As if on cue, Deryn let out a hiss, a thin line of blood welling up on her left bicep. Ffion grinned, twirling her blades. “Too slow, princess.”
Deryn bared her teeth and whirled into motion. Ffion matched her speed without any apparent effort, and they became a blur moving back and forth across the cavern. Then Ffion let out a surprised “Ouch!” They stopped. Blood welled from a shallow slice across her collarbone. She touched it and smiled at Deryn. “Very good.”
Deryn made a simpering face and curtsied. Ffion laughed, and they lunged at each other again.
“They cut each other on purpose?” Kai’s voice was incredulous.
Rhys glanced at her, but she wasn’t looking at him. “We heal quickly.”
“Yeah, I noticed that Deryn’s leg isn’t broken anymore.” Kai turned thoughtful eyes on him. “Why aren’t you better?”
Rhys’s mouth twisted and his voice came out dry. “Azhdahā venom is potent.”
Across from Ffion and Deryn, Cadoc and Griffith had squared off and were fighting hand-to-hand. Cadoc was fast, but Griffith was twice his bulk and heartsworn. Cadoc didn’t stand a chance.
“Az-da-what?” Kai asked.
Rhys resisted the urge to reach beneath the collar of his shirt and fiddle with the bandage. “Azhdahā.” He jerked his chin at Ashem, who circled the others with a critical eye. “Persian dragons.”
Kai perked up. She scooted a little closer. “Persian dragons? There are different kinds of dragons?”
He raised an eyebrow. “There were dragons from at least seven clans flying over that meadow the night you found us.”
Kai scooted closer again. She was almost within normal speaking distance. “I noticed that there were different kinds of dragons. I’m not an idiot. But where are they from? Why do some of them have wings and some don’t? And there are others with feathers—”
Rhys set down his empty bowl. Humans—or this human, at least—were curious, fast-talking creatures, but at least she wasn’t staring into space with that lost look on her face anymore. “One question at a time, George.”
Kai scooted even closer, now only about two feet away. “How do dragons without wings fly?”
A breeze blew in through the cave mouth, and Rhys caught the distant smell of snow mingled with a sweet, spicy scent that could only be Kai. “I—” He swallowed. Don’t get distracted. She’s only a human. “I don’t know how serpent-dragons fly. Each clan has secrets.”
“Serpent dragons are a clan?”
Rhys sighed, unsure how much he should say. “There are three serpent-dragon clans, two clans with feathered wings, and the rest of us are—”
“Bat-winged?” Kai supplied.
He raised an eyebrow. “Reptiles are older than bats. Perhaps bats are dragon-winged.”
Kai grinned. “Which clan are you?”
Ancients, she had a pretty smile. He chose the least complicated answer. “Clan Draig.”
“Clan Draig,” she repeated. “Does everyone in Clan Draig breathe fire?”
He shook his head. “Fire is my element.” He indicated Ffion and Deryn. Their arms were bare, their indicia gleaming from the backs of their wrists to their shoulders. Azure for Deryn, mirror-like silver for Ffion. “Ffion’s element is air. Deryn’s is water.” He indicated Griffith, whose indicium was green edged with bronze. “Griffith is half Bida, but his mother is an Elemental. He has an affinity for earth.”
Kai squinted at Griffith, who had Cadoc trapped beneath one arm. “Elemental and Bida?”
“Elemental is a common name for the members of Clan Draig, because of the nature of our magic. Though Ffion, Deryn, Griffith, and I have different Elements, we’re members of the same clan. Our magic works on the same principles. The Bida are a clan from the Sahara. Their magic is completely different.”
Kai considered this. “Griffith is Elemental and Bida. How does that work? Is his magic a combination of both?”
Rhys watched Cadoc twist out of Griffith’s grasp. “Yes. Though Griff takes more after his mother, magic-wise. He has a sister back home who’s better at Bida magic.”
Kai made a face. “You’re probably going to have to repeat all that for me at some point. No wonder Cadoc didn’t want to talk about this the other night.”
