“But they’re not together,” she mused, her fingertip sliding around the stone set in the ring. “I wonder why.” She was obviously thinking for a long moment and Hadrian was content to watch her and savor the firestorm. Then she glanced up. “What book?”
“The book Sara sent.” He retrieved it and handed it to her. “We were reading it. We got up to here.”
“It’s hardly the time to lose myself in a book,” she said, chiding him.
“I think you’ll find it interesting. Go on. Read it.”
Her skepticism was clear, but she did as he suggested and sat down at the counter. He watched her, recognizing the moment that she realized she was reading her own family history. Her attention became sharper as she turned the pages and he moved to stand beside her. He inhaled at the sizzle of the firestorm, knowing he was going to miss it.
Rania stopped at the page they had read last, and glanced up at him. “This is about me.”
Hadrian nodded.
“She set a trap for me all along.”
He nodded again. “And you were just a kid. Totally out of line.”
“You were right,” Rania acknowledged, closing the book. “You warned me about Maeve and you were right, but I didn’t believe you. She tricked me in the end, claiming that she’d killed you so that didn’t count as the fulfillment of my obligation.” She took a deep breath. “She’s captured my brothers and intends to roast them for the court, one at a time, unless I choose and kill another Pyr.” She made a face. “I really don’t want to kill Alasdair.”
Hadrian smiled. “I know he volunteered, but you’re right. He shouldn’t die.”
“Because Maeve will twist the deal again and he’ll die for nothing,” Rania said. “Maybe Kade?” She met Hadrian’s gaze again.
He shook his head. “No Pyr deaths.”
“It wouldn’t be for the team,” she said. “I understand.” She frowned. “But then I’m trapped forever.”
“No.” Hadrian shook his head, remembering what had eluded him. “I thought she came to kill me to get even for the loss of her warriors, but that wasn’t it.”
“She came to destroy your gloves.”
“Not just that. She came because I melted the Fae blades.”
Rania watched him. “They froze first, then melted. Was that because they weren’t in Fae?”
“It was because my mother spun the ice into silver and my foster mother forged the silver into blades for the Fae.”
Rania’s eyes lit with sudden understanding. “And you’re the one who can undo it all, just with your presence. The ice dragon summons frost and cold...”
He grinned at her. “I’m thinking we should go to Fae. I could destroy their entire armory and maybe even more.” He was thinking of the gem of the hoard, but didn’t even want to say that out loud.
“How long would it take?”
“I don’t know. We’d need a distraction.”
She shook her head. “But you were trapped there before. It wouldn’t be safe. If she catches you again, you’ll never escape.”
The fact that Rania was concerned about his welfare reinforced Hadrian’s convictions that they belonged together. “That’s why we need a plan.” He nodded at her. “We’re destined mates, Rania, and that makes us a team. We’ll solve this together. You know the court and you can get us right to the armory. You know the pitfalls and how we can avoid them. We can break the curse over you and save your brothers, too.”
She frowned a little, the light of the firestorm caressing her features. “You don’t think this firestorm is going to give us away?”
“Not if we satisfy it.”
She jumped off the counter then and paced the room. He could almost hear her thinking—and her excitement. They were onto something! “I had the malice of the kiss of death and didn’t know what to do with it,” she admitted. “I didn’t want to give it to anyone, but this salamander appeared and told me to follow it. I thought maybe it was in old-speak.” She looked up at him and Hadrian smiled.
“That would have been Rafferty. He’s the only one of the Pyr who can become a salamander and manifest elsewhere. Was he opal and gold?”
Rania nodded.
“Where did he lead you?”
“I’m not sure. It might have been Fae.” She shrugged. “I exhaled it all there, as he suggested. There was a dandelion flower and he told me to blow the seeds.”
“So the malice joined with the wind. Maybe that dispersed it, the reverse of how you gathered it.”
“Maybe.”
Hadrian folded his arms across his chest and smiled at her. “You know what that means, don’t you?”
Rania shook her head, mystified.
“Rafferty helped you. You’re already part of the Pyr team.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he likes to see a firestorm satisfied. And you followed his instructions. You trusted him.”
“It’s true,” she said, nodding slowly. “You trusted me by giving me back my bichuwa. Balthasar tried to save me, so he must trust me, too. And Alasdair told me that amazing story, and Rafferty helped me get rid of the malice.”
“And Sara sent the book.”
Hadrian watched Rania smile. “It made it all so much easier. I like being part of a team.” She said this last as if it was a surprise, but then she’d always been alone.
“You just don’t want to stain that bichuwa,” he teased, liking how she laughed again.
“Turns out I have a thing for dragon shifters,” she confessed, eyes dancing.
“All dragon shifters?” he asked, pretending to be insulted.
She laughed once more and poked him in the chest with her fingertip. “This dragon shifter.”
“Want to do something about that?” Hadrian invited.
“Maybe I do,” she said softly. “But maybe it’s not just up to me.” She surveyed him, a challenging gleam in her eyes. “You said I never asked my brothers what they thought before.”
“Right.” Hadrian didn’t know where she was going with this.
“Then let’s do it now. Hold on, dragon shifter, and think fast.”
It was a playful warning but one Hadrian didn’t have time to figure out. Rania reached for him, shimmering on the cusp of change. Hadrian caught her hand and she laughed. He understood her joy in her abilities and knew they had that in common.
Then everything spun around them. He felt nauseated and dizzy, but he held tightly to her hand. It was the only thing he could see. Even her slight form was lost in swirling mist and light.
Suddenly the spinning stopped, as if they’d been kicked out of a cyclone. There was clear blue sky above them and a slight warm breeze. Far below were green hills and a body of blue water shone in the distance. He saw all that in the blink of an eye, then his mate shifted to her swan form and he lost his grip on her silky feathers.
He was falling fast toward the earth, his shout caught in his throat. Think fast. Hadrian summoned the change and shifted shape, beating his wings hard as he flew in pursuit of his mate.