Page 51

Fifty-One

Myron

I felt something through the bond last night. A flash of heat that could have been an actual flame burning on my chest. However, I much more suspect it was Ayna’s way of communicating with me, of letting me know she’s alive and awake. Carrying that sensation in my heart like a talisman, it was easy to cook breakfast for what’s left of my court and the three rebels—Rochus and his son and daughter—who aided Herinor and Silas in their escape.

They are all sitting at the table now, their mouths full of the scrambled eggs I made after raiding the stables together with Ed. The boy is a delight, carrying himself like a warrior, even when he’s barely entered manhood.

“We’ve spent too much time here,” Rochus says around a bite of stale bread, his gaze restlessly flying from window to window as if expecting a group of soldiers to show up in bright daylight.

The man has proved surprisingly complex, a veteran rebel who’s fought this war with the Jelnedyn bloodline all his life like his parents before him. I’m not surprised and definitely not too proud to listen to his advice as he tells us it’s unwise to stay here another day, and it’s easy to shut up the voice at the back of my head telling me not to trust anyone after Tata’s betrayal. Those rebels have no stakes in the conflict between Ephegos and my court. They have no reason to betray us, and they most certainly bear the scars and bruises to prove they were kept prisoner by the same villains who captured my Crows.

“I’m not sure Clio will come back for us,” Kaira murmurs, barely sitting up straight but so much stronger than last night. Perhaps Herinor’s presence at her bedside was better for her than I expected. “If she hasn’t come for us by now,” she adds even more softly.

Silas drains his teacup, pouring himself another one. “As soon as we can shift, one of us could fly back to Aceleau to find out what’s going on.”

Probing my power, I assess whether I am close to recovering this ability. It’s strangely unsettling not to be able to turn into my crow self and soar across the lands, even when that ability was blocked before by the drug.

“Or we could take the horses and ride north,” Herinor suggests, earning a disapproving glare from Gabrilla.

“We’re not riding north.” She takes another bite of eggs, chewing while the fingers of her free hand drum on the worn oak table.

“And that is why, Sis?” Ed sets down his fork, almost falling from the bench as he leans back and realizes at the last moment there’s no backrest.

A mild chuckle escapes Rochus as he catches Ed by the elbow, setting him back onto the bench. “Because our war is south, Ed.”

Gabrilla nods eagerly, shoveling more eggs into her mouth. If she wore a nice dress and had her hair tamed, she could pass for a lady in a human court—except for her manners, of course. Refraining from raising a brow at her, I focus on the middle-aged rebel who doesn’t seem to have comprehended that partnering up with us is pretty much the only way to save their precious Tavras.

I must admit, I find Rochus’s stoic expression when Ed shakes his head with the words, “Whoever held us prisoner was riding under the Jelnedyn banners. They came for us, and they didn’t shy away from taking two Crow Fairies prisoner,” slightly disconcerting. “Do you really believe their war isn’t our war, father?” Ed gestures at Herinor and Silas, who are both chewing, eyes vigilant and power simmering beneath their skin.

“It’s Crow Fae ,” Silas says in that tone ready to cut stone, making Ed almost fall out of his seat again—followed by a grin making his rugged features nearly handsome. With a brief grin at Rochus and Gabrilla, he shrugs. “And Ed is right. We are fighting the same war. We are even both fighting it for the same queen.”

“The Queen of Tavras,” Ed confirms with more confidence now that he’s seen Silas’s teeth don’t mean he’ll bite.

The male grins again, a deadly expression this time. “The Queen of Crows . But the same thing, technically.” Before any of the rebels can question him, he rolls on. “Queen Wolayna is our Crow Queen and your Queen of Tavras, but you already know that. What you don’t know is that, unless you want to fight a war against the Crows, Tavras and the Crow Realm are one until further notice.”

Usually, I don’t enjoy when others speak for my kingdom or my queen, but Silas is doing a darn good job at painting the picture.