Distracted by the sound of his name, Cadoc turned. Griffith seized the opportunity and kicked Cadoc’s knee out from under him. He landed hard on his back, gasping. Griffith laughed and pulled him to his feet. “You’ve got to stop being such an idiot when girls are around, boyo.”
Cadoc grinned. “There’s nothing wrong with a little harmless flirtation.” He pulled off his sweaty shirt and tossed it aside, winking at Kai. Kai shook her head, but Rhys saw the way her eyes followed him as he and Griffith squared off again.
Rhys smothered a spark of irritation. Of course she was watching Cadoc. Women always watched Cadoc. Rhys usually found that convenient, but sometimes it got under his skin.
“Why do their scales only cover their arms?” Kai asked.
Rhys hadn’t been listening. “Sorry?”
Kai turned her frown on him and gestured at his shirt. “Yours take up the entire right side of your body. Theirs don’t.”
He cleared his throat. “I—uh—it happens like that. Sometimes.”
“Hm.” Kai raised an eyebrow. “Does it take up the entire right half of your body?”
He nearly choked. “No.” He indicated the area from his shoulder to his lower abdomen.
“Hm,” Kai repeated, her eyes narrowed as if she could see through his shirt.
Cadoc struck inside Griffith’s guard. One, two thuds of fists against skin before Griffith could block. Cadoc tried to bring his knee up into Griffith’s stomach, but the large man recovered and blocked him with a hand, shoving Cadoc’s leg hard to one side and using his other hand to push Cadoc off balance. Cadoc staggered, and Griffith wrapped him in a bear hug, grappling him to the ground.
Rhys shifted restlessly, glad Kai had looked away. He didn’t mind missing drills, but sparring was another matter. He should be up there, moving. Not sitting and doing nothing. He was going to go insane if he stayed like this much longer.
“Switch!” Ashem barked.
Cadoc groaned and lay flat on the floor. Ashem made an exasperated sound. “You broke him, Griffith.”
“Sorry, awenydd.” Griffith held out a hand and hauled Cadoc to his feet. “It wouldn’t be so easy if you weren’t so skinny.”
“Sure, mate. It has nothing to do with the fact that you’re sworn and I’m not.” Cadoc bled from a cut above his eye, had a bruise on his right cheek, and was grinning like an idiot. He slapped Griffith on the back.
Griffith laughed. “As if the Ancients would ever curse any poor woman to become your heartsworn.”
“Stars save my entire sex from that fate,” Deryn said loudly as she settled next to Rhys. She and Ffion had also finished their match.
Cadoc staggered over and sat on the other side of Kai. She picked up a towel from a stack Ashem had brought out of the lavatory and pressed it to the cut on his face. Rhys smothered another spark of irritation.
“You’re an angel, brânwen.” Cadoc tugged a strand of Kai’s dark hair. Rhys gave him a flat look. Cadoc saw and grinned.
“She’s a sucker,” Deryn muttered as Kai sat down again.
Cadoc leaned back against the stone, holding the towel in place. “Don’t be jealous, love. I’ll always treasure our time behind that squatty old barn in Gwynedd.”
Rhys burst into surprised laughter. Across the room, so did Ffion and Griffith. Even Ashem cracked a smile. Deryn shrieked in outrage.
Cadoc leaned over to Kai and said in a whisper loud enough to be a shout, “She quite literally leaped off the roof onto my head. Wouldn’t let me up until I kissed her.”
“I was barely old enough to fly!” Deryn’s cheeks had gone pink—Rhys wasn’t sure if it was outrage or embarrassment. “I should’ve stabbed you instead and saved myself from a lifetime of annoyance!”
Cadoc leaned back against the stone, his expression blissful. “Sweet Aderyn. I reckon you still taste like strawberries and dirt.”
“She was a determined little thing,” Ashem observed drily.
Rhys gave a bark of laughter.
Deryn leveled one of her daggers at Cadoc. “I will murder you.”
“Don’t.” Rhys said, his voice dry. “I’m not up to protecting him at the moment.”
