Page 94 of Ashborne Phoenix

‘I didn’t mean to. I hadn’t planned to. I just—’

‘You ran in fear, and instead of running to me, you tore through reality and almost killed both of you. Do you know what that would have done to us, Voski? Do you know what you two would leave behind if we lost you in such a way?’

‘I know. I’m sorry, Kham. I panicked—’

I felt my dragon shudder and the nausea churned in my stomach again. I never would have done it if I’d known. Never imagined it would cut us off from the dragons. I’d been terrified because fucking Breckon of all people had outsmarted me, and just when I’d thought I was winning, I’d been cornered.

And I almost lost everything.

Thank you, God. Thank you. I’d prayed. Amidst that pain and suffering and emptiness, I’d prayed, begging Him to bring us back, to give me one more chance not to fail.

‘You do not fail because you are inadequate, Voski. You fail because you insist on refusing help,’ Kham sent, his tone disapproving, but also deeply unsettled.

I’d never wished more that I could just walk to my dragon, get on his back, and leave. Lie in the curl of his foreleg, under the shelter of his wing, and leave the world behind.

Except Grace. And Koa. We all needed to be together.

Perhaps that was the answer? Perhaps I’d fooled myself that I could—

‘You will not give up on us now!’ Kham roared in my head. I twitched, and Grace’s eyes finally focused on me. But she was pale, her eyes round with fear, and she trembled like a newborn kitten.

“What was that?” she whispered, on the edge of tears. “Voski, what happened? Why did I lose Koa? How—”

Time slowed, and for a blink I worried I’d sucked us back into the void. But only a blink.

We almost died. We almost lost each other. We almost lost the dragons. But now there was something else.

My heightened senses screamed a new alarm.

“Voski, please—how did—”

I didn’t have to think. I clapped a hand over Grace’s mouth, whipped her around and held her to my chest, leaning over her, my chin next to her ear.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘What are you—’

‘Someone’s here.’

There were only moments. I felt her shake. Felt the ground give out from under my feet because I’d done that to her, and then it all hit me.

I’d almost killed all of us.

I’d almost paved the way for the Cruors to take the Dominus forever.

I’d almost ushered in my enemies.

I could never let that happen again. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I felt the impending arrival of an enemy with ill will. And I couldn’t take one more breath in terror.

‘I love you. I’m sorry. She’s here. Forgive me.’

‘Forgive you for what?’

The door swung open just as I flung Grace away from me. She cried out, tripped on the hem of her robe, and tumbled to the floor just as my mother entered the chamber, her face a mask of rage.

And even though it felt like tearing off my own skin, I snarled at Grace, and swore.

Grace was sprawled on the floor, eyes wide, shining with unshed tears, her expression confused and afraid—and her head snapped toward the door the moment my mother strode in.