Savage Beauty(28)

I pushed the thoughts away. It didn’t matter if he was an explosion waiting to happen, or the kindest man alive. I would protect him until I ended Luna, and then I would send him safely home to Grithim.

Not long after we took to the sky, I felt Ember tense. I pulled on the thread between us and flew toward her as fast as I could. As much as Phillip enjoyed flying above the trees, flying between them made him nervous. I couldn’t help but smile as curses flew from his beautiful lips.

Zooming fast and dodging tree trunks, I found my familiar. She’d cornered a wolf and held it at the bottom of a cliff. Its powerful teeth snapped at her, but Ember held her ground. His claws sliced through the air, coming frighteningly close to tearing into her.

“Ember,” I muttered. “Careful.”

I landed far enough away that the prince would be safe.

The wolf let out a low, rumbling growl as I stalked forward. I would hate this task even more than I hated the last. Capturing an innocent spirit was one thing, but taking the eye of a living creature – who needed his vision to survive – was another.

The wolf’s attention was split between me and Ember as we walked toward him and he backed away from us, becoming pinned against a small cliff. With the rock at his back, he knew there was no other way out than to fight, and his instincts kicked in.

His hackles raised and he snarled, baring his canines and biting the air at both of us, first Ember and then me. He charged forward, but before he could reach Ember, Phillip was there, brandishing my broom like a sword, cracking the hard wood down on the wolf’s massive paw.

I couldn’t have been more surprised.

Regaining my wits, I stared at the dangerous and agitated animal in front of us and told Phillip, “Take Ember away before he tears her apart.”

I heard it when he gripped the broom handle tighter. “What about you?”

“I’ll be fine. Check her for injuries, please.” I kept the wolf in my sight at all times. He was restless, prancing left and then right, looking for a way out of the corner we’d backed him into. Before he made the decision to strike out again—which was exactly what he was going to do until there was no strength left in him—I extended my hands to calm him.

Phillip’s footsteps eased behind me. He stayed close enough to help me if I needed it, but he held Ember protectively in his hands. I could feel her contentment and thankfulness for what he’d done to protect her. Those emotions resonated through me, as well.

The wolf let out a whine as he watched me slowly approach, hands up in surrender. “Hello, friend,” I said calmly. “I need something from you. I wouldn’t do this if there was any other way.”

The wolf snarled and backed away, baring his teeth and snapping at me as I withdrew my knife. “I won’t kill you,” I said, staring at him. “I just need your keenness of sight.”

I knelt down before him. “I need it, or else I would never ask. Now, look at me.”

As he stared in my eyes, I knew I had him.

“Watch me now, do not fear.

Your end time is not near.

Share with me your gift of sight.

I will leave you and take flight.”

The wolf whimpered, knowing what I asked, but in the end, he allowed me to approach. I stroked his head and apologized again, placing a kiss on the coarse fur between his eyes. I took all of his pain as I eased the knife around behind his lid.

It only took a moment.

I stroked his fur and whispered a spell that would speed his healing while Ember made her way back home. When the wolf laid down to rest, I tucked his eye into my bag and called for my broom.

Phillip’s eyes were scathing when I strode back to him. When he held my broom out to me, I took it and climbed onto the broomstick, waiting to see if he would climb on behind me without being forced. I wasn’t leaving him in these woods at night, and not because of the wolf, which would be healed within a few hours. Phillip took a deep breath, giving the wolf one last look. He was sleeping comfortably, his chest rising and falling. Tomorrow, he would wake with no pain, but his vision would forever be impaired. One day, having only one eye might damn him. And it would be my fault.

As soon as the broomstick dipped when he sat behind me, I took us into the air. When we were above the trees once more, he placed his mouth at my ear, his warm breath sending a shiver down my spine. “I’m sorry.”

I swallowed thickly. “So am I.”

This time, he wrapped his arm around my waist and held my back to his chest. I let him comfort me. I felt sure that after our next task, it was I who would comfort him. We were about to enter a dragon’s lair, and especially with regard to their offspring, dragons were an angry breed.



The cave bore scorch marks, reminding me that dragons were my least favorite creature on earth. Quick to anger, slow to forgive, and very protective. Everything a beast like them should be, and nothing I wanted to contend with.

“You aren’t going in there,” Phillip said with a steely voice.

“I am, and I will return with a dragon’s egg,” I answered with a confidence I didn’t feel. “You’ll have to carry it and be careful not to drop it. They’re huge, and it won’t fit in my bag.”

“Oh, they are, huh? We’re worried about the size of the egg, but not the retrieval of the thing?” he asked sarcastically. “I see. Very well. Go get your dragon’s egg. I’ll wait here to carry it home for you.”