“Bren, I’m so sorry.”
The voice was deep, calm, andverytender.
I blinked and looked up to find the Commander standing in front of me, hands at his sides and his face pained.
Somehow, he’d grown bigger. Taller. I wasn’t sure—
Then he squatted in front of me. I realized I was on the floor, knees pulled up to my chest, hands tucked inside the jacket sleeves.
The Commander had dropped to my level, but he was still huge. And Akhane weaved her head behind him, hissing once before the black dragon crooned at her.
“I had no idea. We wouldn’t have left you… dear God, this is a mess.”
I felt bad for him. The stress was apparent on his face, lined and ruddy, like my father’s, though he was younger. A life lived in the sunshine and with the wind of flight whipping your skin, I supposed.
I wanted to tell him this wasn’t his fault. That I attracted this kind of unwanted attention, though I never invited it. But I couldn’t make my voice work.
He stood quickly, turning from me and storming out, past Akhane, to the door of the stable.
“Everyone back to work—and leave these poor femalesalone!”he bellowed. I wasn’t sure how many of the men still remained outside the door, because they’d all pushed back into the aisle when the black dragon appeared. But there were clearly some. There was a rumble of heavy footsteps, boot soles thudding, bare feet slapping, all of them running away.
Akhane turned from me, looking at the black dragon who’d planted himself in the doorway—which he filled without trying. His head would have reached the rafters if he’d had it high, but he kept his neck curled and low, snorting smoke and steam from slitted nostrils, his eyes narrowed and ears pinned back.
I’d never seen a more terrifying sight than that massive, black creature threatening anyone who came close. But deep in my chest, I couldfeelAkhane—and her heart fluttered not with fear, but with gratitude whenever the black beast rumbled or hissed.
He was… protecting us?
‘Yes, Little Flame. He will protect us at all costs. Even his own life,’she said with a warmth in her tone I hadn’t heard from her yet.‘He isPrimarch,’ she added with awe.‘Every dragon is his—and the men who belong to them, as well.’
The urge was in me to insist that it was menand a woman.But the thought was so ridiculous, I spluttered with hysterical laughter, which I swallowed the moment the Commander, who stood at his dragon’s leg in the doorway talking to Benji, snapped his head around to look at me like he worried my mind had cracked.
Maybe it had.
But I could breathe again now that all the men were gone.
The black dragon turned his head and something passed between him and the Commander. Ifeltit. It was the bond they shared. Just as Akhane spoke with me.
I put a hand to my chest, feeling that spot that was now full ofher.It was strange. Ruin had told me how unsettling it was, and also so thrilling.
Now I knew what he’d meant.
But I didn’t have time to think further, because the Commander murmured something to Benji, who scampered away, then the dark man marched towards me, his face thunderous with anger.
I shrank back from him and he stopped midstep, his eyes widening and his hands coming up.
“No, no, Bren. I’m not angry at you—I’m angry at the men. They never would have done this to… but, it doesn’t matter. Please, just hear me: You aren’t in trouble. I’m going to move you from this place though. It’s too central. Do you think you can walk? It’s not far, and you’ll have space and peace when we get there.”
I blinked when he offered me a hand to help me to my feet. I stared at it for a second—a thick, calloused hand, heavy and veined, with wide, flatfingers and those large knuckles like my father’s and Ruin’s. It was aman’shand. A strong hand.
But strong to protect? Or harm?
One would draw me like a moth to flame. The other inhabited my nightmares.
“Please, Bren. It will be better than this. I give you my word,” he said quietly, and those lines appeared in his forehead again.
‘Trust him, Little Flame. He’s a good man,’Akhane urged me in my head. It was still so strange to hear her without my ears. But I nodded in response, then slid my trembling fingers into his palm.
He gripped my entire hand in his fist and tugged me gently to my feet, then pulled me into his side, one arm behind my back as he ushered me out of the stable.
