Page 33 - Fourth Wing

his hair with the exception of a strip down the top center, instructs Dylan as

he moves into position, patting his chest like the ring hidden there will
bring him luck. I hope it does.

The third turns in my direction and my heart simply…stops.

He’s tall, with windblown black hair and dark brows. The line of his jaw
is strong and covered by warm tawny skin and dark stubble, and when he

folds his arms across his torso, the muscles in his chest and arms ripple,

moving in a way that makes me swallow. And his eyes… His eyes are the
shade of gold-flecked onyx. The contrast is startling, jaw-dropping even—

everything about him is. His features are so harsh that they look carved, and

yet they’re astonishingly perfect, like an artist worked a lifetime sculpting
him, and at least a year of that was spent on his mouth.

He’s the most exquisite man I’ve ever seen.
And living in the war college means I’ve seen a lot of men.

Even the diagonal scar that bisects his left eyebrow and marks the top

corner of his cheek only makes him hotter. Flaming hot. Scorching hot.
Gets-you-into-trouble-and-you-like-it level of hot. Suddenly, I can’t

remember exactly why Mira told me not to fuck around outside my year
group.

“See you two on the other side!” Dylan says over his shoulder with an

excited grin before stepping onto the parapet, his arms spread wide.
“Ready for the next one, Riorson?” the rider with the ripped sleeves says.

Xaden Riorson?

“You ready for this, Sorrengail?” Rhiannon asks, moving forward.
The black-haired rider snaps his gaze to mine, turning fully toward me,

and my heart thunders for all the wrong reasons. A rebellion relic, curving

in dips and swirls, starts at his bare left wrist, then disappears under his
black uniform to appear again at his collar, where it stretches and swirls up

his neck, stopping at his jawline.
“Oh shit,” I whisper, and his eyes narrow, as if he can hear me over the