Shaking my head, I wag my finger at the bear. “Nuh-uh, big guy. Those two are poisonous, that’s why.” I reach up and point to the two fanged mark with an amused expression. “Something I didn’t know they were debating until afterward because Khol’s definitely a double dick.”
Torben blinks, looking at Fer, then me. He sighs, then shakes his head to go over to the counter for coffee. He’s obviously gotten used to our unpredictable shit and doesn’t feel the need to comment. Dezi, however, leaves his ‘old dude’ perch to approach my sister. He takes her hand—something unusual for him since the stupid glass incident—and smiles down at her fondly.
“You have a basilisk, a wyrm black dragon, and a phoenix in your family group, Bubbles.” His expression is serious, but his voice is surprisingly gentle. “You are safer now than you’ve ever been in your life, especially with your Kodiak mate. Listen to Diaval’s wisdom. Follow Easton’s directions; he’s lived a thousand years. Don’t contain the basilisk’s rage; he’s damn near indestructible.”
Her gaze slides to the men in the nook, and I roll my eyes. If that asshole thinksI’mgoing to behave that compliantly on our trip, he’s had some trippy ass blood recently. Snapping my fingers in front of Fer, I bring her out of her head. “We have to figure out how we’re going to keep in touch between this realm and Faerie. We know cell service sucks balls and not everyone can do the shit Edgelord over there can.”
Rev wrinkles his nose at me, signalingthatnickname doesn’t work. I’ll get it someday, but non-sarcastic monikers aren’t my strong suit. My ears catch the dragon muttering about it being illegal to roast Fae in his bitter way, and I have to suppress a snort. No one pipes up with an answer until my sister looks pleadingly at Revelin. He beams happily, obviously choosing to wait until someone asked before he offered.
Jackass.
Mimicking me, he snaps his fingers, and a punky pixie appears out of nowhere. She flutters to his ear, and I glare as he laughs fondly. I don’t care who this mini-glitter stick is—I don’t like their familiarity. His eyes shoot to me and the smugness increases before he says in a clear voice, “Oh, no. You’re going to watch over Fluffy.”
The pixie flitters over to Feray, straightening to her full six inch height. Her colorful spiked hair and head-to-toe leather aren’t normal for her kind—as far as I know, which could be all lies because of the idiot witch council. Holding up a palm for the newcomer to land on, my sister smiles as she speaks. “Hi, I’m Feray.”
I keep my gaze on the tiny woman, wondering a million things I hate as she preens a little. My life hasn’t been filled with people I give a shit about, and this spark of possessive jealousy isn’t normal. I don’t like it and it’d better not get worse. My irritation grows as the pixie smiles back at my sister, then turns to look at my Fae mate.
“Thoughtful this one is; I like. I’m Rowena or Ro. Not like row, row, row your boat, though.” Her glare falls on Revelin, and he winces. It must be a common theme for them.
The monster in my gut uncurls little more, and I have to look elsewhere while I gather myself.Not the time, Fiadh.Instead, I pretend to laugh at her, joking with the Prince like everyone would expect. Tilting my head, I address Ro directly. “I guess she can just pop up wherever you are and pass messages back and forth?”
She nods, agreeing with my statement, but I can tell she’s not sure about me.
That makes two of us, Punky Pixie.
“More or less,” Rev says, checking his phone when it buzzes. “I can summon her and send her back to you at will.For fuck’s sake,it’s plus four…Organizers.” He shakes his head, looking irritable as he motions to the door to excuse himself.
He has agents, but some places bypass the duo because they have connections to the royal family. It means while they’re finalizing details of his four kingdom tour, he gets way more questions than he should about things he shouldn’t be concerned about. I told one to fuck all the way off and back to Earth again when they called at three a.m. and woke us all up on one of my days off.
I’m not supposed to answer his phone again, but we had a good laugh afterward.
“What’s got Prince Picky Pants in a tizzy?” Khal asks as they come in right after Revelin yells outside.
“Tour shit again,” I say with a sigh. “Take pictures of everything so we don’t forget it.”
Khol rolls his eyes, but mutters, “Yes, boss.”
That earns him a smirk of approval as his twin makes nice with Feray. Khal seems interested in the pixie hanging out with her, asking, “Hitchhiker?”
“She’s how we’re going to keep in touch between the realms in case the phones don’t work. This is Ro.” My sister grins and looks at the pixie as she leaps to her shoulder. “Ro, this is my mate, Khal.”
“The pleasure’s all mine,” the quieter twin says as Ro sticks her tiny hand out to wave. “I better go help Khol before he has a fit. I’ll grab the scrolls and books we need.”
Both the basilisk and the pixie disappear in their own ways before my sister turns back to me. I dislike delegating and assigning themto make sure we have things ready makes my eye twitch. I’m not used to having people to depend on and the stress is giving me a sharp pain behind one eyeball. Clearing my throat, I address Fer. “Rev and I have gone over where the dream says the items are extensively. His tour will come within range of them all, so it won’t draw suspicion.”
I tilt my head as Tier brings me the map we’ve been using, circling the spots with a pencil lightly. They’re located in off-the-beaten path spots within each of the four kingdoms, but since his dates are decently spaced, we should have plenty of time to search. I wish we had better markers, but it’s not like I can ring up the stag or anyone else to ask for step-by-step directions. It wouldn’t be a damn quest if we didn’t have a bunch of legwork to do.
Not that I’m the kind of girl who enjoys Fae treasure hunts, but more info would make this less annoying.
Feray nods, pulling out her phone to show me the route they’ll be taking to Blackmoor. She’s got it all planned out in the app, which actually makes me feel better. “According to the Sphinx, I have relatives in Blackmoor. They may know where my parents are. We’re going to head there first, and hope for the best.”
Her expression is unsure, so I smile at her, nodding. “Seems like a solid plan.” I can’t complain about the open-endedness of it because our plans aren’t much more cohesive. We’re simply following Rev’s tour path and improvising along the way, “The only bad part of this adventure is I can’t be there to keep you safe.”
Tiernan’s chest hits my back just as the fear runs through me and I have to school my features, so I don’t sigh in relief. “Knuckles, she has two mates that can wield fire, one that can poison and turn things to stone, and the fourth has the strength of ten men. Torben’s people are known for being berserkers in battle; don’t underestimate him. He’s at peace and snuggles with Feray, but he’ll kill to protect what’s his.”
My eyes linger as Torben nods emphatically, and a little of the weight pressing on my chest lifts. Feray has a fierce team with her; she will be okay. I won’t have to claim her charred remains like I did my parents. Repeating that in my head over and over as we grew helped me not lose my shit every time someone threatened us, but now I feel more confident in the words.
I’ve never told anyone—not even Feray—how often I woke up with nightmares about that situation after our parents died.
