"She will restore all of us! You will grovel before our lord before he destroys you," the fae snarled, spitting out black blood.
Tenebrys folded his arms. "You aren't going to get anywhere near her. If you tell me what I want to know, I might be merciful and send you back through the gateways when they open again."
"She is ours!"
"The fuck she is." Tenebrys needed information, so he tried to dig deep for some patience. "Why does your lord want her so badly?"
"Token. Promise. Life," the wretched creature muttered under his breath.
Felix appeared like a ghost through the trees, carrying rusted chains with him.
"Look who decided to join the party?" he said cheerily. "How's the queen?"
"Queen?" Eiran demanded.
Felix waved him off. "I'll tell you later."
"She is not your queen! She is ours! Her fire is ours!" The fae climbed to its feet and pointed a finger at Tenebrys. "If your filthy animal hands have touched her, Lord Kaelis will?—"
Too late, the fae realized his mistake. His face turned red, then purple, before his skin split open like ripe fruit.
"Get back!" Tenebrys shouted and dived for the trees. Eiran grabbed Felix by the scruff of his neck and held him out in front of him a second before the fae exploded into a shower of bone, blood, and gore.
"Fucking fae lords," Eiran muttered and dropped a stunned Felix back to his feet.
"The fuck! You used me as a shield, you asshole!" Felix shouted at Eiran. He was covered in shades of red, black, and purple.
Eiran smiled at him. "And you did an excellent job, pup. I don't have a drop on me," he said indulgently, like a parent praising a child.
Felix's eyes glowed, and his ears went back. Tenebrys stepped in before the fight could start.
"Enough. He beats your ass every time, Felix, and a bath won't hurt you." He looked at the pulpy remains of the fae. "TheLord of Plagues really doesn't like anyone using his name. Fuck. I had hoped the bastard was dead after all this time."
"Apparently not. Who is this witch girl? Is it your queen that you have rudely not mentioned to me ever?" Eiran demanded.
"It's a long story."
"And one that you can tell him when we head back to the château. I found something else you need to see," Felix said. He gestured at the chains. "You can carry those, Frosty. I don't want to get blood on them."
Felix trotted off through the trees, his ears and tail still back.
"Couldn't help pissing him off, could you?" Tenebrys sighed.
"It was a reflex move, I swear." Eiran picked up the chains. "Tell me about the girl, Kesari."
They talked as they walked. Tenebrys explained the dream magic he had been doing and how he had gotten Luna to track Delphi and Narcisse. Eiran was silent the entire time as Tenebrys explained what he could about Delphi and how he'd discovered she was his mate.
"Somewhere in the afterlife, your mother is howling with laughter," Eiran said once Tenebrys was finished. "Your enemy's daughter? I thought Fate had had enough of that nonsense with your parents."
"Apparently not. And Mother wouldn't be laughing. She would be demanding that I make cubs straight away," Tenebrys replied with a chuckle.
Eiran grinned. "That would be your father. He would want you to breed yet another Tenebrys, which would confuse everyone even more."
"You've never called me Tenebrys anyway. Or Ten for that matter."
"To me, Tenebrys was your father and always will be," Eiran replied with a shrug of his tattooed shoulders.
They found Felix scrubbing himself viciously in the small lake inside the old ward barrier. He dunked himself in once more.
