the dark that Merrick clung to.

The beast seemed to tell him to hold on.

At least that’s what he imagined when she, with a cry that made him want to cover his ears, dove into the water and launched herself across the vast sea with a speed no ship could ever match.

Chapter 8

Lessia

“Lessia!”

“Lessia! Come on!”

“Come back to us!”

Something shook her, and she groaned against the pressure building across her temples, squeezing her eyes shut harder when it exploded into what she could only describe as lightning hitting her mind from within her skull.

“Please…”

Lessia halted the move she’d made to fold into herself when the small voice followed the male ones.

“Please, Lia.”

Frelina.

That’s who that agony-filled voice belonged to.