“Are… areyoudoing this?” I asked, gesturing to the wild weather around us. The idea was ludicrous, yet the skies had been clear until Dante showed up.
He nodded once, then instructed me to turn around. When I did, gentle hands slid the ruined coat from my shoulders. I bit my lip, trying to put on a brave front. Yet I couldn’t stop the whimper from escaping when the coat brushed against my cuts. I felt Dante tense behind me. Lightning struck a branch, snapping it in half before it plummeted to the ground.
“Are you—?”
“Do not ask if I am alright when you were moments away from being taken from me.” The deep gravel in his tone sent a shiver down my spine. Even with the pain in my hands, and the rush of my near-death experience, his nearness did terrible things to my psyche.
“Alright, I won’t.” I pressed my lips together, vehemently trying to ignore the gnawing ache between my legs.
Snapping gators. Read the room, dragon slut magic!
He gingerly took hold of my wrists and inspected my hands, “These burns, did you use my magic?” he asked.
“Yeah, it just sort of happened while I was being attacked. My second try ended up backfiring.”
His voice turned wary. “Hmm, you shouldn’t be able to do that yet.”
“Is that bad?”
“It’s unsafe,” he said, releasing my hand. “Storm magic is erratic and requires careful concentration. Normally, it takes years to tap into magic gained from a mating bond. If you can, try to avoid using it further. You may not be so lucky the next time it backfires.” Smoke spilled past my feet as Dante placed his hands on my upper back. He took a deep breath then the hands on my back grew cold. As they did, the searing pain in my cuts faded away. Replaced by a rushing tingling feeling, somewhat similar to what I felt after he had bitten me. When the feeling spread to my ruined hands, I lifted them up for a look. Right before my eyes, the angry painful burns faded into mostly clear skin. When the tingling sensation stopped, my hands were still a little red but not nearly as painful as they had been.
I felt Dante slump, and his head came to rest on the tree in front of me. He put a hand on my shoulder to steady himself as he breathed deep. “This is all I can do for you right now. Most of my magic is still depleted.”
I placed a hand on the one on my shoulder. “Thank you for saving me,” I whispered.
Alexis cleared her throat.
“Us,” I corrected, rolling my eyes.
His fingers clasped mine, before leaning further against my back. As if trying to occupy as much of my space as he could. With my coat gone, the warmth of his body was much appreciated and I leaned back against him. The scent of petrichor and man bled into my senses like a drug.
“Why did you run off, Cherry?” His tone remained calm, yet the rolling thunder gave away his mood.
“I wasn’t trying to escape,” I huffed. “Your cat ran off, so I was just trying to find it.”
Booming thunder faded into a low rumble. The wind died down, stopping its relentless assault against the canopy. Dante regarded me with a withered expression. “You risked your life for a cat?”
“Well, I didn’t know there were harpies in the area. I’ve never even seen one before.” Though they proved he was telling the truth. If harpies were this far outside of Volsog, then the world I knew was gone. Not only that, if it wasn’t for that freak accident with the lightning I’d be dead. When it was just my life on the line, I didn’t really care what happened. But if there were demons here, then it was only a matter of time before they reached Boohail. If they weren’t there already.
The thought of my family and friends trying to fight off a flock of those terrifying creatures sent a chill down my spine. I thought about the kraken that had attacked Gideon’s island, and the gargantuan hydra skeleton in the river. There’s no way my village would survive that kind of attack. Not without Myva’s magic barrier.
Or a guard dragon.
A grin pulled at the long scar running down his face. “You’re doing it again,” he said in that low voice that sent fireflies to my stomach.
I tilted my head. “What am I doing?”
“You’re staring at me with fierce, unidentifiable intent. What’s on your mind, Princess?”
Whether I can trust you to not eat my family. Well, that and shredding our clothes and climbing you like a tree.
I smiled up at him. “Just thinking about how great it is not to be harpy food.”
“Hmm.”
“What are you thinking about?” I asked.
Strong arms slid around my waist. Dante rested his head against my shoulder and squeezed me to him. “I’m trying to decide if I should bother finding the harpies’ colony or just burn the entire forest down until not even cinders remain. At least then I’ll be sure I’ve gotten them all.”
