Page 41 of Sustaining
My words slip into his bond on a quiet voice.
I spotted movement on the northern side along the tree line. I’m waiting. I won’t land if it’s a trap. I can’t risk getting you hurt.
My knees lock tighter around the warm dragon’s body. Minutes pass in cold silence. I have no idea what Kain saw because everything looks dark and ominous from up here. The dark sky bleeds into the inky waves, and those waves wash over the shadowy island below. Everything is an image of darkness.
Until white light streaks up. A trail of flashing color streams straight up into the sky and booms out, echoing off of the waters in a thunderous sound.
Another flash of light, this one much quicker, strikes out, flashing toward us with rapid speed. Kain twists, jarring me against his back as he dodges the blow with a thrash of his strong wings. Another boom rattles my teeth just as another slice of light twirls faster and faster toward us. Kain lurches. We dive down in one swooping move, and now we’re too low. Cold water sprays up from his wingspan, spitting chilling water against my thighs, and then he’s soaring straight ahead so fast the world is just a blur around me, but I know where he’s going. He’s flying right into the tree line.
Right where the heart of the attacks were coming from.
My knees hit smooth sand, and then a frighteningly angry dragon transforms into an even angrier man. On storming steps, he rushes into the dark forest. Just to clutch his big hands firmly onto a thin woman. He holds her by the shirt, pulling her forward to be seen in the moonlight.
“Are you the mage?” His question is a growling sound that only makes the woman grasping his tightly clenched fists smirk up into his aggression.
“You came for me; you tell me, Shifter.”
She’s definitely the mage.
“Kain, let her go.” My bare feet rush over the cool sand so quickly I’m at his side in an instant.
It takes him longer than that to slowly take his hands off of her.
“She attacked us.” Kain doesn’t step back; he doesn’t give her an inch of space.
“You were a beast swarming my island. And don’t think I don’t know about your cruel friends and what they did to my mermaids.”
My attention swivels to the woman with the wild blonde hair. It’s tangled and twisted into long pieces that she’s pulled back from her thin face.
“Yourmermaids?”
“Yes,mymermaids. I’ve blood fed them for decades to get their pods to live in this area. They surround my island, grant me safety, and in return, I feed them the finest food the island has to offer. I’ve raised the majority of them, so when you pose a threat to them, you’re posing a threat to me.” The sharp point of her chin tips defiantly high, making Kain’s brooding gaze narrow on the aging woman.
Her clothes aren’t tattered, but they’re not very proper either. The deep-purple dress is tied high at her hip, revealing her slender legs, while her top is nothing more than a thin piece of black material that’s tied in the center.
She looks every bit like a woman comfortable in isolation.
“I didn’t come to cause harm.” I take a step closer, but the moment her pointed words are spoken, I stop.
“Well, clearly you did.”
“I need help.”
“You’re out of luck, my fellow mage. I am not the one to offer help. I’m a forgotten memory in your world, and I’d rather like to keep it that way.” Her small shoulders pull in as she folds her arms tightly over her chest.
Instead of accepting her answer, I plow on with my words.
“The Solstice Queen is alive, and she’s been seeking me out. I want to know why, and I want to catch her before she catches me.”
A beat of pure silence passes while she keeps her curious green eyes locked on me.
“Of course Ellise is alive. Only a fool would believe an idiot like Barron could get rid of a mage as powerful as her.”
“What does she want with Arlow?” Kain grinds his question out, and it’s just then that the mage glances down to realize the shifter is naked before her.
Her attention lingers low on his body for the span of three seconds, but she’s not nearly as enchanted with his body as I am. Huh, isolation does strange things to women, it seems. I should count myself lucky this sort of lack of appreciation for the male body didn’t happen to me while I was in hiding.
Her eyes are still thin slits when she brings them up to meet his glare.
