Page 6 of Of Pixies and Promises (Fae Guardians)

Chapter

Six

S id’s palm flattened against Nyra’s head as the robin swooped low, its sharp beak clacking loudly as it passed. The impulse to protect wasn’t entirely his.

The bargain.

It compelled him to shield her. He frowned at the implications of his free will being taken, but there was no time to ponder.

The bird returned for a second swoop. Only this time, Nyra wrenched from his grip, gave him a challenging smirk, and leaped upward to grab hold of the bird’s feathers.

She mounted it between the wings with such ease that he imagined she could do this in her sleep.

“How can I keep you safe if you do things like that?” Sid growled as she tamed the bird with a palm on its head.

She did things with her magic to calm the animal, but he wasn’t appeased. They were high up. Nyra’s wings were still injured. She might fall, and there was no way he could save her.

“That was reckless,” he scolded, feeling anger burn the back of his throat.

“Not done yet,” she mumbled, gripping the neck feathers tight and squeezing her thighs.

She had no fear, he thought as he watched her carelessly cling to the twittering and fluttering robin. No fear here in her element, but she’d frozen in front of a rifle. If he hadn’t been there… if any other Reaper had stumbled across her…

The robin’s head cocked to the side a few times as it considered Sid with an impatient snap of its beak.

“Yes,” Nyra said to the bird, smiling. “We will leave you in peace, and my?—”

Nyra’s eyes widened as she met Sid’s gaze. Her cheeks flushed.

“What is it?”

“I was about to say, my mate,” she mumbled, her voice a whisper of awe. Then she shook her head and focused on the bird. “Sid will not eat your eggs. I promise.”

Mate?

A strange warmth spread in Sid’s chest, evaporating the anger.

The robin calmed and then blinked at him, waiting.

Nyra grinned. “Mama says yes. Hop on.”

He tugged his spear from the nest and vaulted onto the robin behind Nyra. He adjusted her pixie wings so he wouldn’t crush them and reached around her waist to grip the feathers at the bird’s neck. This way, he had Nyra caged safely in his arms.

As they took off into the sky, Sid wasn’t sure which part of this situation worried him most—that they were flying on a bird or that Nyra had almost called him mate … and he’d liked it.

They flew above the forest canopy. Smoke and burning embers signaled the location of Sid’s raiding party. He winced and turned away, but Nyra’s shrewd gaze reflected the shimmering flames in the gloaming.

“The forest is crying in pain,” she said, voice tight. “The explosion was my fault. I had no idea it would be so big.”

“The smoke looks like the fire is being put out,” Sid said. “The glow is small. Just seems big at this size.”

She shook her head. “Will they return?”

Sid was grateful she faced away because she couldn’t see the lie on his face. “No.”

But she glanced over her shoulder, and his heart lurched when their gazes clashed.

“Good,” she said, smiling. “I’ll take you straight to the power source, then.”

Darkness fell as they flew. Sid and Nyra grew quiet as the wind buffeted their faces. They flew so fast that she would struggle to hear him unless he shouted. It was just as well. He had thinking to do.

Sid should be focused on the fact he traveled to a source of power—a place where mana was rich and ripe for the taking, but he had just spent his evening with his tongue in his enemy’s mouth and between her thighs…

and all he could think about was returning there.

He’d never felt so alive, so full of need and satisfaction.

Since Nyra had stumbled into Sid’s life, he couldn’t stop thinking of her.

It was more than attraction or this magical bargain of duty.

He’d felt the need to protect her since she’d bumbled around the inside of the truck.

She made him laugh. She made him talk… everyone in Crystal City knew he hated to talk. To feel.

His brows slammed down as he recalled his lie.

The humans would be back. The cobalt deposit was too rich, and they hadn’t gathered enough resources to consider the mission a success. When they returned, they would bring reinforcements.

Sid’s brows drew even lower when he realized he’d called them humans , not his team or his people . Was he distancing himself? Was he already done with Crystal City after giving so much of his life and body to the cause of freeing them from cold isolation?

He glanced at the scars on his hand, gripping the robin’s feathers next to Nyra’s dainty hand. How he loved the feel of her fingers on his body. How he ached to feel them again.

He’d been angry at Silver for falling in love with a fae vampire… but he’d always known she was different. She’d never told him why she had to wear a metal vambrace while they’d fucked, and she’d never asked why he preferred not to talk or cuddle or extend their sexual releases into a relationship.

He never asked personal questions because he didn’t want them asked about himself.

Probably because he’d had doubts a long time ago.

He’d been drawn to Silver because she was the closest thing he could get to that magical life beyond the gray crystal walls…

even if she came with a lick of danger. Especially because of that danger.

That thrill had permitted him to feel something .

The lack of conversation had allowed him to keep those guilty feelings to himself.

And now here he was, riding on a bird with a pixie braced in his arms. Her prismatic wings buzzed every so often as though she was restless.

In the darkness, it made him wary. He hated not controlling all the variables, so the next time they fluttered, he folded her wings and pinned them with his body flush against hers.

Nyra gasped and glanced over her shoulder.

“What are you doing?” she shouted, eyes wide.

