Page 194 - Fourth Wing

Another chuff. Another chortle, like they’re talking to each other as they

sniff me.
The one under my arm moves its nostrils to my back and sniffs again.

Realization hits and I choke out a tight, surreal laugh. “You smell Teine,

don’t you?” I ask quietly.
They both draw back, just far enough for me to look them in their golden

eyes, but they keep their jaws shut, giving me the courage to keep talking.

“I’m Mira’s sister, Violet.” Slowly lowering my arms, I run my hands
over my snot-covered vest and the armor carefully sewn into it. “She

collected Teine’s scales after he shed them last year and had them shrunk

down so she could sew them into the vest to help keep me safe.”
The one on the right blinks.

The one on the left sticks its nose in again, sniffing loudly.
“The scales have saved me a few times,” I whisper. “But no one else

knows they’re in there. Just Mira and Teine.”

They both blink at me, and I lower my gaze, bowing my head because it
feels like the thing to do. Professor Kaori taught us every way to approach a

dragon and exactly zero ways to disengage one.
Step by step, they retreat until I see them take up their places in line in

my peripherals, and I finally raise my head.

Taking several deep breaths, I try to lock my muscles to keep from
trembling.

“Violet.” Rhiannon is only a few feet away, a look of terror in her eyes.

She must have been right behind their heads.
“I’m fine.” I force a smile and nod. “I have dragon-scale armor under the

vest,” I whisper. “They smell my sister’s dragon.” If she wants trust, there it

is. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t,” she whispers. “You’re all right?”

“Other than having a few years of my life shaved off.” I laugh. The sound
is shaky, bordering on hysteria.