Extraits

“You ready to join in, Second Squad?” Garrick asks, crooking his fingers directly at Imogen.

“You don’t want anything to do with these.” She lifts her hands.

“Why don’t you put them on me and we’ll see?” A corner of his mouth tilts and a dimple pops in his cheek.

“Oh gods, just stop flirting and fuck already,” Ridoc says.

Every head slowly turns in his direction.

“I said that out loud, didn’t I?” he asks me in a hushed whisper.

“Oh yeah, you did,” I reply, patting him on his back. “Garrick’s going to blow you off the mat.”

“Now that I might enjoy, depending on the method he chooses—” Ridoc winces. “I’m going to stop talking now.”

He rolls his neck and chances a look in my direction.

I simply smile. “You started it.”

“I’d give anything to be able to finish it.” Xaden’s fingers curl. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

“So you keep saying.”

"So, we will kill him if he makes her uncomfortable", Andarna suggestion. "Problem solved"

“But he’s right, you and Riorson bicker like you’ve been married fifty years and neither of you wants to do the dishes.”

“That is not true,” I protest as Sawyer nods.

“Agreed,” Ridoc says. “And it’s always the same fight.” He lifts his hand to his chest. “I’ll trust you if you stop keeping secrets!” He drops the hand and scowls. “It’s my secretive nature that attracted you, and why can’t you just stay out of harm’s way for five fucking minutes?”

Rhi laughs so hard she nearly chokes.

"Dragons do not answer to the laws of humans,” she counters in a tone that reminds me of Tairn. “And as my bonded, as Tairn’s rider, you no longer answer to them, either.”

“Rebellious adolescent,” I mutter.

“One of my dragons is among the most powerful on the Continent, and the other is the rarest. I didn’t realize it last year or even a few months ago, but I do now: you can’t afford to kill me.”

“Tell me you didn’t do this for me.” Xaden’s chair creaks against the stone floor.

“I thought we promised never to lie to each other.”

“You endangered yourself—” His tone tightens.

“And I have no regrets.”

Only when we enter the massive chamber housing our kingdom’s wardstone do I fully comprehend what Mira had meant by us.

“This little venture tells me you’ve been hanging out with Riorson too long,” Brennan says, waiting beside Mira in front of the massive iron pillar and its eerie black flame.

“Violet,” Rhiannon warns softly from my right.

“Shh, it’s more fun when she blows shit up,” Ridoc whispers.

Xaden is mine. My heart, my soul, my everything. He channeled from the earth to save me, and I’ll scour the world until I find a way to save him right back. Even if it takes bargaining with Tecarus for access to every book on the damned Continent or capturing dark wielders one by one to question, I’ll find a cure.