Galanta was waiting for me in Trillania. Time hadn’t improved her wardrobe. She still wore the same black leather, decorated with human teeth and bones that she had worn the entire time I had known her.
She stood with her back to a tree, her dreadlocks pulled over one shoulder as she watched. When she saw me, she straightened, pushing away from the tree to stride towards me.
‘I come in peace.’ She held her hands in the air as if to convince me she was unarmed.
I snorted. In Trillania, a weapon was only a thought away. It didn’t matter though. Once upon a time she was my better, but I knew that I had surpassed her in strength, speed and power a while ago. And I knew that she knew it too.
‘Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t gut you right now.’
‘Curiosity killed the cattle. If you kill me, you’ll never know what I had to say.’ Her accent was thick and foreign.
‘Honestly Galanta, repeat after me. Curiosity killed the cat.’
She snarled and worked her jaw from side-to-side, her eyes burning with hatred.
‘What you had to say? Or what Santanas had to say?’
Her lips pulled back to reveal her pointed teeth. ‘You never were stupid.’
‘I know if you had your way, I would be dead.’
‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘If I had my way, you would be tied to a stake for me to torture.’ Her eyes gleamed like black stones as she ran her tongue over her lips. ‘I would eat a little bit of you every day. The tip of a finger, your earlobe, your little toe. I’m betting you would be delicious.’ She let out a laugh. ‘I would keep you alive for a very long time.’
I couldn’t suppress the shudder that ran down my spine. ‘Well, this has been a real pleasure. I can’t thank you enough for dropping by.’
‘But that is not what Santanas wants.’ She spat on the ground at her feet. ‘He won’t even let me have a little nibble.’
‘For once he and I see eye-to-eye.’ We stood a few metres apart, our hands on our hips, glaring at each other. ‘You’ve got ten seconds to give me the message. After that, I kill you.’
She spat on the ground again. ‘He will call off the army if you join him.’
‘Pardon?’
She shook her head, her face contorting as if the words tasted bad. ‘Join him, and he will call off the army.’
‘So he won’t attack. Now or ever?’
‘I have given you the message.’
She turned as if to leave and I said, ‘Ten.’ I whipped a loaded crossbow up in front of me and released the shaft.
Her laugh echoed back to me as she disappeared from view. The shaft flew through where she had been. I bit back an oath and willed myself after her.
‘Wait.’ It was Aethan.
I spun to look over my shoulder.
‘I knew you’d be here.’
‘That was fast.’
‘Sabby helped me get to sleep.’
I nodded my head. ‘Are you coming?’
He disappeared and reappeared by my side a second later. Then he grasped my hand and said, ‘Always.’
I closed my eyes to will us after her but before I could, I heard Isla call out, ‘Wait.’
I sighed and opened my eyes again. ‘I don’t want to sound ungrateful for the help,’ I said, ‘but we have totally lost the element of surprise.’
Isla smiled as she pranced up to me and took my other hand. Wilfred’s wrist band was back on her slender arm. ‘No we haven’t. She’s only expecting you. There are three of us now.’
‘That’s true,’ I said. ‘Come on.’ I willed myself to where I could feel Galanta, knowing that she could feel me coming too. Isla was right. Probably the only element of surprise I had was the two of them.
We were in an empty cave. I blinked, and it was full of goblin warriors.
‘Not again.’ I let out a sigh and pulled two short swords out of the air.
‘Do you think it will work here?’ Isla asked.
I didn’t need to ask what she was talking about. ‘Only one way to find out.’
I cleared my mind and attacked, but unlike the previous fight, everybody else was moving at the same speed as me.
‘Oh poo,’ Isla said as she fired off a couple of arrows.
‘Too much to hope for.’ I used a shield to block a dagger thrust and then hurled an axe at my attacker. The head of the axe lodged in his chest.
‘What are you two talking about?’ Sweat gleamed enticingly on the part of Aethan’s chest I could see in the V of his leather vest.
I spent a little too much time watching it roll over the edge of his pectoral muscle and didn’t dodge quite fast enough when a goblin threw a dagger at me. It lodged in my bicep and quivered as the tip bit deep into the bone.
‘Garrrrrrrr,’ I said, staring at the evil-looking blade. I plucked it out and threw it back at him, managing to land it in the soft part of his throat between his clavicle bones. It sunk to its hilt and he let out a gasp as he clutched at the dagger.
Blood trailed down my bicep and dripped onto the ground.
‘That’s it.’ Aethan scooped me up. ‘I’m calling it.’
Isla bounded towards us and the second her hand touched Aethan he took us back to where we had started.
‘And I was having so much fun.’ Isla threw her arms in the air and whirled on the spot.
I expected Aethan to put me down but he didn’t. ‘What were you thinking?’ he shook me gently.
‘I was thinking “Owwwwww”.’ I frowned up at him.
‘No. To get hit. That was a rookie error.’
His chest was right there at eye level, and it looked just as delicious as it had before. Come to think of it his arms felt pretty damn fine wrapped around me. Maybe this wasn’t a total disaster.
Isla let out another laugh. ‘I think I know what she was thinking.’ She plucked a flower out of the air and then she disappeared.
I tried to school a look of neutrality as Aethan looked down into my eyes, but my hormones, running riot through my body, had taken my mind hostage. My heart was ruling with an iron fist, demanding I take back what was mine.
‘Oh.’ Aethan’s voice was husky. His pupils widened and I felt his chest move against me as he sucked in a deep breath of air.
He had no memory of the times we had spent here together, but I remembered each and every one of them. They started playing through my head like a slideshow; from the hesitancy of our first kiss, through to the raw power of him pinning me down and ravishing my mouth and my mind. Wild nights of passion, when time had had no meaning and all I had known was the feel of his skin moving against mine.
