Page 97 of Devil's Dance

“No, no. No!” Brynna closes her eyes.

I snicker and launch us off the cliff, spreading my wings as we fall.

My beautiful mate screams a high-pitched, shrill sound. But as my flaming wings catch the wind, her terrified noise turns into a war cry that grows in power.

Brynna slowly releases her hands from my body to trail her fingers in the breeze as I glide along behind my parents above a world I only ever dreamt of, a place where we are safe from Talhuskins, and my kind can begin to heal. Here, we have not forgotten tradition. We savor it.

I’m lucky I found a female who loves my world as much as I do.

“Jorusk…” She strains to look up at me.

“Yes?”

“I spoke with your mother last night at our dinner meeting. I did not know your kind is only fertile once a year.”

“Are you not?” I ask.

She laughs. “No.”

“What’s so funny?”

“Humans are fertile every month.”

“What?” My Inferno roars with triumph inside, and it lights up my wings with fresh fire.

“Easy!” Cinuska calls out as she and Fieri dart aside and then glide up to us.

“Sorry!” I clutch Brynna close. “So you mean, we can have another hatchling next month?”

She smiles. “Yeah, but maybe every now and then give me a break?”

I kiss her ear. “Whatever you want.”

“A big family…that stays together.”

I keep her wrapped up in my arms as my Drath brothers and sisters fly like a fiery river, weaving through the snowy mountains toward our ancestral homes. Below us, Sidius, Osiris, Vryskas, and Rykarn dart back and forth, play-fighting like the brothers they are, and it makes me happy.

“Together,” I say to Brynna, kissing her on the neck once more.

She leans into my affection. “Forever?”

“Forever, my beautiful mate.”

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