“And we aren’t all pricks,” he added, calling out to me as I strode away. “One of us didn’t sweep you away against your will.”
“Thank you, Rook,” Lark grumbled and I turned on him.
“You can’t just use your magic whenever you wish,” I snapped. “Not here. Not unless you want to expose your entire plane to mine. These are intelligent people, some of the world’s most foremost scholars. They won’t be deterred by some half-assed excuses. So we had better think of a story and quick.”
“We hold a private interest. We flew you here on our private helicopter. America isn’t the only one investigating this phenomenon. Take your pick.”
I bristled, jutting out my chin in preparation for a fight but then I shivered involuntarily. Until that moment, I had failed to notice that I was on the side of an arctic mountain in a blazer and jeans.
“Cold?” Lark asked, raising a brow.
I clenched my jaw and glared at him. He smirked with amusement and waved a hand. Suddenly, I was much warmer and far more uncomfortable. I glanced down at the incredibly tight black pants and low cut black coat. Shifting a bit, I could tell I wasn’t wearing a shirt under said coat. Or a bra.
“Black suits you,” he told me, his gaze narrowing in appreciation as he took a step back to admire his work. Rook chuckled from behind us.
“You forgot a few pieces,” I growled.
“Did I?” he asked, feigning innocence with a shrug. “My apologies. Fashion isn’t my forte.”
“It wouldn’t have to be if you had given me time to pack.”
“We won’t be here that long.”
I let out an exaggerated sigh, crossing my arms and clenching my jaw.
“You’re so confident in your abilities?” I asked, shaking my head.
“I’m quite confident in many of my abilities,” he mused, letting his gaze rake over me once more. My cheeks burned as I whirled around to the man standing silently behind us.
“Aren’t you going to do anything at all about him?” I snapped.
Rook tilted his head in thought for a moment before waving a hand in my direction. Suddenly, my underwear was back and even a thick black turtleneck to boot. I stared down at the change, mouth open. Rook just smiled slightly and shrugged.
“This is worse than I thought,” Lark said then, interrupting our conversation. Rook fell silent as I stepped forward to Lark, looking from him to the rift where his attention had drifted.
“What do you mean?” I asked, forgetting his impropriety for a moment. “You can help us, can’t you?”
I had just watched this Fae transport us halfway across the world with a simple touch. If he couldn’t mend this rift and our machines weren’t capable of reversing the polarity, I was out of options. The entire mortal plane was out of options. I would fail us. I would fail all of us.
Lark just stared up at the rift, lost in thought. In my desperation, I turned to his friend once again.
“He can do this, can’t he? Can’t you both? I mean, surely two of you—”
“Take us closer.”
My mouth snapped shut. I bristled at being commanded in such a way, whirling back to face Lark who was still watching the rift intently as if he couldn’t pull his gaze away from that swirling black mass.
“Follow me,” I barked, annoyed. “And don’t say a word.”
I turned away from them and stomped forward, up the slight incline of the mountain toward the camp. Wyn saw me coming before I arrived and set the box he had been hauling aside, placing his hands on his hips as he caught his breath and looked me over.
“Professor Belling,” he said in greeting. He watched me warily, as if afraid I would brandish a gun and shoot him where he stood if he took his eyes off of me for even a second. “It’s good to see you’ve made it back in one piece. The president has been demanding more information on how you took down the minotaur. If we could speak privately for a moment…”
He gave a pointed look over my shoulder to where the two hulking Fae males stood out against the snowy backdrop of the mountain.
“Are you still in charge of this camp?” I asked, doing my best to sound friendly but I could do nothing to hide the implication of my words. Asking if he was still in charge but leaving the rest unsaid. After you abandoned it, after you left your men to die, after you failed your mission.
“I am,” he replied, puffing out his chest in that way that insecure men always did to assert their authority.
