“How is this the same world as Brookmere?” I asked, stepping around a deep red tree whose sap oozed like blood down its bark.
Jax snorted. “I’m partial to Brookmere’s beauty myself now.”
I narrowed my gaze at the wistful expression he wore at the comment.
“Because, well…you know, all that green.”
This time Lucien huffed from beside us, smoke puffing between our legs where we stood.
“Right, not the beauty of one of my best friends. The greenery.” I nodded, hiding my eye roll as I straightened and faced the direction of the volcano. “Ready?” I asked both of them.
“Let’s do this.” Jax cracked his neck twice before shifting into his panther form. He leapt forward, sprinting toward the volcano without a second glance toward Lucien or me.
The pugron let out a plume of smoke from his snout and ran off behind Jax, trying to keep up with his stubby legs. Snorting, I shook off the laugh at the sight and looked to the sky. Inhaling, I shifted into my hawk form, taking off into the cloudless sky.
Soaring over the land, I could hardly comprehend the landscape before me. I remembered the Mysthaven crew discussing the differences in our lands, but seeing it in person was something else entirely.
Even from above, the land held the same haunting look. Where were the lush rolling hills? The forests? Wildflower groves? All I saw was shrubs that looked like they would draw blood if you got too close, poking through dry dirt.
I wondered where Raya wanted to be after all of this ended. If she enjoyed Brookmere or preferred Mysthaven’s climate and landscape. The bond thrummed inside of my chest.
My preference will be wherever she is.
The thought hit me hard, almost sending me plummeting from the sky. The bond was so much more than a deep well of love.
It was a reforging of what it meant to be home.
My wings wavered as the scent of sulfur permeated my senses, pulling me from thoughts of Raya. The heavy aroma clouded the air, burning my nostrils. The closer I flew to the volcano, the stronger it became.
In our shifted forms, it took no time at all for us to reach the base of the volcano. I passed by Jax and Lucien, splitting from their side, and continued to fly over the area to get a better view.
Indistinct noises echoed as I soared above the opening, where a line of Fae stood just a few feet away from where Jax and Lucien now hid. They shuffled forward in a queue, waiting to enter the volcano itself. Beyond them, though, my stomach bottomed out at the sight. There were hundreds, if not thousands of them waiting. I continued in a loop, noticing a vast area of tents set up. Thames’s army strode around, and a small fight between soldiers even broke out around a campfire. An oily sensation I now recognized as the darkness skated over my skin.
This had to be Thames’s army, including all of the dark ones called here from Ellevail.
“Are you okay?”Raya’s voice caressed my mind, and I let out an audible breath, even in hawk form.
The reassurance of her presence, even in my mind, kept me from spiraling into defeatist thoughts.His army is massive. How could he possibly recruit this many people?
“Most were probably forced.”
My muscles tensed automatically in disgust, and my wings stiffened.
“Be careful.”
While I hated that she had reasons for her fear, her concern bolstered the protective obsession she was slowly becoming.Worried for me, mate?
“You wish,”she huffed.
As I flew back toward Jax and Lucien, I tried to get a final estimate of the army’s size. I didn’t know how we could possibly defeat all of them. We had to find a way somehow. Right now, we needed to focus on the task at hand: finding the weapon. We’d face the army itself soon enough.
Will you stay?I asked Raya.
I felt a comforting warmth radiate through my mind and spread into my chest. “Always.”
Do you think you can get into Jax’s mind?
She paused.“I haven’t ever done it except with you. Though…”She paused.“The seers made a comment that the mate bond could make our magic stronger. So I can try.”
