“The sand sprites are incredibly territorial, like the vaarasuxa. I had hoped Oni wouldn’t pick up on my presence if I was surrounded by a… stronger male scent.” She snorted. “In my defense, your fire wall was incredibly arousing, and I would have acted on that even if I wasn’t trying to mask my presence.”
“And the mates thing,” he said, swallowing. “I’m guessing the sand sprites have mates, and our… mating scent is what he was referring to?”
“Yes.” It was so easy to lie.
What she wouldn’t tell him was that Oni’s sense of smell had picked up on her feelings toward Cason. The crystal prince said as much, thankfully in his own language, to which Brela cursed him for invading her privacy.
That had only encouraged his behavior. He’d attempted to put a crown on her head to claim her as his own. That’s where she drew the line.
Serill rode up beside them. “Where are we going?”
Brela stuck her tongue out at Oni. “The Glass Pits.”
“The GlassWilds,” Oni corrected, glancing over his shoulder toward her.
“And it’s safe?” Cason asked.
“You have not told them?” the sand sprite asked Brela.
She grumbled. “I was trying to avoid all this, remember?”
Much to her annoyance, Elias snorted from behind them. “I, for one, can’t wait to meet Atuphe.”
“I’ll pass,” Farrah chimed in with a shudder.
Oni just smiled wider. “Not to worry. My home is safe for you fleshy things, as long as you stay out of the… pits.” That wicked grin landed on Cason, his crystal-sand tongue tracing a fang. “Though I think Atuphe would very much like to meet the lightning wielder.”
“Xyra xib,” Brela hissed at Oni.Behave. The sand sprite lifted his hands, an offer to back off, but those swirling black sand eyes betrayed him. Brela leaned against Cason’s chest and whispered over her shoulder. “Hey, Cason? Don’t turn your back on Oni, and don’t get too close to the pits.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” His arm tightened on her waist. “Who is Atuphe?”
She swallowed and pointed toward the glittering crystal archway that hovered on the horizon. “The reason the vaarasuxa don’t venture this far north anymore.”
32
The Vaarasuxa
Cason was well aware his grip on Brela was too tight as she wriggled in front of him, but he couldn’t help it.
The shimmering glass archway of the Glass Wilds was not built from sprite crystal and sand.
It was the armor and hollowed out skeleton of a gods-damned vaarasuxa.
The jaw bones and skull were propped open and tilted up, glass writhing in dizzying and glittering patterns as they reached toward the sky. Its curved teeth were even caked with crystal, glinting with the light of the setting sun. The arm and leg bones were fortified with sturdy glass to create the sides of the arch and hold up the body. And creating the tunnel they would walk under were the spinal armor and ribs, the crystal hanging off each bone in jagged patterns and embedding in the ground below.
It looked like liquid lightning.
He jolted as Brela pinched his hand and he released her. She sighed in relief, rubbing her hip as she nodded to the skeleton. “The guardian of the Glass Wilds. The vaarasuxa is a lightning magnet, which is also a signal to other vaarasuxa of who controls what territory. The archway was my idea.”
So this was how the Glass Wilds remained safe.
Oni only waved her off, as if he was annoyed she was the one to come up with the idea.
“Oh, it’s beautiful,” Farrah whispered. Elias could barely nod his agreement, his eyes just as wide.
Serill had gone a bit pale, even after being in the sun all day. “This is Atuphe?”
Oni snorted. “No. He is much too small to be female.”
