Page 67 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury (House of Embers #1)

The flight was grueling. The longest I’d ever flown in one shot was five hours, and that was the night I tried to kill Luther. Even then, I had a long break before flying back. The flight to Elidad, the capital in Caddel Province, was much longer—twenty hours.

Kieran said we’d fly for ten straight hours, stop for the night, and then fly the rest the next day. A part of me was curious about the Caddel family after what I’d heard about them. I’d been lucky enough to avoid them at the festival, but there was no way I’d get away with that during the mission.

I snuck a glance at the hard line on Kieran’s jaw as he rode Hesperos.

Six hours in and he was still pissed off.

And because he had a stick up his ass meant we had to eat lunch on our dragons.

Umara wasn’t happy being reduced to a living table and made it known by rocking every time I tried to take a bite of my sandwich.

Whenever I dropped a piece, she’d swoop down to catch it and swallow it whole.

‘ Jerk.’ Not only that, we only stopped to pee twice.

It was absolute torture because I had a bladder the size of a walnut.

When we finally descended, Kieran easily slid down his dragon, looking entirely unaffected.

Asshole. As if we hadn’t just spent ten straight hours on dragonback.

I stumbled as I walked forward, my inner thighs throbbing.

I snuck another glance at Kieran. He has thighs of steel.

And I would know. I flushed, and Umara chuffed smoke at me, blowing my hair into my face.

Gods, I couldn’t get him out of my thoughts.

It wasn’t often a man focused on a woman’s pleasure, and Kieran had been all about that.

He feasted on my core like a starved man. The things he could do with his tongue…

“You’re not going to make us keep going, right?” Technically, we could. Our dragons could handle the flight, and Gareth said in emergencies, twenty hours wasn’t even the longest they’d flown.

He smirked as he grabbed his satchel from Hesperos’s pack and slung it over his shoulder. “You don’t have to whine. We’re stopping for the night.”

I was too relieved to argue, though I did settle for lightly shoving him.

Kieran laughed. “Come on. There’s an inn that always keeps a room open for us. Plus, they have a diner.”

My stomach growled. I ignored his amused glance and trailed after him.

The village was a small one. Quaint was the first word that came to mind.

All the houses were relatively small. Only the inn and a handful of other buildings were more than one story tall.

The trees practically concealed the village from view with how high they towered over everything.

The inn was separated from the rest of the town, positioned right by the main road, a perfect rest spot for weary travelers. It was one of the few places still open and booming with life. When Kieran sauntered in, all the life in the restaurant died down. All eyes went to him and a few at me too.

“Lord Kieran! Lady Selena!” An older man, who stood behind a counter right by the door, jolted to attention. He spoke Kieran’s name with obvious familiarity. It made sense given that this was Caddel Province. “It’s a pleasure to see you here, truly a pleasure. What do you require?”

“Dinner for two, and two rooms. You can charge the crown.” Kieran grinned. Just like that, the little dining room came to life once more. People went back to their conversations, but their curious gazes still went to us occasionally.

The man jerked his head in a sharp nod, his curls bouncing. “Done. Take a seat anywhere you like. I’ll have the rooms prepared. Unfortunately, they’re not right next to each other, but they are on the same floor. I hope that’s alright.”

Kieran merely nodded. His hand went to the small of my back, and he led me to a private table tucked into the corner. I tried to ignore the jolt of lightning that went down my spine. I’d never been this affected by someone before. And I can’t be with him.

I bit back a sigh of relief when I sank into the cushioned seat. It was nothing overly fancy, but clearly this table was one meant to house nobles or the dragonsguard. My thighs ached, and I reached down to massage them. “That sucked.”

He laughed again. “The first long flights are always the worst, but you’ll get used to it once Luther puts you to work.”

“Oh, joy.” My mouth watered when the food came impossibly fast. Steak, potatoes, some cheese, and two huge mugs of water.

I chugged my drink. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at the people, who did their best to pretend they weren’t gawking.

It’s not just Kieran. I’m just as much of an anomaly to them.

My ears tingled at that. Sometimes, I forgot they were pointed. Moments like this, I couldn’t forget.

“The Dragonslayer is here!” one person said.

“He’s so handsome in person!” said another.

“Her hair is so long and pretty.”

