Her entire demeanor changes. Her face softens, and she opens her arms, pulling Isla into an embrace. I don’t like how close they’ve become in such a short time. What I really don’t like is how she plans on coming back here. I don’t like where that action will lead.
“I really hope you come back to us,” Terra says, holding Isla at arm’s length. Her voice is warm, her eyes searching. “There is a place for you among the shifterfae.”
Isla nods. “Thank you, Terra. I appreciate it.”
“Here is more of the plant you asked me for.” She hands the tightly wrapped package to Isla, who takes it, slipping it into her pocket.
“Thank you. I’m sure I have plenty. I only need to drink the tea for seven days.”
“Just in case, you might need more. Remember what we discussed.” Terra squeezes her shoulders. “Meet us at the place we talked about in five nights. No matter what happens, be there. I’ll be waiting. We’ll give you a full day to come before we’ll be forced to leave.”
“I will do my very best to be there.”
What plan have they hatched between them? But I hold my tongue. I gave up the right to be involved in Isla’s decisions.
Terra releases her and steps back.
Behind us, a gathering of shifterfae has assembled at the cavern entrance.
Isla lifts her hand in a small wave.
They wave back. A few of them call out in the clicking language of the shifterfae. I don’t understand the words, but the sentiment is clear enough. They want her to return. They’ve claimed her as one of their own.
“We should go.” My voice is rough.
Isla doesn’t look at me. She just nods and walks toward the waiting dragons.
There are six of them. Enormous beasts crouched low to the ground, their leathery wings folded against their flanks. From time to time, smoke rises from their nostrils in twin plumes.
I approach the one designated to carry me. The dragon turns its great, horned head and regards me with one slitted eye.
I grip the leathery ridge at the base of its neck and haul myself up, finding the shallow groove between the shoulder blades.
A naked male regards Isla as she walks up.
“Are you sure you want to go to the Shadow Court?” he asks her.
“Very sure.” She nods.
“We’ll take you as close as we can,” he says, stepping back. His body starts to reform, growing larger. A tail and wings push from his skin, along with bony protrusions that quickly cover with scales. Moments later, a great dragon stands before her. He crouches low, like the others.
Isla mounts easily. She gets into position, her hands finding purchase on the bony ridges. She’s wearing form-fitting dark clothing and long boots. She pulls the hood low over her braided hair.
The dragons rise to their feet.
One of them makes a rumbling noise, and in the next moment, the ground falls away beneath us with a stomach-lurching drop, and then we are airborne. Wind tears at my clothing, and my hair streams back from my face. The Shifter Court shrinks to a collection of dark openings in the mountainside, and then it’s gone, swallowed by cloud and distance.
We fly in formation. The six dragons move as one, their wings beating in a rhythm that carries us south. Toward the deadlands. Toward the Shadow Court.
Toward the place where Isla intends to throw her life away.
I turn to her.
She sits low on her dragon’s neck, her body moving with the beast’s flight. Up here, she looks small and fragile, despite everything I know about her power.
She’s actually going to do this.
She’s going to walk straight into the heart of the Shadow Court, where guards will be waiting, where her face is known, where there’s a bounty on her head.
