Page 58 of Wild Bond

“They were after me,” I said.

Both men stared at me.

“How do you know?” Zade asked.

“What do you mean?” Rake demanded at the same time.

I sighed, feeling my head begin to throb. “One of them almost stabbed me, but then another one screamed at him that I wasn’t to be harmed.”

I was watching Rake closely as I said this, so I saw his jaw harden.

“You weren’t to be harmed?” Zade repeated.

I nodded. “Then another one said that they didn’t want to kill me, just take me with them.”

“Well, if they didn’t want to harm you, shooting your dragon out of the sky is not the way to accomplish that,” Zade remarked dryly.

“I don’t think the bolt was meant for me. I think the target was Naasir,” I told them, looking at Rake. “If he hadn’t come after Skye . . .” I trailed off.

“It makes sense,” Zade admitted, his voice still detached in the way it had been ever since Valla was shot. He gestured to Rake. “You and Naasir are the biggest threat. If the goal really was to capture Rin, they needed you out of the way, and they knew that they only had one chance to surprise us and take you out of the equation.”

“The griffins did a pretty good job of that for them,” Rake noted, a bitterness creeping into his words.

“Lucky for them,” Zade mused. “Though I doubt they were counting on quite so many of the creatures responding to the commotion. That is, if they even intended for any of them to come at all.”

“They did attack usbeforewe reached the pass,” I pointed out.

“Griffins are too dangerous and unpredictable to factor into any plan successfully,” Rake said.

I couldn’t help but agree and thought of the griffin that tore that man apart and how thatdefinitelyhad not been part of the plan.

Whatever their plan had been, it obviously had been ill-conceived. If their scheme was to take me—which I still didn’t understand why anyone would want to do—they could have done it at a much more opportune time and place. Namely, when I was alone and not with two other dragon riders. Did they have a death wish?

Then again, I had barely left The Tower compound since bonding with Skye. Maybe whoever this was saw their opportunity and took it. We were now only a short flight from Dessin, maybe a few hours ride by horse. We had been gone most of the day. If someone heard we were leaving, that gave whoever it was plenty of time to get a message out, and set the trap, then simply wait for us to return. That was assuming of course whoever they were was operating from the capital. If Zehvi really was behind this, or someone else altogether, then I was out of theories.

After several minutes of heavy silence, I asked, “Why wasn’t Naasir distracted? Or Valla for that matter?”

Rake’s brow furrowed. “Distracted?”

“The piece of metal or whatever it was that Skye saw in the trees,” I explained. “Why weren’t your dragons distracted by it as well? I’m sure they saw it too, but Skye was the only one who reacted.”

“Training,” Rake responded.

“And years of experience learning to withstand the temptation,” Zade added. “Unfortunately, it’s a common tactic used to lure or distract young dragons during battle.”

I had guessed as much, and I knew they were both speaking from firsthand experience. I had seen something similar used on dragons during the battle of Dessin, but until bonding with Skye, I had never experienced the pull, the sheer need that a dragon would feel. I had gotten a taste of the feeling when Skye was mesmerized by that council member’s rings, but that had been nowhere near as powerful of a pull that time.

I could sense Skye’s guilt and regret in the bond. She knew her distraction had, at least inadvertently, been the cause of Valla’s injury. I tried to reassure her that it wasn’t her fault and that regardless of her distraction, one of us still would have gotten hit.

I didn’t want to think about it anymore. I lifted my hands to rub at my temples.Realms. My head hurt.

When I finally looked up, it was to see that both men had stopped talking and were watching me closely.

“Everything alright, Rin?” Zade asked, concern lacing his tone.

A tinge of worry came from Skye as well.

I sighed. “Just tired, I think.”

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