24. Tahlia

“Gods save us from the smell,” Fara said, adding on some elaborate noises. “I might perish from the stink before he has a chance to bespell me with any sort of disease.”

“You hover here,” Marius ordered, his whip already out and ready. “I’ll circle him to get his attention.”

“Explain to me why isn’t Marius considered the monster’s champion,” Fara said.

Trevain nodded “Because though he dug up the bones, he didn’t perform the ritual of blood sacrifice. Sounds like your Ophelia did that.”

“She is not our Ophelia,” Tahlia said. “We loathe that dog’s arse.”

Fara snorted. “You’re demeaning dogs with that statement.”

“True,” Tahlia agreed. “She is worse than that. A damn nightmare with a pretty face.”

Ragewing was a scarlet blur ringing Katk’s massive skull. The snap of Marius’s whip echoed off the rocky outcroppings along the hills. A roar blasted through the air and Fara covered her ears.

Careful now,Lija ordered as she tilted to one side, keeping Fara in the saddle.

Tahlia grasped Fara, bracing her friend between her arms as she held the low-profile pommel. The reins pressed into the skin between her fingers. Fara talked a big game, but she was trembling.

Katk reached toward Marius, but Ragewing shot into the higher clouds, disappearing from view.

Tahlia tapped Lija’s neck and the Seabreak flew closer to Katk and flapped her four wings to hover. She blew one short blast of bright flame, the heat brushing over Tahlia’s forehead as the wind rose.

The monster turned to face them, his eyes black holes of nothingness and his hands encircled in shadow and golden magic.

Fara shuddered. “Can we please fly away now very quickly?” she said, stuttering.

“Lija, fly!”

The dragon took off just as Ragewing exploded from the high clouds to fly beside them. They dashed toward the ruins, where the scent of Fara and the rest of them might keep Katk busy searching for victims. The trick would be to get him hooked on the blood under the ruins’ broken great hall while they flew off.

They soared over the ruins and Katk stopped, sniffing the air.

He is taking the bait.

“I hope so.”

The monster lifted its head and grabbed for Lija. Fara screamed and Tahlia held tightly to her as the Seabreak dodged Katk’s dark green fingers. Tahlia grew dizzy with the horrible smell and the fear of his touch.

“If he even grazes your flesh…” Trevain flitted away to float beyond the old castle’s outer wall.

Ragewing dove toward Katk and blew fire.

“Here, monster!” Marius snapped his whip over the creature’s bulbous ear.

Katk swung around, smashing through what remained of the great hall’s floor. His bare—and fully disgusting—foot was covered in blood from one of the varjuline’s ritual bowls. He grabbed the bowl, and the blood spilling from the container disappeared. The blood on his foot and ground did too.

Fara whimpered. “What kind of bizarre and horrifying thing is happening here? We are definitely going to die.”

Tahlia shut her eyes and thanked the Old Ones that Fara was back to her old self. “I’m guessing that’s one way in which he eats.”

“Ew.”

Lija shot into the sky, catching up with Ragewing, and they flew away from Katk.

They landed,deciding that everyone needed some rest if they were to keep on battling Katk. Fara had fallen asleep the moment her head hit her bedroll. Trevain had claimed to have ghost business elsewhere and he’d disappeared, leaving the dragons, Marius, and Tahlia on their own.

The fire’s golden light danced across Marius’s proud nose and strong cheekbones. Tahlia had never known she’d be envious of light.

“What are you thinking about?” Marius asked, his voice quiet enough not to carry to where the dragons gathered beside a sleeping Fara at the second fire.

Tahlia didn’t want to say what she had been thinking. It would only be torture, and as much as she enjoyed giving him trouble, this time, teasing didn’t feel right. Taking a swig from the flask of lavender mountain liquor Fara had brought, she drummed up a new question. Gods, the liquor was awful.

“What’s your ideal day?” she asked finally.

He looked up, an almost comical frown on his face. “I’m sorry?”

Shrugging, she plucked a piece of long grass and twisted it around her finger. “You heard me. I was just curious.”

“Always so curious.”

His features softened, and she looked away, his tenderness burning her heart and soul. Their situation was such a wreck.

“Tea before dawn,” he said. “A book in my hands and a day of flying ahead of me.”

It was mad how hard she was falling for this male. “Tea and a book? I didn’t expect that.”

His eyebrows lifted. “How about you?”

“Guess.”

His gaze snagged on her face, the look in his eyes bracing. “You only want to be in the sky. As much as you are able. You live to fly.”

Her heart danced at how well he already knew her. “Exactly.”

“But you don’t mind landing long enough to have some cake.”

A laugh bubbled from her. “True.”

“Ask me anything, Tahlia.”

Her breath caught. The way he said her name… “I don’t have a list like some people.” She gave him a pressing look. “So I’ll have to think on it.”

“What were you really thinking when I first asked you?” he asked. “Because that was a lie.”

She swallowed. “Touching you.”

Glancing away, he poked at the fire with a long stick. His throat moved in a swallow, his skin brushing the collar of his vest. Tahlia wanted to tuck her head into that space and press her lips to the beat of his pulse.

“Marius, look at me.”

“It’s too difficult.”

Tahlia blinked, watching him stir the fire as if his life depended on its heat.

“If I study the soft edge of your cheek,” he said, his deep voice a low whisper, “the lift of your upper lip, the curve of your breast, your pert nose, I’ll come undone… I… Tahlia, this situation will kill me if it doesn’t kill you.”

She could hardly talk around the tightness in her throat. “We will break your curse.”

“I wish I was as sure as you.”

“We will find this Mother Twilight goddess that Trevain mentioned. She’ll help us.”

“She is only a story told to us by a ghost,” he said. “How do we even know if she still exists?”

“We have to hope.”

“Telling myself to feel things doesn’t make it happen.”

“Doesn’t it?” she asked. “Try telling yourself over and over and over. Hold to that like you hold my heart.”

He finally looked up and met her gaze. The desperation in his stormy eyes sent a bolt of lightning down her body, hitting her heart and restarting it, then shooting heat to her core. She swallowed.

His focus snagged on her mouth. “Stop biting your lip. I can’t handle it.”

Surprise brought a quiet laugh out of her. “Really? Doing this—” she said, biting it again, “—does it for you?”

“Thoroughly.”

She couldn’t help but snicker.

“You find my pain humorous, do you?” A teasing tone lightened his words.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t.”

“You can’t help yourself. Vexing me is your new favorite pastime.”

“Guilty as charged.”

His scowl broke into a grin like the sun rising after a long, cold night. The urge to leap over the fire and dive into his arms was so powerful that it actually hurt.

She grabbed the flask of lavender mountain horror and handed it to him. “Once we break this curse,” she said as he took a swig, “I’ll show you exactly how much fun vexing can be.” She ran her hand down her chest very, very slowly.

The splash of the drink on the ground had Marius jolting out of a stupor. He straightened the flask and swore. “It’s your fault I gave half of that to the earth,” he said to her, his eyes smoking.

An idea popped into her head. “Why don’t you follow me to that little copse of trees?”

Frowning, he did as requested.

This was going to be interesting.

They left Ragewing and Lija to their sleep, then Marius and Tahlia walked to the small cluster of maples, oaks, and pines.

The slender shadows of the wood welcomed them, the wind scented with something that was fairly pleasant. Moonflower maybe? Clover? Definitely pine.

Tahlia’s stomach fluttered at what she was about to suggest. What would he say?