Summer of Frost (Forever Fae #3)(31)

Sorcha paused and stared at him for a tense moment. She released a shaky breath and continued, “I know you still love me, but the snide remarks need to stop. If you have a problem with me and Drake being together you’re going to have to get over it. No one is making you stay with us. I’m sure you can find the way back to the Winter Court.”

“I’m not leaving you,” he answered firmly. “I don’t think I can.”

My anger grew with every word he said, and no matter what Sorcha believed, Alston was definitely going to be a problem. Sorcha tilted her head back to me and said, “Pull the reins. We need to stop.” I did as she said and we came to a halt.

When Alston’s horse stopped, she glared at him and began, “Alston, I will be leaving soon. I’m not going back to the Winter Court. It’s not my home anymore.”

“Well, then I’ll follow you to Summer,” he promised.

When I opened my mouth to protest, Sorcha jabbed me in the leg and whispered, “Let me handle this.” Biting my tongue, I kept my mouth shut even though I was shaking furiously.

“You can’t follow me, Alston. You don’t belong in Summer.”

“What about Sarette?” he asked. “She won’t leave the Winter Court without me.”

Sorcha shrugged her shoulders regretfully. “Then I guess she’ll have to stay in Winter.”

Alston fumed, his eyes going wide in disbelief. “Are you serious? You would actually refuse your best friend because of me?”

Her reply was soft and tinged with regret. “I’m sorry, Alston, but I have no other choice. You’ve given me no other choice.”

His mouth flew open and he sat there frozen atop the horse. When he made no attempt to move, I spurred our horse on to continue the way. We weren’t far from Endelyn because I could see the mountains looming ahead. The tallest peak soared high into the sky above, hidden by the gray clouds. Sorcha shivered as her gaze shot up the expanse of the mountain.

“Wow,” she breathed in awe. “I’m so glad we don’t have to climb that.”

“Me too.” I laughed. “Are you ready to go up there?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“Okay, first thing I need to do is get out of my clothes and transform. I’ll stay in dragon form while we’re up there so as soon as you get the box open and grab the scroll we can fly down. After that, I’ll change back and we can make our way home.”

Sorcha nodded. “All right, let’s get this done.”

She bounced on her feet like she’d always do before we trained in our dreams. I’d come to realize that was her way to get the adrenaline going. I also thought it might be her trying to hide her nervousness, which she surely hated admitting to.

“Hey,” I murmured softly, taking her face in my hands. “You’re not alone. I’m going to be there with you, just as a dragon.”

Releasing a shaky breath, she sighed. “I know. I think I’m just a bit nervous, and you know how I hate to admit that.”

Looking her in the eyes, I kissed her lips long and hard until she relaxed against me. “I love you, Sorcha. You’re going to do fine up there.”

She smiled and brought her lips to mine again. “Thank you, and I love you, too,” she whispered across my lips.

Releasing her from my grasp, I began to strip out of my clothes and initiate the change. “When you’re ready and secure, just call out to me and we’ll fly.”

“I will.”

Once the transformation was complete, Sorcha climbed up on my back and settled into position. Her legs were clenched tight, holding her in place, while her hands wrapped firmly into my hair. She felt so light, almost breakable and fragile against my muscular dragon frame, but she was mine to protect, and I would do so with my life.

“I’m ready, Drake!” she called out.

As soon as I heard those words I was off into the sky. My wings flapped hard, lifting us off the ground and smoothly into the air. The wind grew colder and the air grew thinner the further up we went, and it wasn’t long before we reached the top, concealed by the clouds. We made it to the top, now it was time for the search.





When we reached the top of the mountain, Drake lowered himself to the ground so I could slide down his scaly skin with ease.

“Thank you,” I murmured, trailing my gaze over the lonely mountain top.

Even though Drake was there with me as a dragon, I still felt oddly alone knowing he couldn’t speak to me. Looking around, there was nothing nice about my surroundings. I could feel the dark magic plaguing the life of the land, making it gloomy and dank. I shivered in response when I felt the darkness float over my skin. There was no life, not even a shred of it as I walked around the huge boulders. It was almost like everything turned to stone … empty.

“Okay, I need to find the pile of rocks Brokk mentioned. He said I’d be able to feel the dark magic and pinpoint the scroll, but I can feel it everywhere. It’s hard to pinpoint it when it’s surrounding you. I guess I could always try my earth magic.”

Drake nodded his large dragon head in agreement. With my natural ability being with the earth, I decided to give it a try, to see if it would lead me to the scroll. Kneeling on the ground, I placed my hands on the cold, stone pebbles. I concentrated as hard as I could on finding the life inside the mountain. It was there, just deep and buried. I could feel its essence drawing up through the ground until it pooled at my hands and feet. My hands tingled as the power flowed through my body.