Page 428 - Fourth Wing

The second I have myself in hand, I step out of Dain’s arms.

Xaden is gone.
I skip breakfast and miss formation to head to the flight field, holding

myself together long enough to get to the middle of the meadow, where I

drop to my knees.
“She’s all right,” I cry, my head falling into my hands. “I didn’t leave her

to die. She’s alive.” There’s a ruffle of air and then the hard feel of scales

against the backs of my hands. I lean forward into Andarna’s shoulder,
sagging against her. “She’s alive. She’s alive. She’s alive.”

I repeat it until I believe it.

…

“Do you have any siblings?” I ask Xaden the next time we’re on the mat.

Maybe it’s Mira’s comment about me not knowing enough about him, or

maybe it’s my own conflicting emotions, but he knows way more about me
than I do him, and I need to level this playing field.

“No.” He pauses in surprise. “Why?”

“Just asking.” I take a fighting stance. “Let’s go.”
The next day, I ask him what his favorite food is in the middle of Battle

Brief, using our mental connection. Pretty sure I hear him drop something

at the back of the room before he answers.
“Chocolate cake. Stop being weird.”

I grin.
A day later, after Tairn puts me through an absolutely draining set of

advanced flight maneuvers most third-years couldn’t stay seated through,

either, we’re perched on a mountain peak with Tairn and Sgaeyl when I ask
him how he knows Liam, just to see if he’ll tell me the truth.

“We were fostered together. What is with all the questions lately?”
“I barely know you.”

“You know me well enough.” He shoots me a look that says he’s over it.