Grabbing Bastian’s scales from my arm, I firm my grip on them—and run.
The fire comes like a wave and I keep running blindly through the flames. Run toward where I last saw him. Toward where I need him to still be.
Run.
Head down. Eyes closed. Feet digging.
When I’m through the fire, I’m almost at his lowered wing. I step on it and jump, throwing myself onto his neck as I whip the scales out, holding on to one end. The chain loops around Ra’om’s neck and locks. I jam my handless arm under it—then my face slams against dragon scales as Ra’om surges into the sky.
I grab the chain and hold on with everything I have as he shoots higher, higher, and my stomach isn’t with me anymore. It’s somewhere hundreds of feet below.
Ra’om makes a sharp turn and I twist, almost falling off. He makes another, trying to throw me. I hold on tight and catch a glimpse of the clearing far below. The cabins are just burning points. Ra’om thrashes and turns. Cold wind pushes against my face and my eyes water. His scales are smooth, impossible to hold on to, and I know I only have seconds.
I call my sword. I can’t reach Ra’om’s eyes and his scales are too thick where I am.
You should’ve thought of that beforehand.
He rolls into a shallow dive.
Do you remember, Gideon, sitting in the truck while your father fell? Do you remember how you felt as he looked at you in that last moment?
He levels his flight and banks to the left, and the mountainside shoots past, a blur of trees and snow and rock.
Do you remember how you felt when he struck the ground? How you felt as you stood over him, watching the blood pool in his ear and then spill onto those red bricks?
“I remember,” I say, adjusting my grip on the sword. “But you’re going to have to do better.”
I’ve forgiven myself. I know it wasn’t my fault.
Ra’om turns his head in surprise.
His eyes are close, but he’s given me a better option. A perfect angle into his ear canal. I reach out and drive my sword in, pushing until I can’t anymore.
His body goes slack beneath me, his wings lose their tension, and I’m floating for an instant. Then I’m falling.
Out of the sky, but I have no fear.
Riot finds me. He wraps around me and I fold in.
Then we fly as fire.
As one.
CHAPTER 59
On the ground, I find Marcus and Jode waiting for me in front of the cabin where I spent the better part of the day tied to a chair. It’s the only cabin untouched by Ra’om’s fire.
Suarez is here too, and a handful of other people. They’ve been talking for half an hour. Or maybe an hour. It could be five minutes.
I tuned out after I asked about Texas, whose real name is Travis Low. He’s been airlifted to a hospital, but I’ve been assured he’s doing fine.
A Blackhawk helicopter sits in the distance and armored trucks make a line along the road. There are flares everywhere. People everywhere. Lights have been set up around the field. A light snow is falling.
It finally sinks in that it’s over. I’ll get to see my mom … Anna. I’ll get to go home.
But Sebastian won’t.
Then I see Cordero and my mind empties of everything else.
She walks up with Major Robertson.
The expression on his face seems oddly informal and warm. I don’t like it. Then I look into the dark eyes of the woman I’ve spent the past hours with. Anger shoots through me—hot and sharp—and Riot snorts behind me.
“Steady, Riot,” Jode says, moving to my horse.
“This is Natalie Cordero,” Robertson says. “She’s with the Defense Intelligence Agency. The Kindred detained her at a nearby location.”
Cordero doesn’t offer her hand. “I’ve been investigating these kinds of matters for a long time, Private Blake,” she says simply. “This time, I got closer than I would have liked.”
I understand why they brought Cordero and me together now, rather than later. Clear the air. Right away before resentment can fester. But I’m not ready for this and I might never be. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to look at her without thinking of Malaphar. She must sense it, because she excuses herself and leaves with Robertson.
“Where’s Daryn?” I ask Marcus. I’ve been afraid to ask, I realize. Because if Daryn were here, then she’d be here. With us. With me.
Marcus runs a hand over his head and looks at me. “She’s gone.”
“We saw her last with Shadow.” Jode says, watching me closely. “Shadow wouldn’t settle. Daryn said she was going to walk her. Get her away from here to see if it would help … but she hasn’t come back.”
We look at each other, and the question is right there.
Will Daryn come back? Or did she just abandon Sebastian in that hellish world?
Is that it?
Is he gone?