Page 120 of A Court of Wings and Shadows

“They asked if I knew the rotation,” he said. “Specifically, when you were entering the course.”

My jaw tightened. “And what did you tell them?”

“I said you went last.”

Zander’s lavender eyes darkened as his gaze swept across us. “They were looking for you.”

“I figured as much,” I said, my voice even.

He didn’t hesitate. “Mount up. I want to get back.”

We all moved without another word. I swung back onto Kaelith’s neck, settling into place with a practiced grace that felt like second nature. The instant she lifted more than twenty feet from the ground, her mind shimmered into mine like a drawn blade.

The next time that despicable excuse for a rider attacks you,Kaelith said with a low growl,I am scorching him from the skies.

I sighed.Not yet. Not until I find out who’s pulling Iron Fang’s strings.

Besides,I added,won’t that piss off his dragon?

Kaelith scoffed.His dragon is only a hundred years old. Too young to form a proper bond. He can always choose another.

I thought dragons only bonded once.

We can bond as many times as we like,she said, wings catching the wind with ease.But under the treaty, we’re only required to bond once. Most don’t wish to experience the loss again. The more time a dragon spends with their rider…

The more they grow to love them.I finished the sentence, knowing Kaelith would not.

We flew fast, quiet, the tension from the course still simmering just beneath the surface. By the time we landed back on the Ascension Grounds, the sky had turned dusky gold, and the wind had shifted cooler with the scent of firewood and steel.

Zander dismounted from Hein first and turned toward my squad.

“Thrall Squad,” he called out, “take a break.”

They didn’t need to be told twice.

But Zander didn’t wait for me to follow them.

He stepped beside me as I slid from Kaelith’s back and gestured toward the castle. “Come with me.”

I raised a brow. “The wound’s fine. It’s already healing.”

“I know,” he said, not slowing. “But I need a minute alone with you.”

That stopped me harder than any blade. But I didn’t argue.

I followed.

Zander didn’t say a word as he led me through the castle corridors, his pace sharp, purposeful. I followed in silence, the echo of our boots the only sound as the torches flickered along the stone walls. We passed no guards. No one else.

Only when we turned into a narrow corridor near the east wing, completely empty, did he stop.

And then he turned.

His hands were on me in the next breath, pulling me flush against his chest as if the space between us was something that offended him. His mouth crashed onto mine with a fury that stole every thought from my head.

There was anger in that kiss. Fury and fire and the desperate edge of something sharp.

His lips were punishing, his hands gripping my waist like he needed to remind himself I was still alive. Still his to protect, even if the world kept trying to take me away. I tasted frustration, his helplessness that he hadn’t been there when Perin pulled a blade. That I’d been hunted again, and would beagain. The kiss wasn’t soft, wasn’t careful.