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Back Given
Chapters (49)
  1. Given
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. Acknowledgments
  44. About the Author
  45. Copyright
  46. About the Publisher
  47. Backad 1
  48. Backad 2
  49. Backad 3

“Then we’ve said all that needs to be said.” She nodded to him. “Good-bye, Weysh.”

She disappeared into the darkness, heading back toward her residence building. Weysh didn’t try to stop her.

The next morning, just after the sun cleared the horizon, Weysh took off from the rooftop of his townhouse. The air was misty with early spring’s chill, and he winged between soaring pastel houses and shops, his wind rustling the flowers in the window boxes. The first trams of the morning trundled and clanged along the tracks beneath him. He was on his way to see one of his professors about an extra-credit course he planned to take.

The night before he’d decided that though he desperately wanted to, he would not yet seek out his Given, partially to give her space and partially out of respect for Carmenna. But as often happened, his dragon mind had dragon plans. As he closed in on the plinths and columns of Prevan Academy the scent of his Given found him, the barest hint of that sharp sweetness teasing his nose. He let out an elated screech and dove after it.

As her aroma grew, so did his excitement. He knew just what to do. He would fly her to one of his favorite spots—a mossy cave sunk into a cliff off Northfall River. And then they would . . . well, he wasn’t sure what. Sit together? Enjoy the glint of the sun off the water? All he knew was that her scent called to him as surely as if she shouted his name.

He spotted her: a tiny dark figure marching toward the training sands with a long, metal spear in her hand. Angling low, Weysh swooped in and grabbed her in his arms. She yelled, the spear slipping from her grasp. Weysh let out one more happy screech and, flapping his great wings, shot off for his secret cave.

5

Yenni’s stomach dropped. She could withstand no more than a few seconds of the ground falling away beneath her before she had to shut her eyes, turning her head against the leathery warmth of the dragon’s chest. His arms wrapped firmly around her waist as his wings beat the air. She did not struggle, but held tighter.

They flew for what seemed like eternity to Yenni, until the dragon finally arced into a mossy hollow carved into a cliff face and touched down with a few quick beats of his wings. He let her go and changed into a man once more, so fast it was as if there had never been a huge dark beast before her, but a man the whole time.