I look back up at Rayne, only to find her staring at me defensively like she’s preparing to fight. “You baby is adorable. How old?” I ask, hoping the question puts her at ease.
Her eyes are wide and afraid but soften slightly at my question. “He – he’s only three days,” she answers quietly.
Sin gives her a grim look. “The father?”
She closes her eyes, shaking her head. “A dragon shifter – he, he held off the guards for as long as he could so we could escape.” Her voice shakes, and my heart breaks for her.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper.
She takes a deep breath and gazes down at her baby. “I won’t let them hurt Azar.”
Rosie takes Rayne’s hand, and quickly, we make our way back out of the tree. As soon as we’re outside, Sin steps forward. “The Shadow Realm wards will knock you out when you arrive,” he holds his hands out, “I can take the little one so he isn’t accidentally dropped.”
Rayne stiffens. “Is it safe? Will it hurt him?”
Sin shakes his head. “I’ll put him to sleep beforehand so he doesn’t feel a thing. It won’t hurt him, I swear it.”
Rayne looks ready to burst into tears but hands the baby to Sin. He accepts the child, tucking him closely in one arm. His tattoos glow slightly red as his thumbgently brushes the baby’s forehead. “Sleep,” he commands in a gentle whisper.
Immediately, the baby’s eyes shut, and we all watch for another moment as his chest continues to steadily rise and fall.
“Time to go,” Sin notes as he looks back at us.
“I – I don’t want to be separated from him. Please,” Rayne adds.
At her question, Rosie lets go of Rayne’s hand and gives her a nudge towards Sin. “You two go ahead, Vivian and I will be right behind you.”
Sin takes Rayne’s hand but pauses to give me a warning look.
I smile sweetly. There’s the illogically wrathful Destroyer I’ve been looking for.
Sin rolls his eyes, and he and Rayne disappear.
I turn to find Rosie wandering a few feet away, staring at the trees. She looks so sad. Given how much I miss my realm and haven’t been gone long at all, I can’t even imagine how much it must hurt for her to leave this behind.
“I can see why you love the garden so much if this is what you grew up with,” I note softly.
Rosie turns back to me, giving me a small smile. “I can feel them, the threads of life here. They’re all connected. It’s soothing.”
I’m about to ask her if she gets to come back often when I spot the glint of something metallic in a tree behind Rosie.
My eyes widen when I realize it’s another fairy standing deathly silent on a branch. He’s encased in chrome armor, save for the visor lifted from his face.But that isn’t what caught the light. It’s the arrow he has pointed directly at Rosie.
I run.
“Duck!” I scream just as the arrow leaves the bow. Rosie barely has time to turn her head to look for the threat before I shove her.
A shocked huff of breath is all I manage when a searing pain slices through my arm and then radiates into my side. We both tumble to the ground, Rosie falling beside me. I look at the source of the pain, only to find the arrow is there, impaled through my left arm. The arrowhead is either in the fighting leather or my ribs. I can’t tell.
Through the shock of pain, I look back up only to see a volley of arrows follow it, arcing through the air as they start descending on us.
Before I can confidently declare that we are beyond dead, Rosie grabs me. The ground drops from beneath us, and everything goes black.
An old woman is singing, and I think I might be dead. But a few blinks later, I turn to find Rayne is also here, fast asleep on a cot that matches the one I’m on. The older woman is bouncing Rayne’s baby in her arms.
“Enjoy your nap?” a gruff voice calls from the other side of my cot. I spin to see Sin leaning against the wall, watching me. He looks none the worse for wear,so I’m assuming whatever wards guard the Shadow Realm don’t affect him.
I start to sit up, wincing from the pain in my arm and ribs. Looking down, I see my fighting leathers have been replaced by a loose black T-shirt, and my arm is wrapped in a fresh bandage.
