Page 12 of Shadows of Light
Lexi dared to crack an eye open again. When she did, she glimpsed rocky cliffs flying by before she closed it again.
Stop being such a coward. You’re still alive, and your ancestors survived this.
They were born into this, not thrust into it.
You were born into it; you just weren’t raised in it.
She couldn’t argue with that reasoning, no matter how badly she wanted to. Still, her eyes remained shut as the wind battered her.
As time passed and she didn’t fall off, she slowly relaxed. Her death grip on Alina’s spikes didn’t ease, but she grew a little more confident she wouldn’t become a part of the landscape.
As she relaxed, the open air suddenly offered a sense of abandon instead of dread. Up here, there were no wars, blood, or pressures on her shoulders. There was no Cole and no heartache. It was simply her, this wonderful dragon, and freedom.
She cracked her eye open again when Alina went lower. The dragon turned to the side; as she did so, her wing tip skimmed the water.
Lexi smiled as drops of cool water dampened her face and clothes before Alina righted herself. It was beautiful on the back of this magnificent, powerful creature. Alina wouldn’t allow her to fall.
Gradually, she eased up, so she wasn’t completely flat against Alina’s back. When she did, the wind caught her more fully but didn’t knock her off.
Lexi kept her hands around two of Alina’s spikes as she savored the fresh air. Land and water whipped past in a blur as Alina banked to the right and swooped around a mountain cliff before entering a more spacious section.
In this area, the cliffs remained high, but they sat further back from the river. A rocky shoreline ran alongside the rushing water through here.
Or at least, on one side, there was a shoreline. On the other side, the river ran against the palace wall. In that wall, windows faced out across the water, but what lay below?
A sick feeling settled in Lexi’s stomach while she contemplated this.
With a rustle of wings, Alina settled onto the shore before dipping her neck for Lexi to climb off. Lexi’s legs trembled as she moved, but she managed to swing them over and slide down Alina’s supple scales.
“Are there windows under the water too?” Lexi asked.
“I don’t know,” Alina replied. “I cannot enter that area of the palace, but with the Lord’s penchant for misery, I’m sure they are.”
A balcony jutted out of the palace a couple of floors up from the water. She pointed to it as she spoke. “It will be a while before the others arrive; can you take me up there?”
“Of course.”
Lexi scrambled back onto Alina and held on as her wings flapped and she took flight. When they arrived at the balcony, Lexi took a deep breath and refused to look down as she slid off Alina and over the balcony railing.
Grasping the door handle, she pulled on it but wasn’t shocked to find it locked. Unlike the palace in the Gloaming, this arach home didn’t have a mind of its own. Or maybe it did and it was simply waiting to see if she was worth sharing its secrets with, but Lexi doubted it.
Lexi turned her head away as she used her elbow to smash out one of the glass panes next to the handle. Glass was still tinkling as it hit the ground when she reached inside to unlock the door.
“I’ll be back soon,” Lexi said over her shoulder. “If they arrive before I return, let the others know where I went.”
“I will.”
CHAPTERELEVEN
Lexi pushed openthe door to reveal the sheer, white curtains hanging on the other side. Glass crunched beneath her boots as she stepped onto the gray, plush carpet of the large bedroom.
A pink covering hung over the top of the white canopy bed. Baby dragons decorated the white walls, and stuffed animals crowded the wooden toy box pushed against the far wall. Small dresses in assorted colors hung in the open, walk-in closet.
Lexi’s heart sank as she took in the child’s room. She’d never considered that when the arach destroyed each other, they also destroyed their most vulnerable and those who required the most protection.
While they warred against each other, they wiped out their babies, children, and future. Lexi’s hand instinctively went to her belly; there was no child nestled within, of that she was certain, but if she ever had a baby, she would do everything in her power to ensure it survived.
She wouldnotallow hers or anyone else’s stupid, stubborn pride, to destroy her child. And she couldn’t understand how they had allowed such a thing.