“If you don’t want us to turn on each other, we better accept that both of us have an interest in the Queen of Tavras and the Crows’ future.” I tell them, hopping in before this can escalate. Rochus surely gives the impression he’s ready to draw blood, even when he knows he’d never stand a chance against any of us now that we’re all remotely recovered. “Ephegos is on the move. He took the queen of both our people.” I don’t need to remind them that same queen is my mate. “He won’t rest until his revenge on me is done. This means our queen is to suffer.” Holding up my index finger, I list the issues we should be facing together rather than apart. “Erina made Ephegos his general, but you already know that. Tata kept you up to date with her brief visits.”

“Until she betrayed all of us,” Gabrilla interjects, and I could swear Silas flinches. It was bad enough that he left the room and shut himself in the stables for an hour after we initially informed them all what happened in the clearing. Whatever had been going on between the two of them, Silas didn’t see this betrayal coming, and he is fighting hard to hide his hurt.

“She played us from the very first moment,” he says with that stony expression I’m used to from our days as monsters. “Who knows how many half-truths she told the rebels? How many lies?”

“It doesn’t change that we need to get out of here before those bastards come looking for us,” Herinor changes the topic, and for some reason, I believe he does it to spare his friend more pain. “Even if Kaira’s outstanding display of siphoning blasted the camp apart and probably killed every last badger in a fifty-foot radius, someone will notice the soldiers are missing, and once they do, there’s no guarantee they won’t send a group of Flames after us.”

“Or Crows,” Kaira croaks, bracing her hands on the edge of the table to keep herself upright. Much to my surprise, Herinor’s arm slides around her waist, pulling her against his side so she can lean on him for support. Who would have thought the cold-hearted warrior could be that fuzzy?

Kaira doesn’t shy away, closing her eyes and mouthing a word that looks very much like ‘ sunshine’.

“We have no idea where Ephegos stationed the remaining Crows, but some of them were in the camp, or the shield Kaira brought down wouldn’t have been silvery.”

Herinor dips his chin at Silas’s observation. “Pure fool’s luck they went down in that explosion. They could have dragged us to Ephegos.”

And we all know what it would have meant if Ephegos got his hands on Herinor.

Swallowing the dread rising in my throat, I drain my tea and set down the mug with too much force to keep up the semblance of calm I’ve been clinging to. “He has Ayna. Whatever we do, it has to be soon. Not to free our queen, because who knows what that magic of bargains will do if we try, but to bring down Ephegos once and for all. One megalomaniac human king is enough to deal with. We don’t need to wait until a megalomaniac Crow takes that crown and declares tyranny over Tavras and all of Eherea.”

“I very much hope we won’t wait that long.”

I’m not the only one to leap to my feet, drawing my weapon and digging for my power at the voice from the corner of the room. My gaze swivels around to find the fairy general leaning against the crooked wall beside the threshold to the bedroom, dressed in battle black and wearing an expression of both amusement and urgency that makes me want to throw my sword at him, despite the relief lifting my chest.

“You have seen better days, Crow King.” Tori stalks closer, throwing his arms wide and, before I can object, folds me into a bearhug. “Thank the Guardians, you’re alive,” he whispers, only for me to hear.

When he pulls back, he gives a curt nod to Silas, Herinor, and Kaira, who has managed to summon a tiny fireball despite her unstable legs. “Put down your toy, Flameling.” Tori flashes her a grin then turns to the three brave humans, the two men with daggers in their hands, while Gabrilla has picked up a butter knife and masterfully pinched the tip of the blade between her thumb and index finger. I don’t need to see her throw it to know she won’t miss. “And you are?” He cocks his head at the woman.

“None of your fucking business.” Gabrilla bares her teeth, earning a warning glare from Ed, who seems more comfortable around fairies than the other two humans.

Tori barks a laugh. “I like her.” Pointing at the woman with a thumb, he drops onto the bench and reaches for the pan at the end of the table, helping himself to some scrambled eggs with a spare fork. He hums his approval and turns back to me. “Where’s Ayna?”

My heart drops into my stomach as I need to retell, for the second time, what happened in the clearing and how I’ve failed to protect my mate.

