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Extending a small branch, I caressed Jima’s shoulder. He patted my leaves before helping Tabitha out. Her gait was hesitant and slow, but she moved on her own.

“Well, I suppose that just leaves me and Grayson,” Keir said. “And the eggs.” He walked over and scooped them up. “I’ll leave the two of you alone. Hopefully, my quarters are still intact, or at least in good enough condition that I’m not in danger of being crushed.”

Keir started to leave, but Gray stopped him. “For what it’s worth, I agree with the others. The wyvern can wait, Keir. We’ve been through enough. Give it at least twenty-four hours.”

Keir turned, eggs nestled within his strong arms. “I’ve no plans to do anything but rest.”

“Promise?” Gray asked.

Keir hesitated before nodding and offering a brief “promise,” before he walked away.

Once more, silence filled the room. Gray stood there, staring at the point everyone had exited from. Maybe I couldn’t transform into my humanoid form again yet, but I could still cradle him within my branches and did just that. Reaching out, I pulled Gray to me, lifting him off the ground and guiding his body up higher into my canopy. Gray didn’t fight me. Instead, he relaxed into my hold.

When I had him where I wanted, where I felt he was safest, my branches grew around him, cocooning him within and blocking out most of the light, offering Gray a safe place to rest.

“Thank you,” Gray whispered, nuzzling his cheek against my leaves. “I was so afraid I’d never feel this again. Never feel you.” The scent of salty tears filled the air, Gray’s quiet sobs echoing inside the private space I’d provided.

I ached, knowing there was nothing more I could do to comfort him. I needed words, but this form wouldn’t allow that most precious form of communication.

Gray had enough words for the both of us. “I know why you did it. I even understand it. Just…just don’t ever do something so self-sacrificing again. Do you understand? You are too important, too… Just don’t do it.”

Relaxing into my hold, Gray’s tears slowly abated as sleep claimed him. I would stay awake. I might not remember the time I was gone, but I had a feeling I’d slept long enough.

Time is a funny mistress. I had no true concept of its passing as I held Gray safe within my canopy. I had no true idea how long it took before I was able to gather enough energy to be able to transform. It seemed like one minute I was holding Gray within woody branches and the next he was cradled within flesh-covered arms.

Gray slept through the transformation, his exhaustion clear. At some point, he shifted into his wisp form, only to shift back to humanoid sometime later. I was no longer Gray’s anchor and had no idea if the buzzweeds still sang or not. I suspected not. They’d been drained of their magic—their treasure.

I hated not being able to feel Gray’s magic within me. It was like a part of me was still missing. My own magic couldn’t replicate Gray’s. Would he even need me as an anchor any longer? Had he discovered enough of Huxley’s hidden horde that I would no longer be necessary? And if so, what did that ultimately mean for the two of us?

The barrier around the Magical Usage Compound remained. It wasn’t that I was still connected to it, but my magic felt it. I imagined it was the same with everyone. It was impossible not to feel it. Pixie magic was a beautifully powerful thing and the barrier I’d helped create was no different. Given that it was still intact, if we did as Keir wished and stayed inside, we would be protected from whatever wrath the wyvern enacted. I shuddered, remembering the damage even one of them had been able to do, let alone half a dozen.

When the threat of the wyvern was finally over, would Gray leave? We’d sort of talked around the idea of him staying, but that was when we were still magically connected. Now that I was no longer his anchor, did that make Gray feel freer? Like he could leave and it wouldn’t affect him so much?

Gaia, I hoped not. It was a selfish hope. I could and would admit that. As a dryad, I could never truly leave the place of my birth soil. I could travel if I took some of it with me, but I couldn’t stay away for long. That was the nature of who we were. If he chose to leave, I couldn’t truly follow Gray. And that was saying nothing regarding the fact that he may not even want me to follow him.

My grim thoughts threatened to consume me. If Gray left, then I heartily wished he’d left me as I was—a beautifully stalwart oak tree, free from the pain of lost love. The thought of Gray carrying my last bit of magic within him, until the day he passed from this world, was a romantic notion that I couldn’t eradicate from my brain.

“Why are you thinking so hard?” Gray’s soft voice and even softer touch pulled me from my gloomy musings. “Even without your magic inside me, I can hear you thinking.” Gray yawned, his slender jaw cracking with the effort. “I feel like I could sleep for at least another day, maybe two. Why are you… Martin!”

Gray bolted upright, eyes wide and bright as they frantically searched my face. It wasn’t just his gaze, but Gray’s hands also. I felt his touch everywhere as his fingers skimmed over my flesh. Fresh tears traced their way down weathered paths, slipping from his chin and falling on his lap. “You’re you. I mean… Fuck it, I don’t care what I mean.” Gray threw his arms around me, hugging me tight. I couldn’t help but reciprocate. For such a tiny individual, Gray had a strong grip.

“Don’t ever do that to me again,” Gray scolded. “I mean it.” He pulled back, roughly wiping the tears from his eyes and cheeks. “I was so lost. So… There are no words.” Gray hung his head, his hair hiding his eyes.

“I’m sorry.” As always, sorry was completely inadequate and yet it was all I had. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

Gray’s forehead leaned against my chest. “But you’re not sorry you did it,” Gray rightly said.

It was on the tip of my tongue to deny it, but I couldn’t lie to him, or maybe wouldn’t lie. Not about this. “Verona was too close. There was no way Keir could have escaped with the eggs. I didn’t know when Thalia’s entourage would show up, if they’d get here in time. I had a choice and I made it.” My words made me sound cold and calculating, as if what I’d done had been a simple decision. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I got a smack on my chest, followed by a handful of others. Gray’s actions were made from frustration, not any true will to harm me. As an oak dryad, he’d have to punch me a hell of a lot harder than that to even so much as sting.

“Self-sacrificing asshole,” Gray muttered. “Why did I have to fall in love with such an altruistic dryad?”

I raked my fingers through Gray’s cotton-soft hair, pulling him closer until his cheek pressed against my chest, allowing him to hear and feel my beating heart. “Says the will-o’-the-wisp that risked his life to lead Axios away from the compound.”

“That’s different,” Gray argued.

“How so?”