A fact. She did need him. She couldn’t dragon train without a dragon.

Though I believe that researching the bond will be satisfactory as well.

“Yeah, I should probably do that in all my spare time,” she teased. “So, you think we can train?”

I think we have no other choice.

“Right. Well, we have a month to try to get this right. Why don’t we get started?”

Four merciless hours later, she and Tieran were no better off than when they’d started. In fact, she stormed out of the aerie in such a fury after her failure that she overturned a servant carrying a dinner tray. She apologized profusely to the human working within the mountain. Still, she couldn’t shake her anger.

It would be one thing if they weren’t any good at this. It was another that they both had sharp tongues and knew when to properly wield them. After her bouts with Lorian, she didn’t have it in her to deal with Tieran too. It had been a long week. Maybe it would all be better after she slept off the muscle aches.

She pressed the door to her room open, ready to collapse face-first into her bed until she realized someone was standing in the middle of the room. Her danger senses hadn’t even been triggered. She was too tired to even recognize who was standing there.

“Go away and come back later,” Kerrigan grumbled.

The person laughed. “What in the gods’ names happened to you?”

Clover. Right, it was Clover. “Oh, hey.”

She laughed. “I haven’t seen you all week.”

“Training,” she said, dropping onto her bed and unlacing her shoes.

“You didn’t say hi when you got back?”

“Knocked out.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Clover asked. She sank into a seat and lifted her feet to rest on the bed.

Kerrigan kicked her shoes into a corner, stripped out of her training clothes, throwing them into a pile of neglected laundry, and changed into something clean. “What are you doing here?”

“Came to check on you. No word for a week after you were supposed to be back from the House of Shadows. Hadrian and Darby were worried too.”

“I’m alive.” She sank down on the bed and winced as her legs and back protested. “Barely.”

“Send a note next time?”

Kerrigan nodded. She scanned her friend. Her severe black bob had recently been cut even shorter with bangs nearly obscuring her blue eyes. Her cinnamon skin glowed against her white tunic and black pants.

Kerrigan realized why she looked different. “You’re not wearing Dozan’s colors.”

Normally, Dozan Rook had his card dealer in a black button-up with a red vest. It made his employees noticeable. Clover usually wore them, even out of the Wastes.

“Yeah, I’m going to a meeting after this. I came to check on you and… try to drag you along.”