Then…she disappeared.
I stared at where she used to be, purposely keeping my attention off my soul mate, who was delicately securing the last pair of cuffs right near us. I tapped on my lips and pointed where Mother used to stand, saying, “I think she was saying fire.”
“I would agree,” the dragon king stated. He chuckled softly, and it was treacherously dark. “If she wasn’t a wraith, your mother wouldn’t be half bad. She has a certain flair about her.”
Lies of a father:
I never thought I could look at the shifter king differently, a beastly man who now holds my child’s wellbeing in his own hands.
I was wrong.
So when he needs it, I will lie to him.
Iplaced my hands over King Athon’s body, keeping my palms over his form and saying absently, “I do listen, Mother. I always hear you.”
King Elon jumped forward. “Wait! You can’t burn him. What in the realm are you thinking?”
“Once he is awake, he can safely wake my heir.” I shook my head. “She is with child,his kin. It could be dangerous to wake her this way.” I looked pointedly into his gaze and said slowly, “King Athon can heal her through his Fae-spark. Understand?”
“Oh…quite so.” Politely put in his place, he took a step back. “Might I suggest that you use your flame sparingly? It would be best.”
“I’m just going to heat him up.” I snorted and looked back down at the shifter king. “Not roast his shifter ass.” Letting my royal firepower burn within me, I sent pulses of heat down his body, slowly allowing it to warm and burn hotter. “I imagine he is not going to wake happy. You three will want to step back further.”
When they were a safe distance away, I solidified the heat and surrounded his body entirely, and dug deep into his core where I could feel the resistance, warming him from the inside out and holding it steady.
Abruptly, King Athon’s solid black eyes shot open, his entire frame flinching. Then his gaze snapped right at me, his claws slicing through his fingers.
“Calm yourself,” I eased him gently, keeping my royal firepower working. “I’m helping you right now. You were kidnapped from our realm to the land of Fairy. A water pixie put you in a deep sleep for some time.” The shifter king didn’t blink, staring up at me with deadly eyes—but he was listening, at least. I whispered quietly, “I’m healing your body right now with my royal firepower. That’s why you’re so hot. Hold still a moment longer, and I will be done, I believe. There’s still pixie dust working through your body.”
His nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply, sniffing at the air. King Athon’s head whipped to the side, and his entire body froze in place as his eyes landed on my daughter’s face.
“My daughter is alive. Do not fret.” I pushed harder at that resistance inside his body, a smidge of it lingering. “When you’re healed, you’ll need to help her to wake.”
King Athon’s chest began rising and falling rapidly when his scanning gaze landed on his soul mate’s stomach. His hands began to tremble much like the Fae’s had minutes ago, and his claws swiftly vanished.
In the silence that lay heavily on us, his fingers curled down against the altar, and he tried to speak, his voice choked as he stared at her rounded belly, rasping, “I don’t understand.”
My lips pinched at his blatant worry—and confusion. “You were asleep for many months, King Athon. We’re still in Fairy right now, and the time moves bizarrely here. What was only a few days for me, has not been that for you and my daughter.”
The King of Shifters’ chest pumped even harder—it was a possibility he would start hyperventilating at any moment. His voice was guttural when he asked, “What of her womb? Did any harm come to it?”
“That…I honestly don’t know. But you are fine, so it would stand to reason my child and her womb are, too.” I pulled my hands back and finished healing him. “You may move. I’m done.”
King Athon instantly rolled onto his side and twisted to sit on his knees next to her. He placed one large palm on her stomach, spreading his fingers wide, and the other on my daughter’s forehead. But the shifter king froze when he inhaled again, and his head shot to the left…right to where my silent companions stood.
He blinked once. Then twice.
King Athon pulled his hands back from his soul mate. “This is the rescue party?” He sniffed again, and his solid black eyes roamed over all the dead lying about. “It appears it was successful.”
I waved my right hand in the air. “They know you’re the father. There’s no need to pretend. Much has happened, and I’ll explain later.” I stalked around the altar and pointed down at my child. “Fix her.”
King Athon’s deadly attention danced between the gorgon king and the dragon king, growling, “Are we going to have a problem?”
The King of Gorgons shook his head. “The only problem I have currently is that I have dirt in my teeth. I want a bath and a nap. Back in our realm.” He waved toward my child. “You may heal her so we can go home.”
King Ula merely smiled. “I’m behaving.”
I muttered in exasperation, “They tried to help save you. They aren’t going to hurt you now.” More pointing of my finger at my child. “Focus, King Athon. Fix her.Now.”
