Page 74 of Under Restless Skies

“A lot,” I whisper.

He takes me to a staircase I don’t know well, then to a familiar hallway, where he opens a door and leads me to his bedroom.

I shouldn’t be here, and yet, where else can we talk freely?

“Don’t you have to return to your ball?” I ask.

“Let me take care of you first.” He goes to a counter, opens a bottle, fills two cups, and brings one to me. “Are you hurt?”

There’s no question about his worry. No debate whether he cares for me. A maelstrom of emotions revolves in my chest. I take a sip of the sweet, slightly alcoholic drink. Some kind of wine. “Not really.”

“And you faced a rider?” His amazing dark eyes are focused on me as if nothing else mattered in this world.

I nod, my head feeling light, my face warm because of the wine. “The same rider from the island. He wanted to get to the room with the hatchlings.”

Alayel gulps his wine, then blinks. “Wow. And he left? Like that?”

“I think he heard the guards. Now, I don’t know why he left the staff.”

Protect them.

His words still echo in my head, his eyes still pierce my soul, the feel of his hands still lingers on my wrists. I can barely understand any of this myself, let alone explain it to anyone else, even to Alayel. Instead, I take another sip of that sweet wine, as if it could relieve the intensity of those memories.

Alayel clicks his tongue, immersed in thought. “The guards are going around the perimeter of the academy, trying to find the intruder.”

I shake my head. “He flew away. I think it’s that dragon…”

“The one who healed you.” He gives me a knowing look.

“Yes. The one who can fly under a storm. The rider’s gone.”

He pauses, thinking, takes my almost empty cup, gets up, refills it, then sits and passes it to me. “The guards will figure it out. And maybe one of our ballistas caught him.”

I shiver, horrified at the thought of that dragon being hurt, but then I figure that the storm would have provided him cover, and something in my chest loosens. It’s bizarre to hate that rider and feel protective of his dragon, but I can’t help it. Can’t explain it either. I’m not even sure why I’m so certain that it was that dragon. Perhaps it’s just a deduction, since that rider attacked us during the storm. No, it’s not a deduction. I’m sure.

Alayel is the only person who really knows what I faced, who knows that a dragon healed me, so I decide to tell him more about what just happened.

“Remember when I pushed Felien?” A shiver of dread takes my body when I recall how easily I killed that smuggler. I sit on the sofa and take a large gulp of wine, as if it could erase my horror.

Alayel sits beside me. “How could I forget? I remember I wanted to kill him myself, but then you…”

“Pushed him, yes, and it was a strange, oddly strong push. This time, the rider pointed his staff at me, and sent a wave of destructive energy.”

Alayel’s stare turns even more intense, wild even, while I wonder if any of what I’m saying makes sense.

But I’m telling what I remember. I continue, “I… blocked it. Pushed it back, even. I don’t know how. I took his staff too, and yet when one of our guards touched it, it burned him.”

Alayel presses his lips together. “You can’t tell anyone that.”

“You said it before, but what if they don’t know about the riders’ magic, and…” I’m not even sure what to say.

He shakes his head and narrows his eyes, his shiny curls framing his stunning face. “They keep a lot of secrets. I wouldn’t doubt that they already know about their magic.”

“But then why wouldn’t they tell the recruits? Make sure they’re prepared?”

“That, I don’t know. I’m not privy to all their secrets and machinations, Mayara. Regardless, there’s no reason why you should share your secrets.” He holds my gaze, then drinks another sip of his wine, the rim of the cup resting between his lips.

I wonder what it would be like to feel these lips up close, then wish I could take back that thought and erase it.