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When she turned around, his eyes had become those of a powerful elven royal. Goosebumps dusted over her skin. How was he interested in her instead of one of the gorgeous elves who lived in his homeland?

“There are times for nonsense, my queen,” he whispered, his tone tempting.

Vahly swallowed, her body warming and her pulse like thunder. “Well, the rogues will sleep until the dawn. And we have to wait on Amona’s fighters anyway.”

Arc brought an orb of light to life in one hand. “Then come with me.”

His words almost held the tone of command, but Vahly was certain it was only his royal blood strengthening the timbre.

“You don’t have to ask me twice.”

She walked with him to the cave where akoli vines choked the entrance, wild grapes glistening in a mirrored image of the stars. Arc pushed the vines aside and led Vahly inside.

Darkness poured over them as the vines resumed their guard duty at the cave’s opening, but Arc’s glowing sphere cast a golden net of illumination over the space.

He released it to float on the gentle air of the cave.

Vahly’s heart kicked like a spring-crazed deer as she removed Nix’s bag, tucking the egg against the wall.

After lowering her sword belt to the ground, she stood, pulse skipping, to face Arcturus. He’d removed his own pack and his knives too. They glittered in a neat pile on the other side of the shelter.

Arc took Vahly’s face into his large, smooth hands, cradling her cheeks and chin.

His breath was warm and his mouth so, so close.

She touched the tips of his pointed ears, eliciting a sigh from him.

He brushed lips over her forehead, warming her skin and sending tingling sparks of pleasure down her sides.

Lowering his chin, he met her gaze. His eyes reflected the orb’s light, and magic twisted beside his temples in shades of twilight, starshine, and sunrise. He almost kissed her, stopping short.

“You have entranced me, Earth Queen.”

“Is that so difficult to believe?” she teased.

Arc’s arms encircled her. “You’re alluring. Strong. Brave. Loyal. Humble. But the norm in times past is for the human to be infatuated with my kynd, not the other way around.”

“Oh, don’t you fret. I’m disturbingly infatuated with you.”

His eyebrow lifted. “Disturbingly?”

“Well, at this point you could magick me right off the sea cliffs if I break your heart.”

“Soon you’ll be fully capable of annihilating me,” he said. “Does that put you more at ease with this infatuation?”

“It does, actually. Revenge is sweet, elf. So watch yourself.”

A twinge of alarm slid through Vahly’s mind. Not her own feeling, but someone else’s.

Amona.

Vahly. Daughter, we are nearly there. What is your status?

Amona herself was coming?

Vahly put her hands on Arc’s broad chest. “Amona is talking to me.” She tapped her temple. “They’re almost here.”

Arc’s eyes widened. “She’s early.”

Wincing, Vahly left the warmth of his arms to gather her pack, even though half of her really wanted to stay in this cave, alone with Arc.

But it couldn’t be helped. When the dragons arrived, she’d have to immediately take the opportunity to swim into Bihotzetik.

She couldn’t lie around here with her handsome elven royal when the rogues might further complicate this quest at any moment.

“Yes,” she said, gripping her satchel’s rough strap. She would leave her sword and bow here. They’d be no use in the ocean. “A full day early unless you fogged my brain past working.”

He laughed, and she heard him shuffling around beyond the light of the orb, gathering his things.

“Are you bringing your knives? I don’t think I can do much with a short sword in the water.”

“I think knives might prove useful. Do you want to carry one of them?”

“No, I think I’ll have enough going on just trying to keep up with your swimming. You’re bound to be better at it than me, being an elf and all.”

At the mouth of the cave, he looked at her and ran a thumb along the side of her hand briefly, sending sparks burning down the underside of her arm. His eyes held mischief. The ocean wind tugged at his hair and the summer-scented vines around them.

“We simply must survive the sea now,” he said. “I can’t possibly give up the chance to properly kiss a human. What a wealth of scientific information it will provide!”

She punched him in the stomach and pretended it didn’t hurt her hand. “Shut it, elf.” Walking off, she teased him over her shoulder. “Revenge, remember? I might just become ridiculously powerful after our little swim. I’d be careful around me if I were you.”

A flurry of beating wings sounded in the sky. Two sacks of clothing and weapons slammed to the grassy earth.

Vahly lifted a hand to block the rising sun’s glare. They’d been up all night, but energy hummed through her body, excitement about discovering what her magic wanted her to find keeping her alert.

Amona and two other warriors—in full dragon form—descended on the coastline, their gazes bouncing between Arc, Vahly, and the vicious sea.

Ugh. Amona had brought Lord Maur. Xabier was the third, and he nodded his scaled head at her in greeting.

A distant wave crashed on dark rocks as Amona alone transformed out of her full dragon form, taking up one of the bags they’d brought and beginning to slide rings onto her fingers.

