Page 28 of Wild Bond

“You want to go flying?” I asked. “Now?”

She blinked once and tilted her head as if to say,Why not?

I could think of several reasons. Zade had warned me away from leaving the compound, and Rake had flat out told me I wasn’t allowed. If the council found out I had left without another rider accompanying me . . . But the pull to escape, to fly, was nearly irresistible. It wasn’t like I would be venturing into the city or anything, and I had been here long enough that I wasn’t worried they would throw me back in a cell. If I was caught, I might get in trouble, but I wasn’t afraid of a little punishment. I had endured worse at Master Safan’s hands than anything they would likely do. And it would just be a short flight. No one would even notice we were gone.

I forced myself not to think on the events of the day as I sat astride Skye. Instead, I concentrated on the sensation of flight. All the tension and worries that I battled on the ground literally dropped away, until there was only this.

I knew this had the potential to become my new favorite pastime. Skye was pleased at being able to share this part of herself with me—this thing she loved so much.

Thank you,I thought to her. She hummed low in her belly, and I felt it against my legs and barely heard it over the wind. The thrill of flight was pulsing in my blood, and I knew it wasn’t just Skye’s emotions bleeding into mine as we soared away from the city. I loved this—the sheer freedom, the feel of the night air all around me, and being above everything.

Part of me knew that I probably shouldn’t be flying alone yet. I had only had a few flying lessons at this point and still didn’t have a saddle, but I wasn’t worried. I trusted Skye.

My thoughts drifted to Lessa. I was itching to search for her, and I wondered if now wouldn’t be a good time to start.

Skye suddenly tensed underneath me, her head snapping to the side, and I was jerked back to the present. A complicated mix of feelings assaulted me from her. There was annoyance, wariness, and was thatanticipation?

Skye, what—

But then I heard it. The wing beats that didn’t belong to her. No. These belonged to a much larger dragon.

Skye relayed her impression of the scent that came to her on the wind. Smoke and cedar.

Naasir.

I swear I almost heard the name in her mind. It surprised me since I hadn’t heard any words from her since the council meeting when she couldn’t take her eyes off Varron’s jewelry. Something close to a tremor went down her sinuous spine as she caught the scent of the male. And I became conscious of the fact that she gained so much more from that one sense than I ever could.

I glanced over as the dragon himself came into view. His black wings and scales seemed to merge with the night around us so that there were a few seconds where I could barely make him out against the sky.

However, most of my attention was focused on the man on his back. The sight of his rider gave me a tremor of my own. Rake, clad in his usual dark attire, almost disappeared into the night as well. That stern scowl and the anger in those burning blue eyes couldn’t be missed, though.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Rake called as Naasir came up alongside us. The dragons’ wings glided within a few inches of each other, but never actually touched.

I shrugged, going for nonchalant. “Skye and I just thought we’d enjoy the night air.”

He nearly growled. “You’re too inexperienced to be flying alone. Especially at night and without a saddle.”

I swatted the air. “We’re fine. Skye is an experienced flyer.” I felt Skye’s annoyance that he would question her flying ability. I rubbed the side of her neck in consolation, reassuring her that I trusted her implicitly.

“But you’re not,” he reasoned in exasperation. “And Skye has hardly any experience flying with a rider. What happens if you fall?”

“Skye is fast. She would catch me.”

He glared, and Naasir huffed as if he shared his rider’s frustration. He glided closer to Skye, and she snapped her jaws at him. The male responded with a low, warning growl, but then retreated slightly.

Rake looked down. We were flying just over a forest now, the canopy of treetops maybe fifty feet below us. “Not at this height. Land!” he ordered sharply. “You can fly back to The Tower with me, and Skye can follow.”

I glared back, suddenly not caring if he was my superior as well as my flying instructor, only caring that he was interrupting what felt like the first peaceful moment to myself—well, including Skye—that I had had since being here. “I’ll just fly back on Skye.”

His face became thunderous. “Land.Now, Rin!”

I opened my mouth to protest when I suddenly heard a call of distress in the distance. My head whipped around toward the sound.

“What was that?” I called.

Rake had heard it, too, his keen gaze staring in the same direction.

Then it came again. Louder this time. It sounded odd, almost muffled in a way, but somehow familiar. It sounded like the cry of an animal—a large animal.

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