“Just wait.” I didn’t understand.
“But you could have stayed in the forest—”
“—And be hunted down by the hordes? No thank you. Everyone knows drakens wards are superior to anyone else’s.”
Astrid bent further over her broom; her eyes trained on Lyoness.
“Let’s see if they’ve set any of those wards up yet."
Together we dove, the surviving witches behind me. Nothing stopped us as we broke the air over the island, a rather anticlimactic ending as we all braced ourselves. We landed on top of the high cliffs and were quickly surrounded by drakens. They went from rapid to astounded in the blink of an eye, barely letting my claws touch the ground before they swarmed me.
“Praise the gods! The queen lives!”
Domik was there, the first to shove me behind him as the rest snarled at the witches. It was tempting to dig my claws in his back, but I squelched the urge. The other drakens pushed forward, eager to put distance between me and the witches.
“Stop it!” I hissed. Domik didn’t listen, instead baring his fangs at Astrid.
“What do you want, witch?”
Astrid was in her prime, holding her white robe up daintily so as not to drag it through the ash and dirt around her. She didn’t look concerned at all with the large group of growling, feral drakens around her.
“We’d like lodging and food as payment for not turning your female over to the demon hordes and having our homes burnt down and our witches massacred,” she purred, her eyes deadly, “for starters.”
The drakens froze, and Astrid stared them all down.
“It’s true,” I added, wiggling out of Domik’s grasp. “I was shot through the wing and fell into their forest. One of their witchlings hid and fed me while I healed. When the shadow demons came—” the drakens assembled gasped, and I ignored them “—they hid me, and their forest was burned with the hope of flushing me out. We owe them a home here.”
“Says who?”
I felt his presence a split second before I heard his voice; deep, growling, but so unmistakably his. My body physically ached to go to him, to run my hands across his skin, just to make sure he was really here and safe—
Benedict stormed towards Astrid, possessiveness in his eyes. Astrid lifted her chin, refusing to be cowed. I put my hand out, stopping him from stalking any further towards her.
“Says me,” I answered, holding his purple gaze with my own. His eyes widened when he saw me, not even blinking at the dirt and grime that covered me. I watched his face nearly break for just a split second, so wounded and raw that I wanted to cry. Then it was over, his lips curled into a sneer as his mask slammed firmly back into place. I shook my head and focused on Astrid. It was such a relief to see him alive and being an utter ass that I didn’t have the heart to chastise him more than I already planned to.
“They saved my life. They have nowhere else to go.”
I could almost taste the dilemma in front of Benedict. Stony silence descended as we stared at each other, the tension thick enough to slice with a knife.
“Do you not have wards on this place? Not that it seems to be anything worth protecting.”
Astrid broke through the silence with a regal air, looking around distastefully. Benedict’s eyes flicked to her, a growl emanating from his chest.
“Get the hell off my island, witch.”
Astrid tsked, then crossed her arms. “Why haven’t you set the wards, draken? The hordes may follow us here.”
Benedict's hands closed into fists and opened again methodically.
“We did set wards. As soon as I stepped foot on this land, Gelf and Pirth weaved black wards. They were…extremely powerful, but obviously they have holes. We didn’t expect a bitch invasion.” His glare at the witches was intense.
“Ha, I’ve never heard that one before…” Astrid muttered.
I didn’t hear her—all I could think about was the silver-scaled draken who had treated me like spun glass. The one who defended me after my first battle, going toe-to-toe with Benedict and risking his life in order to keep me safe.
“Gelf is dead?” I whispered. I could have sworn Benedict’s shoulders drooped, but I blinked, and he was standing tall again.
“He sacrificed himself with Pirth to set basic wards, like Sabien did. Due to their ages and experience, they are quite powerful. They will be remembered as great heroes.”
I swallowed heavily, trying to keep it together. How many more of my friends would die to give the rest of us a chance? I hated it. I remembered Gelf standing over Sabien’s body in the mountain, grief etched on his face.
It should have been us. We have lived long enough.
It was staggering to think how little my losses truly meant compared to Benedict’s, or any of the other drakens. Astrid blinked rapidly, her voice breaking slightly.
“We do not wish to be a burden. There are witch wards we can weave around yours, strengthening the defenses here. And there are...other ways we can help.”
Astrid gestured behind her, and the earth witch from the back of the coven walked slowly forward. She was the summer to the air witches’ winter—her hair was brown like mine, her skin and eyes tinted with green. She stopped in front of the closest draken, tilting her head to the side. He watched in confusion as she bent down in front of him, and placed her palm over the black, cracked earth at his feet. Green leaves sprouted through her fingers as she lifted her hand, weaving it through the air as the sprouts became a sapling, and then a young tree. Her smile was beatific as the draken gaped at her.
Astrid glided forward, laying a hand on the earth witch’s shoulder.
“If the drakens would be inclined to shelter my sisters, I would be inclined to petition the earth coven to rebuild Lyoness, in addition to adding our wards. It