“Rhys defends my virtue, which was forced from my virgin lips as a lad,” Cadoc whispered loudly to Kai.
Rhys had to put his good arm out to keep Deryn in place. She shoved at him, but stayed where she was. “Nothing about you is virgin or virtuous, you fire-belching git!”
“Enough!” Ashem shouted. When they quieted, he turned to Ffion and Griffith, still in the middle of the floor. “Begin.”
Rhys settled back, exhaustion crashing over him suddenly. If Cadoc wanted to continue baiting Deryn, he’d have to do it at his own risk.
“Poor man doesn’t stand a chance,” Cadoc muttered, studying Griffith.
“I don’t know how heartsworn pairs do it, fight when they’re in each other’s heads like that,” Deryn muttered. “It’s like they’d have to have a whole fight inside their minds before they start.”
“They’d have to do what?” Kai glanced from Cadoc to Rhys in confusion.
Rhys opened his mouth to explain, but Ffion darted inside Griffith’s guard and drove the heel of her palm at his jaw. Griffith jerked his head up at the last second, stepping back. Ffion drove forward again, coming at him from the side. This time Griffith turned his dodge into a low spin kick in an attempt to knock Ffion’s legs out from under her. Instead of falling, she jumped over his sweeping leg. The whole thing took less than a second.
“Holy crap,” Kai squeaked.
Rhys glanced at her. She leaned forward, eyes wide. Tendrils of soft hair fell across her face. He had the sudden, ridiculous urge to reach out and brush them behind her ear. He tightened his hands into fists, grateful when she moved the wavy black strands herself.
Cadoc chuckled. “I told you it would be a show.”
Skin smacked against skin, and Rhys turned back to the fight. Ffion had gotten behind Griffith and was landing a series of sharp blows to his back.
“Holy crap,” Kai repeated.
“Though she be but little, she is fierce,” Rhys murmured.
Cadoc nodded. “And Griff would never hit her.”
“Then how is this fair?” Kai asked. “She’s hitting him.”
Deryn shrugged. “She’s not hurting him. It’s a game. See if she can touch him a certain number of times before he pins her.”
Ffion and Griffith sped until every movement was a blur. Each of Ffion’s punches seemed to find an answering block in Griffith even as all his attempts to catch her met with her slipping out of his reach.
After thirty minutes, Ffion suddenly sprang forward, hooking her legs around Griffith’s waist and planting a fat kiss on his lips. “I win.”
Griffith wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deep and hard.
Ancients, what would it be like to love a person the way those two love each other?
“All right, enough.” Ashem shook his head in disgust. “Cadoc and Deryn, get up here. Griffith, with me. Ffion...”
Ffion, cheeks flushed, slid from Griffith’s arms with a giddy giggle. Griffith shot Ashem a warning look and opened his mouth, but Ffion stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“I’ve marked some records for study in the library.” Ffion smoothed her hair. “If that’s all right with you, Commander.”
Ashem nodded, giving the pair of them a narrow-eyed glare. Rhys studied them, as well. They were always happy, but something else was going on.
“There’s a library?” Kai watched Ffion don the small pile of jewelry she’d removed to spar.
Rhys caught himself tracing the outline of Kai’s profile and looked away. “Down the tunnel in the kitchen.”
“Oh.” Kai fell silent and stayed that way for a long while, staring into space.
Rhys cleared his throat. “So...what were you doing in the mountains?”
Kai shrugged, looking at nothing. “Just hiking with my roommates.”
More silence.
“What do you do when you aren’t hiking?”
Kai glanced over, as if surprised to find him speaking to her. “I’m a college student. I go to school. I work at a climbing gym. I climb.”
“Climb...?”
Her mouth twisted with wry amusement. “Rocks.”
Climbing rocks did not sound like something people should do for fun. “Have you always been a climber?”
Her smile faded, and Kai shook her head. “I used to be a gymnast. It took my mom about five years longer than me to figure out I was never going to the Olympics.”
He lifted an eyebrow. He was aware that modern humans had revived the Olympics, in a vague sort of way. “And?”
