All my pain was instantly gone—in a mere second.
I heal fast, butnot that fast.
I glanced at the moon that was high in the sky.
Earlier, he had been sleeping. When I’d been in the air, traveling on Penelope’s back, he’d been peaceful—just like he’d been the very first time I’d awakened next to his unrefined, naked body in my bedchamber, and he’d still been asleep.
I think I’d managed to wake him up tonight.
The King of Shifters was fuming mad about it, too.
Or, perhaps, he was upset that his control had slipped in his slumbering state, and he’d healed me like he’d ordered me not to do for him?
It didn’t matter right now. My situation was too precarious to worry about his infuriated state of mind. I needed to focus on my own well-being. I glanced over my shoulder, the lion cub and its mother far behind me now. I began running again, pumping my arms hard while I sprinted up the cobblestone street, the lights still so far away.
King Athon’s attitude never altered in my Fae-spark. He stayed irate as the minutes passed, his anger resonating like a beat within my own thumping heart. The shifter king managed not to heal me again, even when I fell to my knees and scraped my hands, my body exhausted.
I stared at the ground below me, sweat dripping off my temples and onto the cobblestones. I gasped in air, and ordered darkly, “Get up, Trixie. Get up. You’re prey out here.Get up and move.”
I stumbled to my feet on shaking legs and swayed where I stood. I stared at the twinkling lights of Mount Hawthorne, only a little closer than before. This was such a horrible idea.
Why had I thought this was reasonable to do?
It sure as Fairy is not.
Fear made me move again—the fear of letting my people down. If I ended up being a drugged queen because my soul mate died, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. My people would suffer.Innocentlives would suffer. So I ran again.
I ran until the lights were much closer.
I ran until I couldn’t throw up again—six times was my limit.
I ran until I spotted pointed ears on the side of the road.
I ran until I face planted on the grass right next to the elf.
On a parched, raw throat, I rasped, “Where are the elf merchants staying?”
The elf gently rubbed my back, my shoulders quivering under her soft touch. She stated gently, “Right here. You’ve made it. You can relax now.”
I blinked past the stinging burn of sweat in my eyes and raised my head. Dirt clung to my soaked skin as I squinted past the pain. At least thirty elves were sleeping serenely around a campfire. I dropped my head back to the soft grass and closed my eyes, thankfulness causing me to shake even more. I was a mess.
I panted. “Thank the Fae above and below.”
I smiled in my fatigued state, even with King Athon’s gloomy aggravation sitting heavily inside my Fae-spark.
I wasproudof myself.
* * *
Opaque gray smoke from the stomped-out campfire lingered in the air around me. I sat with my back against a thick tree, the bark scratching against my exposed skin. I hadn’t managed to sleep at all. So instead, I decided to keep watch over the elves unprotected in their slumbering state inside the shifter forest.
Tree limbs shielded against the weather—which, luckily, stayed relatively decent all night. Gentle dew now coated the curls of grass, the early morning rays of sunlight highlighting the small droplets of water, creating a deceptive golden glow of serenity.
Some of my people may have been conversing with one another right now, smiling at each other as they boasted about how many coins they would make today, but the more experienced elves—their clothes far dirtier than anyone else’s, having been in the Shifter Kingdom the longest—were positioned as I was. Their eyes stayed on the forest, scanning back and forth, constantly aware of their surroundings, ready to protect themselves and others if they must.
I knew why I was here. I didn’t understand why they were.
There were more elf merchants here than was normal.
