For one day, they will be gone.
Iheld my soul mate’s hand and subtly kept an eye on the dragon king as we stopped to make camp outside the dark forest, having made decent time andnotbeen attacked again by roots. The man was behaving oddly; he had been on our entire trek through the woods. He’d walked a few paces behind the shifter king, never veering from his watch, keeping his solid golden eyes on the King of Shifters, who carried his pregnant soul mate through the land of Fairy.
King Elon pulled bed sheets from his satchel, stating, “These are the best I could find.” He glared at the thin sheets in the darkness of the night. “They did not have much that was warm.”
“They’ll work just fine,” Minnie assured. “We’ll need to cover them with brush as it is, so that will help.”
I rubbed at my jaw with my free hand and questioned, “King Ula, how are we to get my daughter out of Fairy if she is not awake to follow you as a butterfly?”
“I can manage to carry her through,” the dragon king stated, leaning with a shoulder against a tree trunk—still conveniently close to the shifter king and my heir. “I’ve done it before. It is tricky since she can’t see me, but my touch will protect her from harm.”
“Butterfly?” King Athon sat carefully on the ground and protected his soul mate on his lap. “What are you speaking of?”
“King Ula bleeds on us, and then we turn into butterflies. Apparently, that’s how Fae travel back and forth from Fairy to our realm.”
The King of Shifters grunted. “That is odd...and strangely not after this day.” He arched his back the best he could, holding my child, and added, “Will someone hand me dried jerky? I am more tired than I should be.”
“It is the pixie dust. It’s why we’re all so drained right now and need rest. We were dusted, too,” King Ula enlightened, walking forward and handing over two pieces of our food. “But I can hold Princess Trixie if you wish to stretch your muscles for a few minutes.”
King Athon took the proffered food and nodded in thanks, smiling politely. Then his grin casually turned savage, and he purred quietly, “If you think I haven’t noticed your attention today, you are a fool.” He quirked a dark eyebrow andgrowledsoftly. “You, of all people, know how territorial shifters are when their soul mate is with child.Back the fuck off.”
The King of Dragons narrowed his eyes down on the shifter king. “I assure you, I am not interested in your soul mate.”
My lips twitched. “Just her firstborn daughter.” I smiled cruelly at his furious glance. “Is that not what you wanted in exchange for taking us here? Would you like to tell me why?”
Instantly, King Athon snarled, “You did not—”
“No, I did not,” I cut off the shifter king, holding up my free hand in his direction—but kept my eyes where they were needed on the dragon king, who was acting just as territorial as my child’s soul mate. “Tell me, King Ula. Truly. I wish to know.”
Hegrowledquietly at me. “You are very rash with your words. We have accomplished the mission. We’ve retrieved your daughter. I could kill you now.”
Mother rapidly blinked into existence, directly in front of the dragon king. “I told you to behave.”
King Ulasnarledfiercely and took two quick steps back. “I haven’t touched him.”
She pointed sharply at his face. “Then quit with the tragic threats.” Then…she disappeared again.
The King of Shifters stared wide-eyed where my mother used to stand, growling quietly, “I feel as if I’ve missed much while I’ve been asleep.”
I snorted. “As I’ve said, I’ll fill you in later.”
“I… That looked like your mother.”
“Yes.”
“She’s a wraith?”
“Yes.”
He blew a hard breath, a peevish expression crossing over his features. “I wouldn’t mind one of my own.”
Laughter bubbled out of my lips. “You currently have your hands full.”
“Quite so.” King Athon looked down at my daughter, absently biting into a piece of his dried jerky—but he was still keeping track of the dragon king from the corner of his eyes. He chewed silently in deep thought. “How far are we from the Blood Forest? I wish to get my soul mate settled in our realm as fast as possible.”
“That is a good question,” King Ula stated grudgingly…once again watching them. “I could pull us there now, but as tired as I am—” He tersely shut his mouth and sniffed the air.
Ruiuen stepped out of the dark forest—and all of our attention slammed on the surprise arrival. “You’ll do no such thing, King Ula. In your current condition, you would fail miserably and hurt everyone here.” The Fae walked forward on large, white furry paws, her attention focusing on my daughter. “But King Athon was correct. She needs to be back in her realm. Her body is giving so much to the living inside her that it cannot compensate in a land that’s dying.”