Her eyes snapped. “And I was a competitive gymnast until I was eighteen. Every second of every day. Practicing. Starving myself. Memorizing routines. I barely had time for homework, let alone friends. Not that it mattered. My dad wouldn’t let me drive until I was eighteen. Eighteen! He thought I was going to get carjacked or get into a wreck and die.”
Rhys flinched at the outburst. Kai groaned and put her hands to her face. “They’re never going to let me leave the house after this. Not ever. They’ll probably make me move home. Dammit!” She pulled her hands from her face and looked pleadingly at Rhys. “There isn’t any way you could make Ashem let me go, is there? Let me guess. You’re just a soldier.” She made air quotes around the last part of the sentence.
Rhys glanced over at Ashem. “I—”.
“It doesn’t even matter,” Kai cut him off. “My life is already over. Oh, hell. They’re probably already going to get me one of those tracker ankle bracelet things. If I get home soon, I could probably still convince them it was just a misunderstanding. If Juli helps, maybe...”
Time to steer the conversation in a different direction. “Juli?”
“My friend.” Kai laughed quietly. “More than that. My family. We did a project in fifth grade about ancestry. Turns out that we’re something like first cousins eight times removed.”
“I see.” Rhys hesitated, counting myriad small scars on the backs of his hands. He’d gathered them over a long, long life of training and war. Kai’s hands were similarly scarred, though more likely that came from climbing rocks. He couldn’t escape thoughts of his own parents. How they’d hated each other. How they’d died. “Kai, it sounds like your parents want you safe. Perhaps they’re trying to make you happy by sharing the things that made them happy when they were young.”
Kai snorted. “Yeah, well, there’s safe and there’s paranoid. There’s sharing, and there’s forcing your child to live your own unfulfilled dreams.” She shook her head. “I was free, finally, until you guys brought me here. I’m really glad I could help you and Deryn, but this is going to cost me everything.”
Rhys didn’t respond. When it came to costs, Kai had no idea what she was talking about.
Chapter Seven
Harmless Flirtation
Kai jumped when Cadoc slid her plate away from her after dinner, taking it and the last few dishes from the table to put them on the counter next to Griffith, who was washing them. When the plates were delivered, Cadoc plopped down next to her again.
“Thanks.”
The food had been more bland meat and rice. Salad had never been her favorite, but she was starting to crave green things. “Brendan and Colm could learn from you.”
“Brendan and Colm?”
Kai’s mood dipped further. “My brothers.”
He smiled ruefully. “I am sorry, brânwen. I wish I could take you home.”
“You could.”
Cadoc shook his head.
Kai tamped down frustration. It was like she’d been climbing a crag, not realizing the rock was chossy until it crumbled beneath her hands. It wouldn’t be pretty when she hit the ground. Not just because her parents would put her under house arrest until she was eighty, but because they’d be worried about her. So would her brothers. She didn’t have the best relationship with her family, but that didn’t mean she wanted them to think she was dead.
Kai jerked her head toward the curtain in the corner of the kitchen. “I was thinking, I’ve been here two days now, and I still haven’t seen most of this place. Care to give me a tour?”
Cadoc grinned and winked. “I’ll give you a tour of anything you want.”
“Ha ha.” The words came out too flat.
Cadoc laughed and pushed back his chair. “Come on.”
Kai followed him to the corner, where he pulled back the heavy cream and brown curtain. They entered the darkened tunnel. With a wink, Cadoc snapped his fingers. A ball of golden fire blossomed above his hand. He held out his other arm to her, smiling slyly. “Wouldn’t want you to trip.”
Kai laughed and took his arm. He was fun and comfortable. And pretty, with his messy black hair, chiseled cheekbones and amethyst eyes. In her opinion, men as pretty as Cadoc made better friends than romantic leads.
The tunnel tilted downward, heading deep into the mountain, but it widened enough not to make Kai feel claustrophobic. They passed an off-shoot, then descended farther until the tunnel opened into a vast, dark space.
Here, Cadoc’s golden light only illuminated the ground around them. The air was abnormally still; it smelled like dust and age.
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