Page 31 of House of Embers (Royal Houses #5)

“She’s there,” he assured her.

“How do you know? What is this place to you and Risa?”

“This was where our mating bond was confirmed,” he said almost hesitantly.

Kerrigan leaned forward against him, offering him her warmth and sorrow. “I wish I could have met her.”

“As do I.”

They were silent as he circled low over the forest island at the center of the bay. On the north shore, a clearing revealed itself on a large, flat rock outcropping. The area looked as if it had been flattened over many years by dragon landings.

Tieran set down. Kerrigan swiveled around to look for Amita. After the rocky portion, which was maybe a hundred yards, there was nothing but forest before them. And behind them was a sheer cliff that dropped off for hundreds of yards.

“I don’t see anyone,” Kerrigan said.

Tieran sniffed and twisted his head northward. “She is here. She has to be.”

Worry settled in Kerrigan’s stomach. Had they just flown an hour out of the way for nothing?

Was Amita back at the Holy Mountain? Maybe none of this had anything to do with Risa.

Or maybe it still had something to do with Risa but it wasn’t about their mating bond. Surely they had had other interactions.

No, she couldn’t second-guess him. He had known. He had been certain. And when Kerrigan trusted her gut, she was right. Tieran had to be too.

“Is this the exact spot?” Kerrigan asked. “Could it be somewhere else on the island? Somewhere not as visible or hidden like I was?”

Tieran stilled for a second before cursing. “Hold tight. You won’t like this next part.”

“I won’t—”

And then Tieran fell backward over the cliffside. Kerrigan screamed as her stomach was suddenly in her throat.

“Big breath.”

Then they plummeted into the icy cold below.

The shock of the water hit her all at once.

The pain of the icy depth cracked against her skin, freezing her nerves and burning her lungs.

Everything was black, and she could no longer discern up from down.

She clutched Tieran with all her might as her legs drifted off behind her body.

If she let go, she could continue falling forever.

The déjà vu of falling through the abyss in the spirit plane was like a second punch to the gut. She could be here forever, only frozen instead of just blinded by the darkness and hollowed out.

A second later, they broke the surface. Kerrigan sputtered as her head came out of the water.

She lost her grip on Tieran, and her body was pushed with the current against a chalky, white surface.

She coughed up water and held on to the surface with trembling hands.

A soft yellow light suffused the space enough so that she could see that they were not on the surface of the water but somewhere beneath the water.

“Tieran?” she asked.

Suddenly a snout was against her, pushing her onto the chalky floor. She spit out another mouthful of salt water.

“Next time, more warning.”

Tieran chuckled. “Next time.”

She came uneasily to her feet. The cave was unlike anything she had expected. It was under the waterline and somehow only half-filled. The white chalk covered every surface. Crystals glittered in some spaces, sending rainbows across the room.

And at the center was a small, pure white dragon, curled into a ball.

She was not much smaller than Tieran, a hatchling perhaps in name only.

Her tail was long and wound all the way around her body.

The wings were nearly translucent as if they too were going to reflect rainbows across the room.

Kerrigan had never seen a dragon in all her days that looked like her.

“Amita,” Tieran said with relief.

The dragon’s head popped up. Her eyes were wide and milky. “Brother?”

“I am here.”

Tieran stepped forward, letting their necks touch. The tension went out of Amita at once. It was as if the room had an enchantment on her to keep her own abilities dampened, the same as the room Kerrigan had been held in.

“They told me that you would not choose me.”

“They were wrong.”

Kerrigan smiled at the siblings. “He chose both.”

Amita’s head swiveled toward Kerrigan. “This is your rider?”

“Yes,” Tieran said. “Amita, let me introduce to you the most infuriating person you will ever meet—Kerrigan Argon.”

Kerrigan rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the introduction.”

Amita bowed her head. “He did not want a rider. It is only fitting he would get one that matched his energy.”

Kerrigan snorted. Tieran growled low at the both of them.

“If you two are done, we should return to the mountain. I have one more test.”

“Will they allow us both to live?” Amita asked.

It was a question that Kerrigan too had wondered. It was supposed to be an either-or choice. Surely they wouldn’t discredit him for managing to save both.

“Do you remember where we hid in the woods when you were but a fresh hatchling?” he asked.

Amita came to her feet. “Should I hide there?”

“Just in case. If I do not win the final test, then I cannot protect you. And I do not trust Mother to do so.”

Fire gurgled dark in Amita’s throat. “Let them try to come for me.”

Kerrigan grinned. Oh, she liked her already.

Tieran huffed in frustration. He had so many women in his life that gave him a headache.

Kerrigan climbed onto his back while Tieran took one last look around the room. “What is this place?” she asked gently.

“During the summer, the water recedes, and Risa and I spent days within the caves after the bond snapped into place. This was our home, however briefly, before she was called.”

Kerrigan’s hand went to her own bond. She couldn’t feel Fordham at this distance, but even from the brush she’d felt while at the mountain, she could turn to face the exact direction where he resided, but this made her ache with missing him.

She couldn’t imagine how Tieran had survived without Risa.

“Let us leave this place.”