Page 97 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile

But you love the Death Whisperer’s voice. You fear you’ll forget it when you die. And you will…. Trust us.

Lessia refused to let the words sink in.

She would never forget him—it wasn’t possible.

She wouldn’t let herself.

Whirling, her eyes throwing that ominous glow around her, she thought that the white surrounding her must be some type of magic that let the wyverns see and speak to her.

As soon as you tricked that stone into choosing you, we felt you everywhere. Heard and saw and learned everything about you.They’d betrayed themselves, and… it tasted like magic—the thick white air reminding her of the stickiness of Merrick’s souls as they layered around her.

While she couldn’t compel magic—the memory of the moment she tried to stop her father’s magic drove a sharp pain through her heart—if the wyverns could see her…

The encounter underwater with Ydren surged through her mind, her violet eyes glossing.

I haven’t met anyone who could control wyverns before.That’s what Raine had told her back on his island.

Something in the air shifted, a tremble—a flicker of uncertainty—and Lessia knew she was right.

Staring straight ahead, watching her own eyes reflect back, she purred, “You will show yourselves, and you will listen to what I have to say.”

Told you she was clever.

They did get Frelina’s voice right that time, Lessia thought as the world flashed.

Then it went dark for a second before her eyes flew open.

“Lessia! For fuck’s sake!” Merrick’s eyes were an inch from hers, his gaze flying across her face.

Frelina was a few inches behind him, Raine holding on to her as they stared down at Lessia.

“I’m fine,” Lessia said hoarsely, that suffocating feeling lingering.

“You’re not fucking fine,” Merrick growled, but he appeared to catch himself, his face still hard but lips pressing tightly together when she glared back at him.

Lessia cleared her throat when he remained silent. “I am. I promise.”

Merrick’s eyes shut for a second as he blew out a breath through his nose, and when they opened, his face softened—at least to her trained eyes.

To Frelina, he probably still looked furious.

Still, when he asked, albeit gruffly, “Do you want to get up?” and she nodded, he was gentle, his arms sliding under hers to help her to stand.

“Your eyes went completely white, and you passed out,” Frelina said softly. “You almost scared us to death.”

Merrick was terrifiedis what Frelina’s eyes told her, and Lessia stepped closer to the Death Whisperer, leaning into him and wrapping an arm around his waist.

But even though she could hear his heart hammer against his rib cage, when she looked up and met Ydren’s eyes, she knew there wasn’t time for her to make him feel better.

Lessia bowed her head when Ydren cast hers back, and stated, “The wyverns will be here any moment.”

Chapter 19

Loche

When Zaddock sighed again for the tenth time in minutes, Loche spun around from where he’d stood in the bow, letting the cold wind rush through his hair, and faced his friend.

“I know you’re angry, Z, but it was necessary.” His eyes bore into Zaddock’s blue ones—the ones that appeared to become more and more defiant by the day and that had Loche’s gut coil in ways he’d never experienced before.