There was a warm, tingly feeling on my skin that caused me to stir. I moved—and quickly realized that my entire body was aching. So instead of moving more, I kept still and opened my eyes. Greeted by nothing but darkness, a frown creased my forehead. I wondered why there weren't any stars to be seen. Normally, at this time of night, there were at least a hundred stars shining in the sky! Yet now, there was nothing. Either that or it should have been daytime.

Was this normal? Could it be that there were no stars in the sky above the rest of Espheros? Surely more than just Everett Valley had ever seen stars!

Despite my body screaming in protest, I turned from laying on my back to sitting upwards. Blood rushed to my head quickly and my vision failed. After waiting for a few seconds, my vision cleared again and there was only blackness right in front of me, too. This was strange.

Why couldn't I see any hills? Had I dreamed about everything? Even if I had, why was I trapped in complete darkness?

I put the palm of my hands on the ground I sat on—grass. So I hadn't imagined it all? Looking down, though I barely saw anything, damp grass poked out between my fingers and my frown deepened. Had someone locked me up? Was I in some kind of prison? My heart started to beat faster and faster.

What if someone had hurt the others? Reece, Emmet, Kendra? No.

No, with four dragons around, nobody would dare and attack us. Would they?

Calm yourself, leiirin, a voice suddenly said in my mind and a rush of warmth went through my entire body.

Suddenly, like curtains being drawn in a dark room, it disappeared and light blinded me.

As soon as my eyes adjusted to the sudden beam of light, I saw the sun on the horizon and a few clouds scattered across the sky. I turned around and when I met golden irises staring straight at me, my heart skipped a beat.

It was still raining when I woke up. Thought you might appreciate drying sooner rather than later.

Speechless, I nodded, not finding the right words to say. I couldn't believe that despite the fact he was probably in a lot of pain, he had thought of my well-being. It warmed my heart just thinking about it.

"What does leiirin mean?" I asked, trying to avoid getting into a more promised-related conversation. I wasn't ready to hear anything of the sort quite yet.

Reagan's large but sleek head moved from hovering just a few meters in front of me to face the sky. He folded both his wings securely against his body, a movement that created a waft of air that nearly knocked me down. He craned his neck so the sun shone directly onto his face, making his black scales shine like a smooth surface of obsidian. The towering beast, only an arms-length away, was purely magnificent.

How could one ever even think about killing such a beautiful creature?

It means beautiful flame, he said in my mind, using our link instead of speaking out loud. There was something intimate about it—hearing his voice wasn't the only thing that entered my mind when he spoke to me. There was always a small part of his soul that seemed to touch mine. It automatically made me want to complete the third stage. To kiss him.

"Where are the others?" I asked when I surveyed the countryside. Just like I had remembered, there were only hills scattered across the land, barely any trees around. Only countless hectares of green grass.

"Tending to Ryker, just behind one of those hills," Reagan answered, his head still facing the sun. I suddenly felt cold without his voice in my head but tried to ignore it.

"How is he doing? Why aren't you down there, too?"

"You were exhausted. I did not want to wake you."

It was growing increasingly difficult trying to shut off the emotions that kept blazing through me with every word Reagan uttered. The fact that he was being thoughtful and kind only made it harder. I didn't want to feel this way. Vulnerable. Touched.

I turned away from him, trying to flush out the fuzziness of his words. They were only a distraction. I couldn't let myself indulge in this silliness. He was a dragon, for the love of all the gods! Being promised to a human had already been nearly impossible to accept. To be promised to a creature that, until a few weeks ago, had never even existed? What if the bond was wrong? Maybe some higher being had made a mistake.

I couldn't possibly fit with this man. He was a leader, all I ever did my entire life was follow. Surely that was a match that couldn't be correct! I didn't deserve someone like him. He had no idea how torn my soul was. How shredded. It would never fit to his.

As if he'd felt my turmoil, he nudged me and almost made me fall forward. I turned around, a dorky smile plastered on my face. "What was that for?"

"To get a smile on that beautiful face of yours", Reagan said, his eyes staring intensely into mine.

Oh god. What is he doing to me?

Feeling heat rise to my cheeks, I quickly turned to face the landscape again. Why did he have to make it so hard for me?

Then, suddenly, there was a buzzing sound that started behind me. It was low, barely audible, but I knew it was there. Everything around me got warmer, as if the temperature was rising magically. Then bones began to crack and snap like massive branches from a tree.

Carefully, I started to turn around again but couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. When I finally did, Reagan was already standing there in his human skin. I was shocked to see that he wasn't naked as I'd expected—around his body was a black armor of some kind. Frowning, I rose to my feet.

"Our scales don't just disappear, they change their form and consistency as well. It's my armor in both my natural form and my human one. Mostly we just cloak it," he explained.

I nodded, still perplexed.

"We should get down to Ryker, find out what happened," I suggested.

Reagan shook his head. "We already know what happened."

Gasping, I stared at him. "What? You do?"

"Yes."

"Well, what happened then? Was it an accident?"

Reagan's facial expression darkened. "No, it was definitely not an accident."

My blood ran cold. I hope it wasn't who I suspected...

Reagan walked towards me and stopped just a few centimeters away from me. He was so close I could feel the warmth radiating from his body and all my thoughts were gone from my mind. The urge to wrap my arms around him overcame me—I wanted to feel him. To touch him again. I wanted to drive my hand through his dark hair, stare into his eyes and figure out what they had seen.

But as much as I wanted all of that, there was a bigger, darker part of me that told me that I didn't deserve it. That I wasn't worthy of having anyone else love me. My gift was a curse, after all. Anyone that came close had to keep themselves emotionally distanced. Only my brothers and Kendra had ever dared to. Only they had ever wanted to come close. Mother always said that my promised would never survive being with me. Would never accept me. That they would leave, just like her promised had left her.

I stood there, completely frozen, and watched as his hand came closer and closer. I wanted to turn away. To walk away. But my feet wouldn't move. My body wouldn't budge. When his hand finally touched my cheek, sparks ignited in my body like a bonfire had been lit. Little shots of electricity jolted through my blood and I almost gasped at contact.

His fingers caressed my cheek as light as feathers. I wanted to do the same. I wanted to touch him, too. But my body didn't listen.

"You will accept me sooner or later, leiirin."

I wished I could have averted my eyes. The determination in his made me weak. I wanted so badly to look away. But I couldn't. I stared into his golden eyes, wondering. Wondering if feeling like this was normal. Was it normal to feel like my whole life had been nothing but waiting? Waiting for this exact moment to happen? Was it normal to feel like he was the only thing I would ever want?

No.

No, I needed my family. I needed Kendra. I had only just met this man.

I grabbed his hand and removed it from touching my cheek. Although the touch sent more shivers down my spine, I let go of it as if the fire had burned me, rather than heating me up.

"I told you to give me time. We have other matters that are more important now," I hissed through clenched teeth.

I would have expected him to at least show a little bit of shock at the sudden change in my behavior, but not a single muscle in his face so much as twitched.

He tilted his head slightly and grinned slyly. I was confused. Wasn't I clear?

"Yes, you are right. Like flaming those three traitors, for example." The venom in his voice caught me completely off guard.

He'd come so close, I had completely obliterated any thoughts on what we'd been talking about before. My body froze. "What did they do?" I asked, my voice shaking. Fear crept into my system.

I wasn't ready to let Holden die. Even if my suspicions were finally confirmed. There was some small part of me that wished I'd been wrong. That I'd just imagined all of it.

"They used Keeth Dust."