Page 51

Chapter

Thirty-Three

TATE

The smoke is already heavy when we get back to our camp. We followed the poachers’ tracks and caught four in their camp. We confiscated two eggs, and squadron two flew the poachers and the eggs out and informed the academy of the wildfire that needed to be contained.

The camp hinted at there being more than just the four. That is why we took so long getting back. But the search has been fruitless.

Everyone has their orders, and there is a flurry of motion in the camp as soon as we land. We break down the tents and pack up.

I let my gaze wander over the commotion around me, looking for Ara. I don’t think she encountered any troubles here, but I want her report nonetheless. I need to know she’s okay.

The fire started during the fight in the poachers’ camp when one of them grabbed a burning log to defend himself but let it drop and decided to run instead.

The area around Telos is always dry, and wildfires happen regularly. Since we haven’t had much rain lately, the dry stalks of grass and bushes from last summer burn easily. We only got out in time because we hadn’t been on foot.

Ara is probably helping with the tents.

I walk through the camp, taking in the progress. Ten minutes is all the time I gave everyone to finish packing. Everything else will stay here. I’m not ready to risk lives for stuff that can be replaced.

I can’t find Ara anywhere, and unease creeps in.

You only missed her in this chaos , I reassure myself. But this is Ara, and I usually miss nothing if she’s concerned.

I try to put myself in her position. Waiting down here with the smoke getting thicker.

Fuck. Would she go looking for us?

“Hey, Ilario,” I call out. “Have you seen Summer since we got back?”

“No, I haven’t seen him. Why?” he answers, looking around.

“Haven’t got the report yet,” I say casually. No need to worry him until I’m sure she isn’t here. I go through the camp again, asking if anyone has seen Summer since we got back, but no such luck.

The tents are packed now, and most things are stored in packs. I inspect every flight that leaves, and once only our flight is left, there is no point in keeping the hope up. Ara is nowhere to be found.

“You head back. I’ll look for Ara and come back as soon as I find her,” I tell Jared quietly. He’s reluctant to leave, but he has a runner to take back, and there is no visibility with all the smoke, so a search is pointless. But I can’t just leave either. Jared nods.

“If you aren’t back by tomorrow evening, I’ll come looking for you.” He holds my stare before he mounts behind the runner already sitting on Zephyr, and they take flight.

I get on Daeva, and we take off too.

I don’t know what I expect to find. I don’t even know where to start, but anything is better than doing nothing.

A feeling of urgency started the minute I suspected Ara was missing, and it grows and grows. She’s likely in trouble, and not being able to do anything drives me insane.

“Where are you?” I murmur under my breath. The wind steals the sound of my words as soon as they leave my lips.

We circle above the area where the camp was. Ara is on foot, so she can’t be far away. What prompted her to leave camp? Did someone kidnap her?

Now you are being ridiculous , I admonish myself. But her recognizing the mark on my chest means she probably has connections to someone in higher circles, and we are close to a border… But they wouldn’t have gotten her out of here without us noticing.

“We aren’t the only winged creatures out here,” Daeva reminds me, her voice surprisingly soft.

“I know that, but—you think the dragon came for her?” My eyes search the area around us for a flash of scales.

“At least he wouldn’t have had a problem with fire,” she muses .

“True.” But he couldn’t have known that Ara would be on her own. No, she still has to be around here somewhere.

“Keep an eye out for him, just in case,” I tell Daeva.

We continue flying rounds when Daeva perks up beneath me.

“I found her ,” she swoops down, heading for the remains of our camp.

“But we already looked there, ” I tell her. I switch to her sight, and for the first time in a long time, fear grips me. It slams into me with a vengeance and leaves me reeling.

A small figure lies at the base of the cliff, the gray of her uniform one with the stone around her, her body partly covered by rubble. She doesn’t move.

She doesn’t fucking move.

My urgency prompts Daeva to pull out of her dive at the last second, landing with an impact that rattles my bones.

I’m out of the saddle before she even tucks in her wings, running over and falling to my knees next to Ara. She looks so still and pale.

I’m too late.

Her face and hair are covered by stone dust, and she looks nearly as gray as everything around us. She lies on her back, her eyes closed. And for one horrible second, all my fears come true. Then her chest rises, and I start breathing again.

I look at the cliff. Did she try to get out of here? Did she think we abandoned her?

I reach for Ara, and her eyelids flutter. Her pulse is weak and fast.

I call her name and rattle her softly when she doesn’t respond, but it takes me a moment before I manage to rouse her.

When she finally does look up at me, she seems confused.

She mumbles my name, pressing her cheek into my hand where I cup her face.

Her face scrunches up like she tries to remember something before shaking her head.

“Can’t heal me,” she slurs, and her eyes close again. Panic rises inside me. Something is seriously wrong.

How high up was she when she fell?

“Sunshine, stay with me, baby. Open your eyes.” They flutter open, only focusing for a moment before clouding over again. Fuck.

“Hold me, please?” she croaks, but I put my hands to both sides of her face and pour my magic into her instead. Her eyes fly open. “No.” She sounds frantic, grabbing for my hands like she wants to pull them away, but I don’t let her.

“Shhh, it’s just me. I’m going to fix you up in no time.” I try to calm her, my throat tight.

“Don’t want you to die, too,” she whispers, and her words chill me to the core.

“No.” I shake my head at her. “No one is dying here. Do you hear me?” She doesn’t respond, her eyes closed.

Is her chest still moving?

My hold tightens on instinct like that can keep her here.

I shake her, yell at her, and my breath stutters when her eyes fly open again. I’m not ready to let her go.I’m not sure I ever will be.

Her eyes are unfocused, and one of her pupils is blown wide.

Bleeding in her head.

I push my magic into her, focusing on her brain and the blood vessels in and around it, repairing the damage. I’m eternally grateful to the healing master at the palace for drilling me on every part of our anatomy.

Her eyes are still open and on me. Her brow is damp with sweat, and her whole body is shaking, like the healing is taking as much out of her as it is from me.

Exhaustion rises while I soothe the swelling and help her body get rid of the blood that pooled in her skull.

Then I check the rest of her. Her eyes are closed by then, her whole body wracked by shivers. I pull her into my arms, holding her close. I’m drained.

“Sleep, sunshine, everything else can wait,” I whisper into her hair.

Her breath deepens, but her body doesn’t stop shaking.

I pull her even closer, using my body to warm hers and create a cocoon of air around us.

It holds off the smoke and the cold, and for the first time since I realized she was missing, my body relaxes, too.

I watch the smoke thinning out, my gaze blurry with exhaustion.

They contained the fire.

I must have fallen asleep because the next time I open my eyes, it’s dark around us. Daeva is a soothing presence behind my back, her wing sheltering us.

“Good, you’re awake,” she chirps, though her worry settles into me with every word.

“The fire?” I ask her.

“Contained hours ago. Rest, you need it,” she tells me. I’m still weak, and when I try to reach for my magic to check on Ara, I find it nearly depleted. That’s never happened before.

Ara is cuddled into me, sleeping peacefully.

I wasn’t too late this time.

This time, I didn’t bring death but life. Maybe there is a balance to everything, after all.

“Don’t want you to die, too.” The memory of what she said whispers through my mind. “Can’t heal me.” What had she meant by that? Why had she fought me when I started healing her? Had she simply been confused?

When Ara mumbles in her sleep, I lie down again, tucking her into me to keep her warm.She feels fucking perfect in my arms.

I let myself slip back to sleep, safe in the knowledge that Daeva will guard us with her life.