Page 112 of Exquisite Monster

She dozed now, bond faded and content. The fact that she felt utterly safe on my back made me smile. Or would, if I could smile in this form.

Our first and only plan was to fix thesheyten. After that…

Do you think Andaros is foolish enough to march on Doro Eche?

Endre scoffed.I have no doubt that he is. But I don’t believe he will get that far. They will see the humans coming long before they get there.

He’s going to walk them straight through the barrier and give them everything they want.I growled and quieted myself when Lena stirred.

Yes. Sirrus said.

I rolled it all through my thoughts.And where do we play into it? In an ideal world, thesheytenwere restored before armies left their cities.

Endre sighed.If Gleym’s plan works, we can use the distraction to do what needs to be done. It will be easy enough to stop the fight on the dragons’ side after that.With my power returned, the three of us should be able to push the human lines back. Or at the very least protect from scalefire.

But the truth is, Sirrus flew beneath me and rose up on my otherside.We will not know what can be done until we see the damage. This comes first.

Andaros dies. I said.The Elders die. Those are the only lives I refuse to spare.

Endre chuckled.For Andaros,do you think Lena will want the killing blow?

We should ask. I’ll happily hold him while she slits his throat. She might want to help with the Elders as well.

Sirrus’s growl ripped through the air.No.

I said she might want to help, not that she will.

She won’t want to, Endre said.Despite not being a dragon, she took a vow never to intentionally harm one. I believe she will want to keep it.

Warmth spread through my chest. My tenderhearted mate. Had she not touched me that day, would I have burned her alive? Would I have felt the loss?

Never before had I been so glad of my ignorance about something.

The sun was just cresting overhead. The mountains passed quickly, but our plan required darkness, and if we did not arrive before the night was over, we would have to spend a day we did not have in hiding. We needed to go faster.

I directed my thoughts to all the dragons.Belleo. Mesene.

Yes, Your Highness?

How fast can you both fly?Now that the group had split and the slowest of our party had departed, time was of the essence.

Belleo’s laughter was high and musical.Faster than we are going.

Sirrus caught my line of thinking immediately.If you fear you are falling behind, tell us.

We will, Mesene said.

Lena stirred once more, and I felt her wake.You still have more time to rest.

Her voice was barely an echo of swept-away wind. “How much longer?”

If all goes well, we will be there by full dark. I still believe we should be going with you.

“You will be exactly where you are needed,” she said.

I still didn’t like it. But strange men walking around with the Princess of Denao would raise more suspicion than we could afford. The only thing which would solve the anxiety burning in my chest was this plan being complete.

Hold on,I said.We’re speeding up.