A small shrieking sound came from the table and Kyla looked to see Rue stirring. She let out a foxish bark as she continued to slumber, kicking her small legs in her sleep.
Avery cooed at the sight of Rue running in her sleep. “When she’s in this form it’s so easy for me to forget that she’s a fae and not a fluffy, friendly little fox. But seriously, look how cute she is kicking her paws like that!”
Hyacinth let out a hard laugh. “Never tell a shifter that, Avery, if you value your tongue! They may very well cut it out for such an offensive statement.”
A bang came from the door before it swung open, surprise and fear bubbling forth in Avery and Hyacinth. Kyla leaped up from her seat, toppling her tea cup to the floor where it smashed into pieces.
Dark clouds, like a stormy night’s sky filled the room. Avery screamed and Kyla saw her lift her arms to protect them. Before she could cast a protective barrier around them, Kyla saw who stood in the doorway. A dark winged fae with feathers the color of ravens and skin like ebony. Her black dress flowed around her as the clouds spun in an unnatural wind.
“Where is she? Where is my mate?” and Kyla recognized the voice, clear and raging with anger.
Selene.
Chapter 38
Morgan
Rylo cradled Morgan in his arms like she was the most precious cargo he’d ever carried as they flew low through the swampy lands of the Wastewater. Despite the eagans flying ahead, Rylo refused to let Morgan down. Wouldn’t even hear her protests when she said she could ride on an eagan with him, even though he had to be as exhausted as she was.
They hadn’t slept in over a day, and the fatigue from the whole experience in Goldoth was wearing on her.
Rylo didn’t speak a word as they flew. No witty retorts for Morgan’s attempted conversation. No wry smiles. His typicallyexpressionless face was set in hard lines, like he was ready to burn the world like the Sun incarnate that he was.
What if it had been Rylo?
What if Morgan had used that spell to burn throughRylo’sessence? He would have been the one dying in her arms, not Elio. He would be lying in a tunnel somewhere deep under the earth. And it could have easily happened that way. Morgan had no idea that the spell she wielded would be that powerful, that she wouldn’t only utilize Elio’s essence, but have the capacity to drain it.
His death was on her hands. He was dead because she acted without thinking through the repercussions, something she would never do before falling off Sapphire Falls. Unlike the other lives she’d taken, Elio was innocent, as were those creatures in the cavern. She didn’t even know if they had survived her spell. She’d fled the caves before she had a moment to find out if the blinding light had mortally wounded hundreds. Morgan may have just committed egregious crimes, just so she could retrieve a relic. The thought made bile rise in her throat.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Morgan spat out as she began gagging.
Rylo wordlessly flew her to what little solid ground he could find, setting Morgan on a stump that was jutting out of the marshy ground.
Morgan let herself expel all the horror, all the pain she’d caused those folk, into the murky grey water at her feet.
“Whatever you do, do not touch that water,” Rylo growled. He was lying across the broken log, wings dipping to mere inches above the water’s surface.
Morgan frowned as she tried to clean herself up the best she could before she collapsed at his side, bone-weary from the experiences of the last day. Her head was spinning and she didn’t know how she could stay awake much longer.
“I guess you don’t need to follow your own advice?” she asked, leaning her head close enough to inhale the spicy scent of him, envious of that scent, knowing that she probably smelled like those horrible tunnels. Her eyes drifted shut and she didn’t hear his response.
Morgan could sense that they were inside, but she didn’t have the strength to open her eyes. All she could do was lay still and feel the heat of the fire and hear the crackling of kindling. She smelled something warm and hearty cooking over the fire. Yet, she couldn’t seem to open her eyes. They felt like lead weights against her face as she felt a heated touch graze her bare arm and a fur blanket press against her.
She drifted into another restless sleep, but the warmth and comfort remained near her.
Rylo.
He was at her side, always his hot and comforting presence so close that she knew if she had the strength, she could reach up and touch him, feel the heat of his skin against the cool of her own.
Muffled voices, deep in conversation, continued around her, but she was too lost in her own exhaustion to be able to make out what they were saying.
Eventually she stirred, her eyelids opening to a ramshackle hovel with a hot fire crackling in the river stone hearth.
A gasp of horror escaped her lips as she looked at a creature that would haunt her nightmares for the rest of her life. Greenish-brown skin was exposed and only a loincloth covered its lower half. A broad pot belly stuck out of the creature’smidsection. Membranous bat-like wings were tucked in close to the creature’s back as it stirred a large pot over the hearth.
She turned her face to the heated touch at her hand. Rylo. He was there beside her after all.
One dimple popped in his cheek as he gave her a nearly unnoticeable smile.
