"Shit."
Kael was on the floor next to her with his hands on her face before she could speak, tilting her chin, checking her eyes, then dropping to the blood on her shirt. His torso was wrapped in bandages and his body looked like it had been used as a punching bag.
Did he look that bad when she left? Maybe his bruises were doing what hers were doing.
"How did—" He didn't finish. His arms pulled her against his chest so fast her breath caught.
Warmth flooded through her body. Familiar and both of them lit gold.
"I missed you." It slipped out of her mouth but it was the truth.
His throat bobbed once. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He was frozen.
"I was worried you were going to leave before I got to say goodbye," she added, swallowing the lump in her throat that had no business being there about a situation that hadn't happened. But she would have missed him.
She had seen dragons flying during the journey to Greyhall Crossing and thought they were his pack.
