Page 29 of Wild Bond (Wild Bond #1)

I t was early evening by the time I entered the infirmary, a small building to the left of the trainee barracks, where Declan had been since the attack. I was exhausted, and it felt like a lifetime ago that I was watching him get beaten by Stella. It had taken some time to set everything to rights on the training fields and clean up the debris from the building that was damaged. Several riders and younger trainees were wounded in the collapse of the building, while others had been injured in the attempt to subdue the crazed dragon after he started to rouse from his initial sedation. Luckily, riders healed fast.

I desperately needed a bath but wanted to make sure Declan was alright first.

Skye hadn’t left my side since the incident. She sat vigilantly on my shoulder, gazing around as if there might be a threat around every corner. We entered a long rectangular room with twelve beds lined up on either side. A healer smiled at us as we walked in. She was treating a rider with burns on his arm.

The only other patient in the room was Declan. The young boy was sitting up in bed with a couple pillows propped up behind him. He had several bandages on his arms and one wrapped around his head at an angle that made his hair stand up in odd ways. Izzy was curled up in his lap and had the same watchful, protective bearing that Skye had. I had never seen the little dragon look so alert before.

A man and a woman I recognized from the Exodus Ball—and who had to be Declan’s parents—sat at his bedside. They both looked as tired as I felt, but both were smiling at their little boy who prattled on about something as I approached.

Declan saw me then, and his face broke out in a wide grin. “Rin,” he cried happily. “Skye!”

I felt Skye’s begrudging excitement to see Declan and his dragon, and her worry. She was growing just as fond of the pair as I was.

“Hello Declan,” I returned his greeting as I came to stop at the foot of the cot. “How are you and Izzy feeling?”

“Much better now,” he replied. “The nice healer lady gave me a potion to drink so it doesn’t hurt anymore and wrapped me up real good. Look!” He pointed to the bandage on his head and my heart ached as he looked too adorable for words, but also at the thought of how close we had come to losing him. “I told mom I’m a dragon rider now, and I heal fast, so I didn’t need them, but she said I have to wear them until they’re all better.”

“She’s right,” I agreed, unable to keep the smile from my face at how quickly he spoke.

“Mama, this is my friend I told you about,” Declan explained. “She’s the one who saved me.”

Declan’s mother smiled briefly at me and then at her son. “I know honey, you told us.” It was obvious the reminder of what happened was painful for her but the woman was trying to be brave for her son.

“Why don’t we go get something to eat in the dining hall?” Declan’s father suggested to his wife, seeing she needed a moment. “I’m sure Declan wants to visit with his friend.”

Declan’s mother looked reluctant, but then I promised, “I’ll stay with him.”

She nodded and kissed Declan on his head before rising. As she passed me, she placed her hand on my arm.

Startled, I met her gaze again and saw she was fighting back tears. Her eyes went to Skye then back to me. “Thank you,” she said, her voice shaky, “for what you did for him. He’s our whole world.”

Her words made my own eyes burn. I covered her hand with mine for a moment before she released me, and she and her husband left.

I sat down in one of the chairs they had vacated by Declan’s bedside and cleared my throat, trying to get a handle on my emotions. Skye hopped down to sit at the end of the bed. Declan’s dragon came over to sniff at her, and to my amazement, Skye let him. She usually had little patience for the younger dragon but seemed willing to make an exception today. She allowed the other dragon to reassure himself she wasn’t a threat to his rider before Izzy returned to Declan’s lap.

“Thanks for saving me,” Declan said, absently stroking the little dragon’s back. He glanced down. “I prob’ly would be hurt worse if you hadn’t.”

“I’m glad I was there to help you in time.”

“Is the dragon okay?” Declan asked, his rounded face pinched with concern.

“I hope so,” I said honestly, not wanting to lie to the little boy. Of course, if what happened to Borden and the others was any indication—and the dragon did have the same illness—then the creature didn’t have long. Then again, dragons were much more resilient than humans. Maybe he would recover.

“They have him sedated until the healers can figure out what’s wrong with him,” I explained.

Declan nodded. “Okay. Izzy was worried.” He gestured to the creature who had now crawled up and was currently wrapped over his shoulders like a shawl, eyes drooping. I guess he felt comfortable enough with us to sleep in our presence.

I smiled, my heart twisting. I patted Declan’s leg. “Well, now you can reassure him when he wakes up.”

“Yeah.”

“Has anyone else come to visit you?”

His eyes lit up. “Yes! Everyone in our class. They were so jealous that I got to ride on Skye. No one else has gotten to ride a dragon yet. Theirs aren’t big enough. And Stella said . . .”

I listened to him chatter on for several minutes, genuinely enjoying being in his company, until he eventually grew quiet. He gestured to his bandages. “Do you think it’ll scar?” His normally boisterous voice suddenly small and anxious.

