Page 48 of Storm of Blood and Shadow

When the meal is ready, some of the women gather their portions and return to sit with their dragons. Others are swept away by their captors to distant caves where they will spend the night. I haven’t seen Princess Serylla today, but I’ve noticed Gweneth growing cozier with a dragon, and the tall knight who gave me the healing tablet seems to have attracted two of the males, while a third watches her hungrily, glowering from the shadows.

While I’m taking a portion of food for myself, setting it in the center of a huge leaf, Varex comes to me in the firelight, his amber eyes aglow and his ebony scales gleaming. “Will you come with me?” he asks simply.

To give myself a moment to think, I pop a chunk of meat into my mouth. It’s hot, and the grease burns my tongue. I whimper at the pain, but I refuse to spit out the food.

Varex cocks his horned head, confused. “Are you alright?”

“Mmm.” I manage to chew and swallow the burning bite. “I’m fine.”

If I return to his cave, I’ll fuck him, one way or another. My body doesn’t care which form he’s in.

“I shouldn’t go with you,” I whisper, half to myself, but he hears me.

He dips that wickedly beautiful head of his and blinks those reptilian eyes lazily at me. “Come with me, darling. I’ll be your captive for the night. You can do anything you like to me.”

I cast a sidelong glance at two of the women nearest the fire. They’re pretending not to listen, but judging by their half-suppressed smiles, they’ve heard everything. One of them nods encouragingly to me as if to say,Go with him.

Over by the wall, there’s a flash of light and a cry of surprise as one of the dragons transforms into a human.

It’s beginning again.

Varex looks at me, renewed urgency in his eyes. “Please.”

“Fuck it,” I exclaim. I fold the edges of the large leaf around my food, tie it up with two long pieces of grass, and tuck the packet into my bodice before climbing onto his back.

“Varex, you shouldn’t fly right now!” shouts one of the dragons as Varex leaps into the air. He disregards the advice and soars over the barrier, carrying me away from the firelight and the comparative safety of the enclosure.

“Are we going to your cave?” I ask.

“Too high, too far, too risky,” he says. “We’ll go to the hollow where I took you that first night. I can stay lower to the ground on the way.”

He flies so fast I want to scream, but the wind rips my breath away. We streak above treetops gilded with the last light of the dying day, then bank sharply upward, skimming above rocky outcroppings.

I feel the shudder of his bones, the vibration that signals the impending change. Varex roars, pushing forward with a final effort, sending us streaking over the lip of the hollow. As he dives low, aiming for the thick grass, his body shrinks beneath me, turning human again.

We tumble into the grass together, me on top of him, my packet of food flying into the grass a short distance away. Varex groans at the impact, but then he laughs, a sound brilliant with relief and delight.

“You almost got us both killed.” I slam my palm against his chest, and he grunts.

“You’re so strong,” he says, his tone rich with admiration.

“And you’re ridiculous. We could have died.”

“But we didn’t.” He sits up, holding me close, his lips questing for mine.

I twist my face away. “I’m hungry.”

“I can put something in your mouth.”

My eyes widen, and I meet his gaze, shocked. “Did you make a dirty joke?”

“Dirty?” He cocks an eyebrow.

“Never mind.” I disentangle myself from his arms and walk over to my food, which miraculously stayed in the leaf wrapping. “Do you want some of this?”

He joins me, accepting the pieces of food I offer to him. The light fades completely while we eat, and we’re left in the dark—two weaponless humans, one of them stark naked. No fire and no protection except the claw that I carry in my pocket. I should have grabbed a blanket before we left.

“This was a poorly planned excursion,” I say. “I’m going to freeze tonight.”

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