Page 56 of Kiss of Embers
For me.
Butterflies filled my stomach.Maybe, a little voice reminded me,they’re exactly what they say they are.My mates. Handpicked for me by fate.
The bridge shuddered under my feet. A series ofcracksrang out. Then the world dropped from under me. I screamed, scrabbling for the rope. Fire streaked across my palms as I caught myself in the netting. Wind roared in my ears, and the world became a runaway roller coaster. The cliff face filled my vision. Another scream ripped from me as I slammed into the rock.
Pain exploded in my shoulder, and the breath punched from my lungs. For one terrifying second, the rope slipped from one of my hands, and I dangled one-handed, my body swinging away from the wall.
Dimly, I was aware of men’s shouts and movement above me.
“Zara! Hang on!”
Finn, I thought, my mind hazy. That sounded like Finn. Or maybe Struan. Would they be offended if I told them their accents made it difficult to tell them apart?
The world blurred. The pain flared—a hot, spiky menace that radiated up my neck to my head. Something hot trickled down my temple, but I was too tired to bother with it. Maybe if I just closed my eyes for a second…
“Zara!”
I blinked my eyes open. Someone was shouting, and I wished they would stop.
“Zara!” The deep, accented voice cursed viciously. “I’m fetching her.”
Protests flooded my mind. I didn’t need fetching! I just needed to sleep. Except my fucking shoulder was on fire. I shifted around, trying to find a more comfortable position.
“Stop!”
“Bloody hell, don’t move!”
I frowned, black dots swimming in my vision. Why was everyone so angry with me?
More shouting. Scuffling footsteps.
CRACK!
My eyes flew open. Consciousness roared back. I dangled from the broken rope bridge, my body suspended over the abyss. The only thing stopping me from plunging to my death was the rope tangled around my arm and shoulder. Worse, one of the last two anchors had ripped from the stone, leaving the bridge hanging from just one anchor. Pain stabbed at the side of my skull. The sharp scent of blood stung my nostrils.
“Zara!” Struan shouted above me. “We’re coming for you. Don’t move!”
“And don’t look down,” Finn added.
I angled my head down. The wind gusted, twisting the rope around my legs. Rock crumbled. A ripping sound floated above me. The bridge was tearing from its only remaining anchor. “Oh, gods,” I whimpered. My stomach pitched, saliva flooding my mouth.
“Dammit, woman, I said not to look!”
Wind screeched in my ears. A blast of it shoved me against the rock, jolting my injured shoulder. Blinding-hot pain stabbed deep, and I couldn’t hold back my scream. Nausea sloshed in my gut. I was going to be sick.
CRACK!
The bridge snapped. The cliff face fell away as I plunged. The world spun, flashing between brown rock and the pitch-black void.
Brown. Black. Brown. Black. Brown. Black.
Then, a flash of blue. It streaked past me—big and glittering. A second later, my back slammed into something hard. I slid, a scream in my throat, as a glittering blue wing filled my vision. Mustering the last of my strength, I flipped over, my cheek pressed to something rough and bumpy. Blue scales spread before me, their color a deep, mesmerizing sapphire. And so familiar.
Struan.He’d taken dragon form. Beige horns ran down his back, the bases as big around as my waist. More pale horns decorated his tail. Heat radiated off his gem-toned scales, making it seem like I sprawled atop an electric blanket.
A silver missile darted out of nowhere, and then a second dragon spun and spread its wings. Gunmetal gray, they glittered like they’d been sprinkled with diamonds. Horns marched down the dragon’s back. A pair of them sprouted from the beast’s head. Glossy and black as midnight, they were a striking contrast to the glittering gray.
Finn was beautiful. He flapped his wings, his long tail waving behind him. Struan’s muscles bunched beneath me. Then he launched us upward.