I narrowed my eyes at him.
The heat of my glare only caused him to grin back at me. “Has anyone ever told you how adorable you are when angry?”
Without a word, I set the book down on the bedside table. Then snatched a pillow from the bed and whacked him with it. Dante merely laughed and let me strike him a second time.
When I stormed away, he called after me. “Where are you going?”
“In a room you are not in. Goodnight.”
The grin in his voice nearly had me turn around for a third strike. “Goodnight, Princess.”
Chapter 11
Cherry
The next morning, we cleared the last of the jagged mountains on Volsog’s border and soared over the Dreaded Expanse. Even from high in the sky, I could see the crashing waves the sea was known for. Almost as if it was the goddess’ last attempt to keep the demons locked away in Volsog.
By the time the shores of Kibar came into view, Dante slowed and swayed in the air. “Feeling alright, big guy?” I asked.
His speech was slurred.“Tired. I’ll be fine long enough to reach Kirkwall.”So he said. But as soon as the words left his mouth, we dipped down toward the raging sea at an alarming pace.
Frantic, I kicked at his side until he straightened back out. “Not to be a backseat rider, but I think we should just camp on the nearest bit of land. I don’t think you’re going to make it to the city.”
“It’s right on the coast,”he yawned.“We should be there soon.”
I scanned the shore in front of us. Instead of a city or a bustling port, it was nothing but towering woods. I fished the map out of the bag. “Show me Kirkwall.” In an instant, the map sprang to life and circled the coastal city. “According to the map, Kirkwall is about fifty miles east of us. Can you make it that far, or should we just land on the shore?”
In response, Dante plummeted out of the air. I screamed and kicked him awake again. “Alright, I’m putting my foot down. Just land on the beach and we’ll find Kirkwall tomorrow.”
To my relief, the dragon listened, and sank onto the sandy shore. Then collapsed into an exhausted heap. I leaped off his back and fell to my knees on dear sweet precious land.“My apologies, Cherry. It seems our transfer of magic took more out of me than expected.”
“A man who apologizesandadmits when he’s wrong? You really are after my heart,” I said, then stretched out my sore muscles. My back gave a satisfying pop, and I sighed in relief.
He chuckled, then gently removed our luggage from his back. His clawed hands were careful not to jostle the cat’s cage too much. He set Rebekah and our things a good distance away from the shore then shuffled off to a line of the biggest trees I’d ever seen. He swung his long body around, then whipped his tail against a tree. The towering tree snapped like a twig under the blow and came crashing down with a booming thud.
“Did… did the giant tree do something to you, Dante?” I asked.
He responded with a snort then began clawing at the fallen tree. When the trunk of wood was bare and had suffered enough carnage, he dragged the resulting branches and splinters a little closer to our travel sack, divided them into two piles, setting one on fire.“Redwood burns slowly, so this should last you until morning,”he said, nodding to the bonfire.
Enoughwas an understatement. The amount of wood he had casually piled up would have been enough to last me the whole damn winter. A branch from one of those honkers would have been enough.
“Will you be alright with travel rations, or should I hunt for you?”
By the way his eyes were drooping, I doubted he could take another step. “I’ll be fine,” I said, trying my best to sound reassuring. “If Rebekah and I get sick of dried meat and nuts, I’ll just catch us a few fish. Please sleep before you keel over.”
He sat, but kept his eyes trained on me, considering my words. Then, he fiddled with the pile of firewood and scanned the woods behind us. When he shifted to stand again, I held out a hand to stop him. “Dante, we do not need more firewood.”
“Yes, but I smell a deer nearby. Perhaps you should save your rations.”He stood and made his way over to the treeline.“Wait here. I’ll fetch it for you.”
“No!” I barked out. “You look like you’re ready to pass out. Just go to sleep. We have enough food, fire, and water. We’re fine. Sleep!” Not to mention we were only a short flight away from Kirkwall. Even if we somehow tore through our rations, the over-prepping dragon had loaded our pockets with enough gold to buy a table at every restaurant in the city. I guess no one could ever accuse him of being underprepared.
He looked over our supplies once more, then lay down.“If you’re certain. Wake me if you need anything.”At my nod, his violet eyes gave into their exhaustion and finally closed. His body relaxed into the sand before the low rumble of his snoring joined the sound of the waves crashing along the beach.
“Huh. I thought he’d shift back into his human form.” Not that I was looking forward to it. I wandered over to the pack and helped myself to a little snack, then pulled out a few pieces of dried meat and brought them to Rebekah’s cage. The cat sniffed at the meat indifferently then turned her nose up at it.
“Now is not the time to be picky,” I scolded. “We aren’t exactly anywhere near a pet shop so try to eat at least a little bit of it.” To no one’s surprise, the cat didn’t listen. I sighed in defeat and didn’t offer her any more. “Alright, well you probably have to use the litter box. Good news for you, we’re kind of camping on one.” I reached a hand up to the latch on her cage then paused. “You’re not going to like, scratch the hell out of me if I open this cage, are you?”
Rebekah tilted her head but gave no indication of the level of violence she was considering. Cats hardly ever do.
