Page 173 of Blackheart

Valeska came to a halt in front of my building, flapping her wings and blowing smoke into my face. I stood frozen in awe.

She was everything I’d imagined a bladebreather to be.

Terrifying, beautiful, dangerous.

Xavian spared no time for niceties and conversations, leaping from her back to a nearby rooftop, blades in hand.

Valeska’s shimmering eyes bore into my soul as the world tore itself apart around us.

“You sent food to Moonhill?” she demanded to know.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Shrugging, I maintained my firm footing and gave her an honest answer. “I’ve been starving before.”

She lowered her wing, allowing Jocelynn to slide down.

“I stink like dirt and sweat, my Gods!” she scowled, shadows wisping around her as she made her way to the roof.

Steam puffed from Valeska’s nostrils and she pulled her wing back once more. “Your friend was very worried for you. She rode to Moonhill alone, confronting me with not a weapon in sight but her whip of a tongue.”

Jocelynn brushed herself off, refusing to look at the scene around us, complaining to herself. My heart swelled in admiration of her actions. Of Valeska’s, too.

“And you came,” I said to Valeska.

“I have come to claim you as my rider, if you will choose me, Princess Elorengail,” she said, silver scales reflecting the lightning above.

She would claim me, all because I had done something as simple as send food?

There was not a single doubt in my mind. “Then I choose you.”

Her large eyes marveled, head tilting curiously. “There are younger bladebreathers back in Moonhill, if that is what you’d prefer.”

I stepped forward, fearlessly placing my hand at the bridge between her eyes. “I chooseyou.”

Black, silver, and violet mist fluttered as Valeska and I became a united force, our instincts clicking together like puzzle pieces. It was so seamless, so natural. How had we not been that way my entire life?

“The wall needs to come down,” she acknowledged, our motives colliding. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.

Lady Jocelynn scoffed. “I’d say so. We’ll be fighting for weeks with that measly exit,” she interjected, pointing to the crowded gate.

“Get on,” she ordered, her wing lying down like a bridge. “I can’t fly long without a rider.”

I faced Jocelynn. “Are you coming with me?”

She confidently shook her head. “I do not possess the desire to ever have my feet off the ground again, thank you. I will make my way to the ship just fine.”

“It’s dangerous down there,” I warned.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m a Nightcastor.”

Fair enough.

The moment I’d been waiting my entire life for was right in front of me. Valeska craned her wing, awaiting me.

From the moment I touched her, my Nature bonded with her—fueling her. It was like a magnet. The pull was so strong that if I were to fall off, it would have had to have been onpurpose.