“They’re in my way,” he bellowed through the wind. “Do they hurt?”

She shook her head, returned her wide-eyed gaze to the front, and shivered.

He tightened his grip around her to keep her warm.

It was cold up here. She continued to shiver sporadically over the next hour of the flight.

He was about to suggest they return to the ground and resume their journey in the morning when it was warmer, but she suddenly pointed to something below them.

Craning his neck, he glimpsed an enormous lake surrounded by bioluminescent plant life. This must be the power source.

A sinking feeling grew in his stomach. Soon Nyra will refill her personal well with mana.

The magical bargain between them would be fulfilled once she’d helped him return to his full human size.

He would have no excuse to stay. No excuse to work through these confusing emotions.

The notion caused him to tighten his grip on Nyra possessively.

She leaned back into him. He almost buried his face into her sweet, smelling hair, but something heavy collided with them.

A giant screech split the air. Panic engulfed Sid. He used every ounce of strength to cling to the robin, keeping Nyra in his embrace. But the enormous shadow bumped into them again.

“Well-damned kuturi!” Nyra shouted. “It shouldn’t be flying at night.”

With a lion’s body and an eagle’s head, the kuturi was a hundred times bigger than them.

It most likely had no idea they were on the same flight path.

The robin tried to swerve, but the kuturi’s talons clipped the robin’s wings, and they went down, spiraling.

The bioluminous ground grew closer by the second.

They say when you stare death in the face, your life flashes before your eyes. But for Sid, at that moment, he only saw the future he’d never have. The future he wanted in Elphyne with Nyra.

She shouted something at him, but the roaring wind stole her voice.

She pointed at her back. Wings . He eased back until her pinned wings released.

With a nimble grace that awed him, Nyra pirouetted and locked her legs around Sid’s torso.

Her wings vibrated so fast that they buzzed and blurred.

She shouted and gestured for him to let go of the robin.

Sid had seen Nyra’s quick thinking before. He trusted her.

He let go, gripped her waist, and held his breath as they separated from the panicking bird. As with that first time they’d escaped the explosion, Nyra struggled to hold Sid’s weight. Gravity pulled them to the ground.

He glanced up, saw fear on her face, and shouted, “Let me go, Fangs. Save yourself.”

The whites of her eyes showed, and she shook her head. So he gritted his teeth and steeled himself for the most difficult decision he’d ever faced. He let go. But the little minx’s thighs held onto him tighter as she shouted obscenities, angry at what he’d attempted.

Her still-repairing wings rallied and slowed their descent.

Not enough.

They crashed through the leafy canopy of the forest. Twigs and branches lashed their faces, but Nyra refused to let go until they landed on something bouncy. And sticky.

It took Sid a moment to realize they weren’t on the ground but still high in tree branches.

“You stupid man,” blurted Nyra, a tremble in her voice. “You let go!”

“I weighed you down,” he grumbled, rolling to detach himself from the sticky net. “What the fuck is this shit?”

“It’s just a web.”

“A web?” As in… spider’s web?

They locked eyes. Heart racing, Sid wrenched himself from the web but only succeeded in sticking further. Nyra wasn’t doing better—her fragile wings were plastered to the silk.

Sid stilled. The net vibrated beneath him like a plucked string. Something was coming.

“Sid?” Panic entered her voice. “I’m stuck and… Sid behind you.”

A glance over his shoulder rewarded him with beady eyes glistening in the moonlight. The spider was about the size of a Doberman and balanced along the web with ballerina-perfect legs.

No weapon. The spear had fallen when the robin was side-swiped.

He swallowed.

Fuck being small. He was over it.

“I don’t suppose you’ve refilled,” he whispered to Nyra.

“Not enough to grow us.”

“Can you do that thing you did with the robin’s mind?”

“The spider’s mind isn’t like a bird, but I’ll try.” She bared her fangs at it. “Get away from him!”

The spider paused. Then resumed crawling along the web, only this time, it went toward Nyra. Fleeting dread crossed her expression before she hardened it.

“Shield yourself, Sid,” she said, never taking her eyes from the creature prowling toward her.

Shield himself? How? He was stuck.

Within moments, bright fiery light exploded from Nyra’s hands and shot toward the arachnid. It screeched as its legs flailed. Everywhere the fire touched, the web melted and broke. Sid started to fall, but another flailing web string stuck to him and kept him aloft.

“No no no,” Nyra cried.

Glancing over, Sid caught her flinging hands, but no more fire came out.

“I’m empty again!”

Sid checked the spider. The fire had fizzled out, and it regained control of its senses. Sid snarled and rolled, trying to peel himself from his restraints. Each gained inch was like a marathon run. He wouldn’t get to Nyra in time.

But then he felt something hard press his thigh as he rolled and stuck to the web. The rock. When he’d fashioned the spear out of a stick, he’d put the sharp rock into the pocket of his fatigues for safekeeping. He yanked it out.

With effort, he turned it in his fist and cut at the web around him. It was a hack job, but it worked. With renewed frenzy, he sliced at the web holding him down. As soon as he freed a limb, he climbed toward Nyra with only one thought driving his actions— protect her .