Saving Verakko: The Clecanian Series Book 3 by Victoria Aveline (books to read for teens TXT) 📕

“I had intended to transport a piece of candy from the top floor to the ground on its first test flight, but something went wrong and it stopped responding a few floors up,” he continued from behind her. “When I found it, it was hovering just outside a window on the third story. I reached for it and slipped.”

Lily veered her upper body around. “You fell from three stories up?”

Verakko’s hand was on her waist in an instant, holding her in place. When he was sure she wasn’t in danger of falling, he released her and grimaced. “I broke fifteen bones, most of them in my legs. The worst part was no one knew where I’d gone, and I couldn’t move. It took them hours to find me.”

“That’s horrible!”

“Now whenever I have to deal with heights, I always remember that pain.” Verakko let out a low chuckle, relieving some of Lily’s sympathetic distress. “My father said it ended up being a blessing in disguise because I never snuck off to those buildings again.”

The path widened once more, and a bend came into view around the corner. “Too bad you never got to sneak those sweets though,” she teased, knocking her elbow against his.

He flashed her a smile that displayed even, white teeth and a set of oddly alluring fangs. “I’ll have you know the Super Bandit version two was my preferred candy-smuggling device during my formative years. That is, until my father caught on and cleansed the house of treats.”

In an instant, Verakko’s body became rigid and his pointed ears twitched. His hand shot out, wrapping firmly around her bicep and wrenching her against him a moment before a shrill, piercing whine like nails on a chalkboard echoed behind her. The ground began to vibrate as if something were running toward them—something large.

Without a word, Verakko lifted her into his arms and leapt. Her breath caught on a scream as they became weightless. They slammed into icy water, knocking the air from her lungs. Once they surfaced, Verakko loosened his hold but didn’t let go.

She shoved the tangle of hair from her face and sputtered, “What was that?”

Verakko’s eyes were still trained on the shore they’d just come from. Rather than let her go, he slowly maneuvered her until she faced the shore as well, then he pulled her tight against his chest and paddled backward toward the opposite shoreline.

Lily’s heart stopped. A creature…no, a predator prowled on the far bank in the exact area they’d been standing. Black shimmering plates lined a thick, four-legged body, as tall as a horse. Its massive head and squashed face were wide and displayed a gaping, perfectly round mouth filled with rows upon rows of needle-like teeth. Around its neck, a glowing frill of yellow flesh flared in a display of aggression. Three large black eyes curved over its cavernous mouth.

The muscles in Lily’s legs tensed to sprint or kick or swim. Her grip on Verakko’s forearms, locked around her waist, was so tight that her knuckles were white.

“We must be closer to Sauven than I thought. It’s a sefa,” Verakko rumbled into her ear. “It won’t cross the water.”

The creature widened its mouth even more and let out another ear-splitting shriek, making every one of Lily’s hairs stand on end. The sudden feeling of ground under her feet made her jump. Verakko released her and clapped his hands over her ears.

She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the screeching creature. Despite Verakko’s solid hands, the noise thrummed through her, making her insides roil. The noise emanated from its yawning black maw. Was it shooting some kind of pulsing sound wave at them?

Verakko let out a thunderous sound, overpowering the high pitch of the sefa. The volume and depth of the throaty rattling was almost as terrifying as the sefa’s shriek. She’d never heard anything quite like it before. The closest sound she could think of was the unsettling bellow territorial alligators made, except this was much louder and harsher. Although she felt safe with Verakko, the deafening percussion made her want to cower.

The sefa seemed to feel the same. Flaps of skin surrounding its face, which she’d taken for deep wrinkles, narrowed over its wide mouth and teeth, the opening shrinking until it looked like a smooth charcoal surface. The sefa’s glowing yellow collar of skin folded and flattened against its neck and back. Two of its shining obsidian eyes blinked at them, while the third stayed trained in their direction.

Verakko let out another terrifying roar. The sefa crouched low and scuttled into the dense forest.

Heat pooled in her core. It was a completely inappropriate and unwelcomed reaction, but she couldn’t help it. That creature had obviously judged Verakko to be the apex predator, and something about having him at her back, protectively covering her ears while scaring a literal monster into retreating did things to her she couldn’t suppress.

She felt him still behind her, and the scent of cedar wafted through the air. Lily faced him. The muscles in his arms and shoulders were bunched, and a tendon ticked in his jaw again. His glowing gaze, now a darker shade of emerald, hungrily slid over her body. Her sopping clothing clung to her figure, doing nothing to preserve any remaining modesty she may have had. Lily shivered.

His rapt gaze lingered on her neck before returning to her eyes, the heated air between them crackling in the silence.

“You’re cold.” His tone was low and firm, almost as if he were convincing them both of the fact, even as they understood she’d shivered for an entirely different reason.

Lily swallowed. Verakko’s gaze snapped back to her neck, and a quiet, softer version of his roar rattled through him.

“We should make camp early so we can get your clothes dry before night.”

They walked without speaking, the silence between