Because of course, rings were required in military operations. Vahly fought the urge to roll her eyes. Dragons.

When Amona had dressed, she approached Vahly, a genuine smile stretching her normally stern face. “Vahly, my daughter. I’m glad to see you well. Arcturus.”

He bowed low. “Matriarch Amona, it is good to see you again.”

“What has happened since we met last, Earth Queen? Any developments?” Amona asked.

Nix flew into sight, two deer in her talons.

She threw the kill to the ground and greeted the dragons with a nod to each before Maur and Xabier began to tear the deer alongside her.

Vahly wondered if they would save some for Amona, Arc, and herself.

Nix threw a leg back and chomped it down.

Vahly wasn’t going to count on getting a portion.

“We ran into the rogues.” Vahly’s stomach turned in anticipation of diving into the ocean.

What would she find? Would her magic guide her? And would she somehow know if any sea folk were in the area? What if she got Arc killed in the process? She breathed out, trying to calm herself.

Arc handed his water skin to Amona, who accepted the offering and drank the entire contents down, not spilling a single drop. She dabbed her lips with the back of her lapis-lazuli-colored hand, then settled her gaze back on Vahly.

“What happened?” Amona asked.

Vahly filled her in on the tale of the egg and the killing she’d had to do.

Amona hummed, impressed, as Vahly told her about raising the wall of earth and the second instance of Arc’s magic combining with hers to create a greater effect.

Amona glanced at Arc, a question in her features, but before she could run Arc through an impromptu power investigation, Vahly explained who Luc was and how their leader, Baz, seemed to be a true scoundrel.

Amona scowled through the entire telling of the story but became downright indignant when Vahly told her the lie about selling the gryphon egg.

“If that tale finds its way to Eux, she will question the Lapis about you. Like me, she wants nothing to do with Call Breakers infiltrating her palace.”

Vahly shrugged. “We had to tell them something to get the egg back.”

“What is it about this egg that draws you so?” Amona asked.

Vahly took the egg from her satchel and handed it to Amona, who turned the plum-spotted prize over in her hands gently.

“For a reason only my magic knows, the creature inside is family.”

Amona’s forehead wrinkled in thought, then she returned the egg to Vahly.

“That must suffice for now, I suppose. But again, I don’t want you to further tempt Matriarch Eux’s temper.

Who knows what kind of trouble she could cause, even if it would be to her own detriment?

Jades don’t think before they act, and well you know it, Daughter. ”

“I don’t even know if the rogues believed us about anything. They might very well be hunting us right now.”

“All the more reason for us to begin our adventure immediately,” Arc said, his voice clear and respectful.

Amona led Vahly and Arc to the wild feasting.

Two haunches of deer remained. Nix, Blackwater bless her, was roasting the meat with her own dragonfire.

When it was burned at the edges, she shifted into her human-like form and dressed while Amona checked Xabier’s right wing.

He must have dinged it up in the rush to get here.

“Looks fine,” Amona declared, sending Xabier back to his food.

“And your roasted portion is ready, Matriarch,” Nix said to Amona before winking at Vahly. She knew when to kiss tail.

“Thank you.” Amona clasped her ringed fingers. “As soon as Vahly and Arcturus are fed and ready, they will enter the sea.”

Lord Maur grunted, still in his dragon form. He blew a burst of dragonfire toward the white-capped waves. For once, Vahly agreed with him. She didn’t like the ocean any more than he did.

Xabier jerked his snout toward the northern headland. He must have been talking with Amona telepathically, because she answered aloud.

“Yes, Xabier. Please cover the spit of land there. Watch the western approach.” Amona’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the glassy, black surface of the sea. The wind had calmed, and the ocean grew eerily quiet.

“Lord Maur, you will fly over the southern approach, watching for unusual currents or anything that might resemble spellwork.”

Maur bowed his head, then took off in a series of heavy flaps that blew Vahly’s trousers and shirt against her body. Xabier followed suit and flew toward his assigned post.

“Nix, I believe it would be good for you to remain here, in the place where Vahly and Arcturus will come back out of the sea. To be certain their return is covered.”

“Agreed.” Nix left for the cave they’d been using as a home base, then returned in full dragon form.

Amona finished her meal. Her half-slitted eyes studied Arc while he gazed toward the ocean. It looked as though she was still deciding whether or not to trust him. “I’ll fly a constant circle above the ruins themselves.”

Vahly’s stomach clenched. “Over the water? You don’t need to do that. Please, stay on the coast unless I Call you.”

“I did not ask for your permission, Daughter. You may be the Earth Queen, but I’m still your mother.”

A grin flashed over Arc’s mouth but was gone before Vahly could glare at him for it.

But no more time remained for arguing. Maur’s and Xabier’s shapes were visible on the land that cradled the bay.

The sea awaited its foe, and Vahly could stall the confrontation with its salty depths no longer.