Shara watched the sun sink farther and farther into the horizon until it disappeared behind the mountains, and still she remained where she was. A distant sound had her looking to the sky where she caught the shape of a dragon amid the darkening sky and clouds. The darkness hid the color of the scales, so she didn’t know if it was Kiril, but she suspected it was.
Shara used her magic to teleport to the top of a mountain deeper onto Dreagan so she could get a better look at the dragon. When she looked up, she realized the dragon wasn’t alone. She counted at least six of them as they glided effortlessly between the clouds, their massive wings spread wide.
She sat and simply watched them, recalling how Kiril had spoken of a time when they had filled the skies. Shara would have loved to have seen that. The fact that the Dragon Kings remained secret made her sad.
They protected the realm and the humans, and yet they couldn’t be who they really were. They couldn’t take to the skies when they wanted or announce their true forms. They were prisoners of a realm that would likely try to annihilate them if given the chance.
It made her forlorn, just as watching them gave her an odd peace she hadn’t expected. She had seen Kiril in dragon form, but she hadn’t seen him fly, she hadn’t witnessed him spreading his beautiful burnt-orange wings.
She wrapped her arms around her legs as she brought her knees to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. The breeze was cool, the night silent except for the flap of dragon wings. The sky had enough clouds to keep them hidden, but also to allow her to see them.
One dragon branched off from the others and dove lower over the mountains. He disappeared behind one mountain only to reappear a moment later. It wasn’t until he tucked his wings and dove into the valley next to the mountain she was on that she realized he was flying in the valleys, twisting and turning in an aerial show that left her gasping for breath and silently begging for more.
*
Kiril’s mind was filled with Shara, and had been since the last time he’d seen her. He had a call in to Broc to see if the Warrior could locate her. He had yet to decide whether he would go after her when he discovered where she was. He had promised her safety, and the first time Balladyn confronted them, Kiril had turned his back on her.
With his mind so filled, he had taken to the skies. All it did was remind him of how Shara had reacted when she had found him in dragon form. That in itself still boggled his mind. She had seen his dragon magic. That was impossible. Then again, so much of the impossible and improbable didn’t seem to apply to Shara. She broke all the rules without even seeming to realize there were any.
He tilted his wings and changed course. He flew low over the mountains and into the valleys. It felt wonderful to be free to fly to his heart’s content.
And yet he felt … fragmented.
As if a part of him were missing.
He knew without even having to guess what was missing—Shara. She was so much a part of him that he thought he detected her scent. Kiril’s mind snapped to attention. He swooped up from the valley and then turned to glide over the mountain. As he neared the peak, the scent grew stronger.
Then he saw her.
He turned and flew over her once more just to be sure it wasn’t his mind playing tricks on him. He wanted to shout for joy when he saw her watching him. Kiril flew to the peak and landed. He folded his wings as she jumped to her feet and faced him. His gaze drank in the sight of her as he inhaled her beautiful scent.
“Kiril,” she whispered.
Was that fear he saw in her eyes? He blinked and looked into her eyes again. They were no longer red. Was it some new glamour she was using? She took a step toward him at the same instant that he shifted into human form. He wrapped his hand around her neck and backed her into a boulder.
“I told you no glamour,” he ground out.
Her smile was sad as she wrapped her hands around his forearm. “It isn’t glamour.”
“Your eyes are no longer red.”
She swallowed hard, but held his gaze. “I didn’t betray you. Balladyn lied.”
“I know. Phelan told me.”
“You’re not happy to see me.” Her voice was particularly desolate as she looked away. “I shouldn’t have come.”
There was no way he was allowing her to go anywhere. He held her firmly without squeezing her throat. “Why did you come?”
“To explain everything.”
Kiril thought she might care for him if she had returned. The emptiness that had threatened these last few days grew. “As I said, Phelan told me. Now tell me why your eyes are different?”
“I’m no longer Dark.”
He frowned. “That’s impossible.”
“I thought so as well,” she said with a wry twist of her lips. “But it’s true.”
“Was it magic?”
“Of a sort.”
He lowered his gaze to her lips, which was a mistake because then he wanted to taste her, to kiss her until she was breathless, until she forgot everything but him.
“It all worked out,” Shara said into the silence.
Kiril knew he should release her, but he feared she would vanish on him. “I suppose it did. What will you do now?”
“I’m with the Light. Usaeil has asked me to join her guard.”