My heart squeezed. “Oh no,” I assured him, taking his small hand in mine. “No, Declan. Since it happened after you bonded, your injuries will heal completely.”

He looked instantly relieved. “Well, that’s good,” he murmured, his small shoulders relaxing.

I squeezed his hand and found myself saying, “Scars aren’t so bad. I have a scar. Look.”

I released his hand and lifted up my forearm to show him the burn there.

His eyes widened. “What happened?” he asked curiously.

“It’s from a burn. And I got it from being somewhere I shouldn’t have been.”

Declan opened his mouth to no doubt ask another question, when his eyes moved to something behind me, and they got comically round.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Rake standing several feet away, looking for all the world like he had been there for quite some time. I couldn’t help noticing that he was deliciously unkempt for once. His clothes were slightly rumpled from the stress of the last twelve hours, but he still managed to hold himself with that leashed confidence that never failed to impress me. There was also a softness to his expression that I had rarely seen as he regarded us.

Then Declan whispered in that childish way that wasn’t really a whisper at all, “Commander Rakim is here.” From the way he said it you would have thought one of the Nine Gods had just deigned to visit him.

I covered my mouth, trying not to laugh at the glowing hero worship on Declan’s face.

“Hello, Declan,” Rake said, stepping closer. “I came to see how you were doing.”

“I’m fine,” Declan chirped. For the first time since I’d met him, I think he was at a loss for words.

“Glad to hear it,” Rake replied, smiling. “I heard you got hurt protecting your dragon. That was very brave of you.”

Declan looked down and began playing with the corner of the sheet bunched at his waist. “I should have been faster. If I was a better dragon rider, I wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“Getting hurt doesn’t mean you’re a bad rider,” Rake contradicted. “I’ve been hurt dozens of times since becoming a dragon rider.”

Declan’s eyes went wide again. “Really?”

Rake nodded. “Just focus on getting better. Learn from your mistakes. Train hard and try to do better the next time.”

Declan gave an eager nod, and I knew he’d take the advice to heart.

“Is Rin your friend?” Declan asked Rake, changing the subject without warning.

Rake’s lips quirked up at the corner. “Yes, she is.”

Declan took a deep breath, puffing out his chest a little before he asked, “Can you and Naasir make sure to keep her safe? I like her. She’s my friend too, and I don’t want her or Skye to get hurt like I did.”

The burn of tears threatened once more, and I had to resist the urge to pull Declan into my arms as Rake shot me a side-eyed look. Then he nodded to Declan. “We can do that. I like her, too. I promise to take good care of her.”

Declan nodded back. “Good,” he said imperiously, like he was much older than his six years. Then his little brows puckered, and his eyes darted around as if just noticing something. “Wait, where is your dragon?” he asked, obviously disappointed that the black beast wasn’t present.

“He’s guarding the dragon that attacked you,” Rake explained. “The dragon is unwell. We want to make sure that he doesn’t hurt anyone else.”

Declan rubbed his nose and yawned, suddenly looking tired. “That makes sense.” He snuggled back into his pillows and stroked Izzy absently. “I hope the dragon gets better. He was at my bonding, you know,” he added, almost as an afterthought.

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

Declan shrugged his tiny shoulders. “The dragon who attacked us.” He stifled another yawn. “The day I bonded with Izzy, he was there . . . at the Nest. He didn’t bond with anybody, though.”

I met Rake’s eyes.

Without him having to say anything, I asked in the bond, Skye?

Immediately Skye showed me a memory from that day at the Nest, before she came to find me at Petitioner’s Square. I saw the obsidian stone of the area floor, the crowds of people, and all the dragons gathered there as if from her eyes. And sure enough, several yards away from her lay the bronze dragon. The dragon didn’t look sick or crazed. His eyes weren’t red, no foam at his mouth, and his scales were not dry and flaking. He looked as healthy as any young, wild dragon would waiting impatiently to find their rider.

If the dragon had been healthy and normal at the bonding celebrations, then whatever had been done to him had happened afterward, and the dragon’s illness or madness or whatever had to be connected to what was affecting all those people who had died. They had the same symptoms.

That meant that the prince or whoever was kidnapping those people was also capturing dragons, and then doing something to them that caused them to become ill and die, in the case of humans, and crazed in the case of dragons.

But again, for what purpose? And what could they possibly be doing to the people and to dragons that would be affecting them in such a manner?

Dragons were the most powerful magical creatures in our world. They were impervious to nearly everything. If there was something out there that could make them become ill and drive them mad . . . today’s attack would be nothing compared to the havoc that could rain down on us.

I glanced up at Rake and saw that he was drawing some of the same conclusions that I was. The implications of what was being done was terrifying. Not just for the dragons themselves, but for all of Palasia.