“Fuck!” A growl hit my ears, a hand clutching the back of my head, padding it before it slammed back onto the stone. Cracking my eyes open, aqua irises stared down into mine, long hair tickling my face, a slight smirk on Warwick’s face. “I’m getting you a helmet.”
Groaning, my lids fluttered for a moment, nausea making my stomach spin, the need to vomit coating my tongue.
“Sorry, Fishy, that one was a one point five at best.” Opie marched up my arm beneath Warwick. “No dismount at all. We should try something higher.”
“Why aren’t you still passed out with your friend?” Warwick grumbled, brushing him off me.
“I have a fast metabolism. Mother always said it was how I stayed so trim.” He waved at his body, a potbelly protruding from the space between his paper skirt and top.
Warwick scoffed, turning back to me. “You all right?” he muttered huskily, slowly sitting me up, his large warm palm brushing back the hair sticking to my face.
“Yeah.” I leaned my head against him, still feeling queasy. He felt warm and safe, and I longed to curl up against him and nap.
With a burning gaze on me, I shifted my head to see Tad across from me. His jaw was set, his eyes a mix of perplexity and fear.
“What?” I croaked, pushing my weight off Warwick’s corded arm. Dread slithered into my stomach.
“It didn’t let me in,” Tad replied, stunned. “It blocked me from following you.”
My attention drifted to Ash, then back to Tad. “It didn’t let him in either.”
“ButIam a Druid.” Tad adjusted his bowed back, his head shaking. “We are its maker. My kinfolk created these books.Ourmagic. But this time, it tossed me back out, only wanting you...” Tad slanted his head, really peering at me. “Why?”
I had no answer.
“What did it show you?” he asked.
My mouth opened, then shut, the images of Killian, the things that were said, the hints about his past. He knew about the nectar. The whole scene created more questions than answers, and for some reason, I didn’t feel like divulging all I saw to this entire room. There was just one question they wanted to know anyway.
“It’s not here. Someone took it.”
Ash groaned, his hand running through his hair. Warwick blew out a long breath, his head falling forward.
“Are you saying this was all for nothing?” Tracker moved away from the entrance he had been guarding, stomping up to us. “Are you fucking kidding me? You dragged us into enemy territory, and it’s not here?”
Warwick rose to his feet, his chest expanding as he took one step to Tracker, his physique like a boulder. “Step back, asshole.”
He would not tell him twice.
“Track.” Ava rushed forward, pulling him back, a lot smarter than Tracker in understanding Warwick’s dominance and threat level. She was fae and probably felt Warwick’s power. “Calm down. It’s not her fault.”
“It’s not?” He huffed. “How do we know she’s even telling the truth? She could be saying that so we don’t get our hands on it.”
Warwick growled. Ava yanked Tracker back out of the legend’s reach.
“Did it show you anything else?” Tad brought me back to the topic. “Did the book show you where it was taken?”
“No.” I shook my head, my shoulders sagging.
“Not one clue where the pirate took it?”
My head jerked to Tad as if ice water poured down my back, scrambling me up to my feet. “I-I didn’t say anything about a pirate.” Fear clutching my lungs, I rose, stepping back, a warning bell twanging in my chest. “How did you know a pirate took it?”
Sadness furrowed his bushy eyebrows, his blue eyes finding mine with such devastation.
“How did you know that?” I gritted out, his silence storming fear and fury. “Tell me!”
“You remember when I said one day I might need kindness in return from you?” He swallowed, his head dipping. “I am so sorry, dear girl.”
