Page 229 - Fourth Wing

through once.” I gesture to the wound on my arm. “And he was trying to—”

“He tried what?”
I’m spun around by the shoulders and yanked against a chest. Dain. My

arms wind around his back and hold fast as I breathe deeply.

“Damn it. Violet. Just…damn.” He squeezes me tight, then pushes me to
arm’s length. “You’re hurt.”

“I’m fine,” I assure him, but that doesn’t quell the worry in his eyes. I’m

not sure anything ever will. “But we’re all that’s left of our squad’s first-
years.”

Dain’s gaze rises to look at the others, and he nods. “Four out of nine.

That’s”—his jaw ticks once—“to be expected. The dragons are currently
holding a meeting of the Empyrean—their leadership. Stay here until they

return,” he says to the others before looking down at me. “You come with
me.”

It’s probably my mother, beckoning me through him. Surely she’ll want

to see me with everything that’s going on. I glance across the field, but it’s
not Mom I find watching me but Xaden, his expression unreadable.

When Dain takes my hand and tugs, I turn away from Xaden, following
Dain to the opposite edge of the field, where we’re hidden in shadow. Guess

it’s not about Mom.

“What the actual fuck happened out there? Because I’ve got Cath telling
me that not only did Tairn choose you but so did the small one—Adarn?”

His fingers lace with mine, panic swirling in his brown eyes.

“Andarna,” I correct him, a smile playing on my lips at the thought of the
small golden dragon.

“They’re going to make you choose.” His expression hardens, and the

certainty there makes me recoil.
“I’m not choosing.” I shake my head, disengaging our hands. “No human

has ever chosen, and I’m not about to be the first.” And who the hell is Dain
to tell me that?