“Mom, can I grow my hair that long?”

“I love her braids!”

“I hear she took out seven gryphons all by herself!”

“That’s because she’s the Siren! With her, the dragonsguard’s complete and they’re finally gonna get rid of the gryphons!”

I flushed at the last line and shoved a bite of steak into my mouth. “So much for that title not spreading,” I muttered. “Finn’s a fucking liar.”

Kieran chuckled. “Every rider gains a title eventually. You may not like it, but you can use it. Think about the stories they’re spinning. They believe you will bring down the gryphons. If you gain their trust, you can force Luther’s hand.”

My stomach churned. I wanted it to be true, but it wasn’t that simple. If it was, Kieran would be running this place. “Do you think it’s actually possible we can take out the gryphons?”

Kieran studied me. “We need to know your… ability more. And, I suspect, we’d need to conduct a longer mission deep in the woods.

That’s where more gryphons are usually found.

There, we could draw them out. Another way could be you traveling across the country and bunkering down for a couple days each time.

It’d be exhausting, and it may take years, but I believe we could do it. ”

“I’ll put that down as a no. Sounds like the…

rocks… are my best option to see Clara.” I didn’t want to think about the shittiness of my situation so I took a bite and groaned.

“I missed real food.” Greasy, peasant food.

It was the best. None of the health conscious crap Nimue forced down my throat.

“Don’t let Nimue hear you say that. She’ll be disappointed.”

I shoved another bite down. “Our secret then.” I eyed him. His posture was perfectly straight, and in comparison, I looked like an ogre. “How the hell are you not sore? It’s not fair.” It was easier to talk about this than the elephant in the room.

He cupped his glance. “Like I said, experience. Luther sends me on a lot of missions, as I’m sure you noticed.”

“You and everyone else.” Me not as much, but I knew that’d change. Especially with all the increased attacks. Without realizing it, my gaze went to his lips, and heat trailed down my back. Stop thinking about it.

After we finished eating, we headed upstairs to our rooms. They were at opposite ends of the hallway.

Kieran took the one closest to the staircase, and mine was tucked at the end of the hall.

The rooms were nothing fancy—both of them small with only enough room for a bed and an empty dresser.

They each had canteen sized windows with just enough of an opening to let in natural light during the day.

After I dropped off my pack in my room, I went into Kieran’s and sat down on his bed. “What’s the plan?”

“Ideally, I’d get to avoid Adelaide and my father, Evren.

He’s always been passive and weak-willed, so she manages the estate and him.

As much as both of us would prefer to avoid each other, if she thinks it’ll hurt her images she’ll require us to do a formal meeting.

However, I’m not going to leave it in her hands.

We’ll stay at the edge of town while we investigate and keep a close eye on possible gryphon sightings. ”

“Weren’t you the one saying we should get out there to win over the common people?”

His eyes glinted. “That’s what we’ll be doing. We’ll talk to the locals and see what they’ve heard. It’ll be far more effective than a removed noble’s report. Don’t worry, Siren, you’ve already done half the work already.”

My stomach flipped, both at the new title and the thought of more gryphons. “Do you think we’ll run into one?”

“I hope not, but as you’ve seen, Caddel Province has the most gryphon run-ins than any other territory.”

I fell silent, heavily aware that I sat on Kieran’s bed. The last time we were alone together… “Has Luther sa id anything about the eggs?” I asked, desperate not to think about that night and what my body craved. Now that we were alone together, we could talk freely.

“He said he’d let me know after this mission. He’s testing both of us. We can’t afford to fail.”

And that’s why I couldn’t risk it. If Luther realized Kieran favored me, he’d make my life harder.

And if he knew we were together, there was a chance he’d take Clara from Wes.

And as much as I disliked Wes, Clara liked him.

I already ripped her from her home once.

I couldn’t do that again. I stood up and stretched. “I’m going to bed.”

“Selena?” he asked before I could open the door.

I arched a brow. “Yes?”

His lips quirked into a half smile. “Have a good night.”

“You too.” I rushed out the door, trying to ignore my heated face and the weight of his soft smile.

My head spun as I walked to the room and lay on the surprisingly soft mattress. How could I keep resisting when the world demanded we be around each other? I wrapped my arms around myself and fell asleep more annoyed than ever.