I scoffed as they both released me. “You two realize I’ve killed for less hovering, right?”
Ronan rolled a dagger between his fingers, its blade slipping between night and reality, and laughed. “You’ve tried, remember? Didn’t take.”
My eyes flashed, pupils thinning, the blue of my eyes flickering to black.
Elysian stepped forward, white fur rippling across his neck as he moved between us, like he could sense the shift in me.
I let the Viper’s eyes flicker again, just for him, before they flooded back to normal. Elysian’s growl rolled through the air and my lips curved, voice cutting through the stillness with a purr—
“Oh,” I laughed. “And here I was starting to think you were all hiss, kittycat. I didn’t know you could growl.”
His nostrils flared. “It’s not my hiss or growl you should be fearful of.” A step toward me, and my brow arched as he said, “You forget how easy it is to snap something so,” he looked me over, “vulnerable in half.”
Vulnerable—
The curse consumed me then, slithering along my spine.
“Try,” I whispered.
“Alright.” Smoke curled from Ronan’s palms. “Enough.”
That sound that tore from Elysian next was warped, a rumble with every pitch of threat in existence blending between one.
Ronan only looked at him. “Enough.”
Elysian’s jaw tightened but he turned away first, a lazy smirk still playing on my lips.
“See? All bark,” I murmured, just loud enough for him to hear.
“Okay, new plan.” Ford leaned lazily against a tree, digging dirt from beneath his nails with a dagger far too small for show. “We stroll in, all smiles—lovely revel last night, sorry we crashed it without your knowledge. By the way, seen any missing heirs wandering about?”
“No.” Ronan didn’t even look up, rifling through his pack with a scoff.
The pixie’s fire had burned through the night, never once guttering, never once needed tending. I wondered if they had a fire wielder among them, or if Callum, his restlessness not unfelt, had lent his own power to keep it alive.
Killian let out a silent groan, rubbing his eyes before clutching Ford’s shoulder in warning. “Just because they were drunk on their faerie-wine, doesn’t mean they’re unarmed.” I pretended not to notice the subtle glance he cut my way. “We come from Luamis,” he continued, “the last kingdom still ruled by a king.” His eyes slid deliberately to Ronan then. “No offense.”
Ronan flexed his fingers, looking back to Ford. “No one trusts us. And pixies? They don’t survive by dancing in pretty circles. Maybe they haven’t eaten in weeks.Maybethey’re just waiting for fools like us to wander in so they can string us up for supper.”
“That’s dramatic,” I muttered, bending to lace my boots.
The leather was stubborn, straps folding awkwardly as I shoved my feet back inside. I’d slipped them off to stretch and regretted it now. Shoving thembackinto the boots was miserable.
My tunic melted into my skin from the fire’s heat, sweat tracing down my chest, plastering the fabric against me. I left the deep slit in front untied, too hot to care.
Elva groaned beside me, rubbing her own sore arches. Her tunic, once bright and pristine, was dulled and dirt-stained. Yet even starved of her usual feasts, her frame was hardening, gaining strength. Her hair was swept back, elegant still.
Even thrown into the wild and forced to survive, she shined.
“Let me.” Elysian crouched, fingers brushing hers as he reached to tug on her stubborn boot.
Breath catching, her hand rose, clasping the pendant at her neck.
Her sea glass eyes eclipsed the blue in his like a wave.
It was nimble and quick, and he would feign innocence when Idefinitelythrew it at him in the future, but I saw it, the current flowing between them.
A crack split the air, like lightning striking stone as Callum turned away, excusing himself with a brittle poise.
