Page 58 of A Court of Wings and Shadows

“Then you should’ve listened to him,” I whispered, the words like a blade across my tongue. “I would’ve gone with you. And it wouldn’t have mattered that you were a noble.”

I didn’t wait for his reply. I turned, climbing into Kaelith’s saddle after I had reattached it. The leather was cool beneath my hands, her magic already moving beneath my skin.

Kaelith,I reached for her privately.Can you lay off Katama? He can’t control Remy. Nobody can.

She shifted beneath me, an irritated roll of muscle and scale I felt straight through the saddle.

He will keep his rider in line,she said with a growl in my mind,or I will scorch him until he learns obedience.

It’s not his fault,I argued gently.Katama chose him because he believed there was good in him. You can’t punish him for believing in someone.

Kaelith let out a soft huff that shook her wings.Dragons do not forgive as easily as humans. You forget, that I see everything. How you wept alone, when no one else was watching.

I swallowed hard.I remember.

Then you understand why I will not trust a male who wounds you and walks back expecting warmth.

Katama didn’t wound me,I countered,and he loves you.

There was a pause, a long one, before she spoke again, quieter this time.

Then let him prove it. Let him protect you the way his rider failed.

I sighed, brushing my gloved hand along the curve of her neck. Her scales shimmered beneath my touch.

Fair enough,I murmured.But no scorching. Not unless he earns it.

Kaelith didn’t answer with words.

But the fire in her chest dimmed.

Just slightly.

We took off in tight formation, the wind tearing at our cloaks as we flew low along the coast, following the faint wagon tracks that snaked through the hills toward Diria. The sun was beginning to sink into the sea, casting molten light over the cliffs and shadowing the land in golden fire. Below us, the ground narrowed into craggy outcroppings and twisting paths, until finally, the tracks vanished entirely.

Zander raised his fist, signaling us to descend.

Kaelith landed gracefully, claws crunching against gravel and windblown stone. The others followed in sequence, wings folding as we moved to inspect the area. The cliffs dropped steeply into the ocean below, the waves crashing far beneath like distant thunder.

But there was no sign of a wagon.

No broken axle. No scattered crates. No trail leading inland.

Just… gone.

“Just like last time,” Cordelle muttered as he crouched low, brushing a gloved hand over the fading track marks that ended inches from the cliff’s edge.

Riven had been quiet most of the trip, her expression distant, thoughtful. Now, she moved closer, eyes scanning the cliff’s lip. “There’s more to this,” she murmured. “Wagons don’t vanish. Not unless someone wants them to.”

We spread out, searching the cliffside, combing through brush and cracks in the stone. My boots crunched over loosegravel as I scanned the horizon, eyes narrowed against the dying light.

“Here!” Teren called, waving us over. He stood at the edge of the path, pointing toward the beach below. “I see something along the shoreline. Could be wreckage.”

Zander nodded. “Mount up. We’ll get a better look from the air.”

I swung into Kaelith’s saddle, her wings stretching open as the others did the same. The wind picked up as we lifted from the cliffs, diving down toward the shore.

But just as we crested the ridge above the beach?—