Page 13 of The Dragon Queen

"Wealsodon'tknowwhereitis,orhowtoaccessit,"Malikremindsme,asifI'veforgotten.

Ishrug,projectingconfidence. "We'llfigureitout."

We'vebeenrunningfortoolong,alwaysreacting.It'shightimewehadarealquest.Arealgoal.

"It'sagoodidea,"Emberallows,asmallsparkofhopekindlinginhereyes.

"It'sagreatidea,"Ipromise.

Despitemyreassurance,thesparkinhergazedwindles. "Butevenifweknewwhereitwas,orhowtogettoit,thatdoesn'tchangethefactthatI'malloutofmagic."Shesnapsherfingers,andabsolutelynothinghappens.Herfacefallsevenfurther,hervoicewaveringwithgrief. "Ican'tconjuredarkness,orcastprotectionspells,muchlessmakeaportal.TheCrownhastobeprotectedsomehow.Ifwehavetofightourwaythroughanything,I'mgoingtobedeadweight."

Malikcrosseshisarmsoverhischest. "Hardly."

Jianyuhasacalculatinglookinhiseyes.Heliftsabrow. "Wehaven'ttestedeverythingyouusedtobeabletodo."

Atinyflickerofheatshiversthroughourbond,andmyeyeswiden.

Andokay,yeah.Juju'snotwrong.ThefirsttimeEmberandImanagedtosetourselvesonfire,itwasrightafterthehottest,sweatiest,mostoutrageouslypassionatesexwe'deverhad.ShesaidthesamethinghadhappenedwithJianyuandMalik,andweallsawherandStormliterallyfloatingahalfdozenfeetintheairattheendoftheirreunionbang.

Mymouthgoesdry,arousalflaringupmyspine. "I'mgameifeverybodyelseis."

Ember'sowndesiretakesmineandredoublesit,theechoesonaninfinitefeedbackloopthroughourconnections.Butashotassheis,shecurlsinonherself. "Butwhatifeventhatdoesn'twork?"

Iopenmymouth,abouttoremindherthatwe'llneverknowuntilwetry.

ButevenI'mnotsoinsensitiveastorealizethatshereallyneedsawinrightnow.

"Thenwedeal,"Iassureher.

Jianyuglaresatme,again,butIignoreit.

"What?"Iask. "Wedo."

"Rafe,"Malikadmonishes.

Ishakemyhead.I'mlearningtorespectalloftheseguys,butI'llstillneverunderstandhowIendedupwithsuchapileofDebbieDowners.

Notthatitmatters.IfI'mtheonlyonewillingtolookonthebrightside,thenI'lldoitonturbomode.

MydragonisjustaseagertocheerupmymateasIam,andherisesinmychest.

Andthenithitsme--mydragonisafreakinggenius.

Asheblazeshiswaytowardthesurfaceofmyconsciousness,IfeelawarmhuminmyconnectiontoEmber.It'soneI'veonlysensedoncebefore,butIrecognizeit.

Herdragonhearsmine.

Andshe'srising.

Hopeisn'tjustaspark--it'sahotflame.

"Youlostthebracer,"Istateflatly,shiftingtostand.Iflexmyshoulders,theitchofbroadwingsripplingagainstmyspine. "Andthatsucks--alot."

IshootaglanceatJianyu,assuminghe'sgettingreadytoreprimandmeagain.

Buthisdragonhearsmine,too.Thecoldstoneofhisexteriorsoftens,revealingtheharddragonscaleunderneath.

Ahintofwindstirstheair,andinthedistance,cloudsformfromnothing.

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