With every word, Tori’s expression turns sadder, and when I’m done and Herinor and Silas tell their part of the story alongside the rebels, Tori merely gets back to his feet and holds out both his hands. “We need to get back to Aceleau. Now. I can take four of you at the same time.”

A glance at Herinor and Silas is enough to have them step forward, but Herinor isn’t the one reaching for Tori’s palm. “You should go first,” he murmurs to Kaira, guiding her along as if she might collapse at any moment, and for once, Kaira doesn’t challenge him. With a small smile, she takes Tori’s hand while Herinor waits for Silas to steal to Kaira’s side, keeping his hand braced on his sword as he falls into the pattern of the guard he used to play for so many decades during the curse.

With a quick nod of thanks at Herinor, I eye the three humans, gesturing at Tori. “If you want to come, now is the time.”

No one is more surprised than I am when Ed leaps for Tori’s free hand, defiance on his young face as his father is about to object. “If we don’t work together, we’re dead. Tavras will be lost without the rebels, and Erina is already hunting us down. It’s a matter of time until the rest of the rebellion will be ratted out and slaughtered like the others.” And by that, he means how Ephegos’s men killed the rest of the rebels before dragging a few select ones to the camp for questioning or torture—or both.

“Wise kid.” Tori jerks his chin at Ed, his eyes finding a furious Rochus. “You should listen to him.”

“Andraya and Pouly went with the fairies,” Kaira says, gaze darting to Tori as if to check for any tell what happened to them in Aceleau, if they caught Tata or if the traitor fairy managed to wreak havoc before the others could warn Rogue, Sanja, and Royad.

Tori doesn’t give any indication of what happened back at the palace. “They’ll be happy to see you,” is all the fairy general says, but it’s enough to ease the anger in Rochus’s eyes.

Reluctantly, he steps forward, placing his hand atop his son’s in Tori’s palm. “Promise me you’ll return for my daughter and bring her, too.”

Tori is about to say something when Silas steps aside, making space for the human woman. “Take her. I’ll wait with my king.”

And just like that, Tori disappears with Kaira and the three humans. It takes about five minutes for him to pop up in the exact same place, a frown on his face and his hands open for us.

“What’s wrong, Tori?” I place my hand in his, clasping his calloused fingers securely while Herinor and Silas take the other hand.

Tori shakes his head. “Let’s get you back to Aceleau first. Rogue will share with you what happened.”

I want to tell him to take me to Aceleau, but not without picking up the bag of magic-nullifying serum Kaira and I left behind in a tree. “First we need to retrieve something that might come in handy.” When all three of the males cast me a curious look, I ask the fairy, “Can you site-hop based on memories of locations I show you?”

He ponders for a few heartbeats. “It’s worth a try.”

Without hesitation, I drop the shield around my mind, pulling up the image of the clearing full of scattered bodies.

Tori grimaces. “You sure you want to return there?”

“Absolutely.”

Herinor and Silas only shrug at each other at our exchange.

The world tumbles away, and we race through the fabrics of time and space as Tori moves us to exactly the tree I need, and I race the final few steps, ignoring the frozen bodies, the lingering stench of blood and death, or the possibility that someone may ambush us here. The fairy general and two of the most experienced Crow warriors I know are watching my back as I swipe the twigs away from the hole in the tree trunk and gently, carefully pull on the bundle of cloth hosting more than sixty vials of the magic-nullifying drug.

It dangles in my hand, a silver lining in this Shaelak-cursed war, and a grim smile finds its path to my mouth. “Ready.”

“What is it?” Silas asks, probably wondering why a sack at the edge of a killing field is of such importance to me. I haven’t told anyone about it, and Kaira sure as Hel’s realm wasn’t in any condition to tell. This flicker of hope won’t be revealed to the others before we’re back to safety.

Tori understands without waiting for an answer. Lips pursed and auburn gaze sweeping the clearing one last time for danger, he reaches for our hands and takes us back to the Fairy Palace.