Page 422 - Fourth Wing

This isn’t about me.

We burst onto the roof as Emery mounts his dragon, who is precariously
perched on the thinner-than-quadrant wall.

Oh gods, I’m never going to be able to mount Tairn at this angle.

“Ridoc and Quinn are already in the air,” Liam tells us as Emery launches
skyward, where Cath and Deigh hover, their wings beating the air.

“You’re next!” Xaden shouts at Liam, and Dain nods.

Deigh crumbles the masonry with the force of his landing, and Liam
takes off down the narrow walkway toward the large Red Daggertail.

“You next, Aetos,” Xaden barks.

“Vi—” Dain starts to argue.
“That’s an order.” There’s no room for argument in that tone, and we all

know it, especially when Cath takes Deigh’s place on the wall. “I’ve got
her. Go.”

“Go,” I urge. I’d never be able to live with myself if something happened

to Dain on my account. He may have been an ass the last few months, but
that doesn’t negate the years he’s been my best friend.

Dain looks like he’s about to fight but finally nods, turning to Xaden.
“I’m trusting you to get her out.”

“There’s a lot of that going around today,” Xaden retorts. “Now get on

your dragon so I can get her on hers.”
Dain gives me a long, intense look, then turns and runs, racing up Cath’s

foreleg in a way that’s so reminiscent of the Gauntlet that I get flashbacks.

“Where are you?” I ask Tairn, seeing empty skies above us.
“Almost there. I was doing what could be done.”

“I can’t do this,” I say to Xaden, turning in his arms to face him. “The

others are gone. Call it the favor you owe me, I don’t care. We can stay. I
can’t just leave her here. It’s wrong, and it’s something she’d never do to

me. I have to stay for her. I just have to.”
There’s so much compassion, so much understanding in his eyes, that