Page 52 of Burning Heir

“As I said, curiosity will get you killed. Stop asking questions a first-year should not know,” he said with a breath of annoyance.

I stared at my blistered palms, where fire had willed from my veins.Fire, the thought of begging for snow to frost over my limbs, only to draw flame within those pleas, caused my lids to brim with tears.

And so, the girl who willed to know what lived beyond those plains of ice saw too much too fast. What would I tell Knox? If he’d even believe me, and if Myla would still trust me as fire boiled within me.

“Do you think my quell will go away?” I asked.

Archer traced the wooden planked ceiling. “It would be in your best interest.”

I pulled the drenched top over my head, wriggling out of my sopping slacks, throwing my clothes into the corner, covered only by the wraps around my chest and under bottoms. Archer kept his eyes on the ceiling as my spine faced him.

And I knew what he thought of me. Knew I was that annoying friend’s sister he felt indebted to protect as he clenched his jaw.

“You wanted me to find my quell, even telling Bridger that I bond with a pigeon if it’s the last thing he does,” I seethed.

Archer rubbed his index finger over his temple. “You have no idea what happened today, do you?” he asked.

Two cries sounded above, swooping low past the window to reveal pearl-white scales. I rushed to the door, feeling a blast of heat against my face as I yanked it open. Two dragons appeared. One soared higher, its wings spread wide, lavender eyes watching me with an intensity that rooted me in place. Its black underbelly glinted in perfect contrast to the other’s shining white spine. Their horned tails sliced through the air in unison.

They were nearly identical, their size and form a mirror of one another, except for the inverted scales.

Archer limped behind me, towering over my shoulder. “You—” he began, his voice low and uncertain. “This is not good.”

I couldn’t tear my eyes away. “Is that—?”

Archer cut me off. “Naraic and Ciaran. And one of those dragons is supposed to be dead—was dead.”

Naraic’s wingspan stretched over thirty feet, his brilliant pearl scales shimmering as he landed. The impact shook the ground, his claws sinking deep into the soil. His neck curved gracefully, and those lavender eyes locked with mine. They stole the breath from my lungs.

“What do I do?” I asked, my voice trembling as my arms hung limp at my sides.

There were protocols for approaching creatures. Griffins liked their back feathers stroked before a flight, but a dragon? I had no idea what might provoke or calm one. One wrong move could end with me in flames.

My stomach churned, the wards inside me crackling with nervous energy.

“Walk forward,” Archer instructed. “And be still.”

I forced myself to take shaky steps toward the pearled beast, gathering what composure I had left. Overhead, Ciaran swooped through the clearing, her shadow blanketing the path in starlit dust. Ash drifted from Naraic’s flared, algae-stained nostrils. His wings—batlike and torn—exposed the veiny bones beneath, held together by sheer will. He looked like a creature caught between life and death.

I reached out, extending my hand toward his cheek. The back of my fingers grazed a scale, its surface cool and smooth. I exhaled slowly, my breath shuddering as time seemed to pause.

“I found you,” I whispered. “You were Klaus’s dragon?”

“You were the only one who could,”Naraic’s voice rasped in my mind. It was not the same voice that had called to me in the Winter forests.

I turned to Archer, my voice cracking. “He’s been down there for two years… rotting.” I glanced back at the dragon, noting the exposed flesh and torn wings. For all the terror his state should have inspired, I only saw the beauty within his resilience. “How is that possible?”

Naraic growled, and my attention snapped back.“Will you accept our bond, a promise to protect Verdonia, to give your life to me and our connection, and I will give you my protection, my soul?”

A bond?

Archer hissed at Ciaran, “She isn’t ready. Not yet, but I will train her to be Klaus.”

I would be a dragon rider. Had there ever been a dragon to live in the Frozen Valleys? I wouldn’t hesitate—not when two sets of lavender eyes stared at me, capable of ending me with one breath.

“Yes,” I breathed.

“Open your palm, Severyn,” demanded Archer. “He needs to mark you.”

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