My breathing increased at the memory, and suddenly I wanted to finish what we had always started. Finish it in a way we never had. With him possessing me totally. I wanted to have him, before Ebony did. Suddenly the thought of being the other woman didn’t seem quite so bad.
He let me slip out of his arms so that we were facing each other. We stared into each other’s eyes, each of us seeing a mirror of what was on our own face.
My hands reached out to rest against his chest. He stepped closer, grasping the nape of my neck with one hand, and then he pulled my head to his. His lips closed on mine with a hunger, a ferocity that sucked the breath right out of me.
Every single cell in my body stood to attention as an electric shock coursed through me. I ran my hands under the edges of his vest and he moaned and clasped my buttocks, jamming me in against the hardness of him.
It was my turn to moan against his mouth as I jumped up, wrapping my legs around him. We were so close to where I wanted to be. Just a couple of layers of clothes in the way, but it would be a matter of seconds to discard those.
A bucket of icy, cold water hit me from the side. I opened my eyes and…
We were back in the cave, and it was empty except for Isla, who still held the bucket she had used to sluice us.
‘What the?’ I slid my legs down from Aethan’s waist and stepped away from him. The remnants of the lust still remained but it was one tenth of what it had been a second ago.
I looked down at my arm where the dagger had lodged. Smooth, whole skin encased the area.
He looked around the cave, shook his head and then looked at Isla. ‘What happened?’
‘One minute you were standing there, and the next you were going for it like a couple of horny teenagers. I tried talking to you but it was as if you couldn’t hear me.’ She held up the bucket. ‘This was the only thing that worked.’ She tossed the bucket into the air and it disappeared before it landed. ‘Can you still feel her?’ she asked me.
I nodded my head. ‘She’s that way.’ I pointed through an opening in the cave wall.
‘Well, come on then.’ Isla took three steps and then froze.
‘What is it?’ I started to step towards her but Aethan grabbed my arm.
‘Stop,’ he said. ‘There’s something going on here.’
‘You think?’
Isla now had her arms held up in front of her as if she held a parcel. She started to rock them from side-to-side as she sung a soft lullaby.
‘Isla,’ I called.
She ignored me and kept singing.
‘Isla,’ I yelled a little louder.
‘What is she doing?’ Aethan’s voice was amused.
I turned to look at Aethan. ‘Haven’t you ever seen someone rock a baby?’
‘I’m normally out killing things. I don’t have time for babies.’
I snorted. ‘Do you think we should try the cold water trick?’
He nodded. ‘And then we should get out of this cave.’
‘She spelled it and then lured us here.’ I kicked at the ground. One of these days I was going to outsmart Galanta. It hadn’t happened yet, but I had high hopes.
‘Oh Wilfred,’ Isla said when she was finished with the song. ‘She’s going to have your hair.’
I turned to Aethan. ‘It’s possible she’s nursing a baby orangutan.’
One corner of his lip curved up and a bucket appeared in his hands. ‘Do you want to do the honours or should I?’
‘You go,’ I said.
The water from the bucket sliced through the air and smacked into Isla’s head.
She spluttered and coughed and then her arms fell to her side as she looked around. ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Oh.’ Tears welled in her eyes. ‘It wasn’t real.’
‘Not yet,’ I said. ‘But it will be.’
‘Do you think?’ Her beautiful face crumpled a little more.
‘I have no doubt that you and he will be reunited and that the two of you will have a bunch of furry children.’
Her puckered mouth spread into a smile. ‘And you will be their godmother so you had better start saying nice things about them.’
‘We need to go,’ Aethan said. ‘If all three of us get caught up in a spell we’ll never get out of here.’
He was right. It had been her intention to snare me in a spell. I was lucky that both of them had come with me. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of what would have happened if Isla hadn’t come as well.
We transported back to our starting spot individually. None of us willing to move in the cave unless we triggered the spell again.
‘What do you think it was?’ I asked.
Isla sighed. ‘Well, for a few seconds there I had everything I wanted.’
I reached out and squeezed her arm. I hadn’t given enough consideration to how much she must be missing Wilfred.
‘So,’ she continued, ‘I’m guessing it was a spell that invoked your greatest desire.’
My eyes darted guiltily towards Aethan, as I said, ‘But my greatest desire is to end this damned war and send Santanas back where he came from.’
She pursed her lips and tapped a finger against them. ‘Well the two of you got caught in the same spell. So I’m guessing it was a culmination of your greatest desire where each other was concerned.’
I was grateful Aethan didn’t say anything. I would have had to break his nose. I didn’t want my greatest wish where he was concerned to be all about sex. I wanted it to be about more than just that. Why hadn’t I found myself nursing his child? That might have given me the answer I needed.
‘You able to go back yet?’ Isla asked.
I concentrated on being back in my body. Nothing happened. I shook my head. ‘Still unconscious.’
‘You should be up at the house by now. I’ll get your dreamcatcher and put it under your pillow.’ Isla disappeared, leaving Aethan and me alone.
‘So,’ he took a step towards me, ‘want to take up where we left off.’
Oh great. I was going to have to break his nose after all.
‘I thought I made myself clear on how things stood between us.’ It was hard to keep a stern voice when he was so close. The hair on my arms was standing on end and little tingles ran across my skin as if he were already stroking me.
‘Oh, I thought you had as well.’ He took a step closer. ‘But now I’m not so sure.’ His lips curved up in a cheeky grin and a dimple appeared on his cheek as he closed the space between us.
‘That was a spell. It meant nothing.’ I took a step backwards and slammed into a tree.
He stepped forwards, so close now that I had to look up at him. He lifted a hand and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. ‘Ah Izzy,’ he said as he trailed his fingers down my cheek. ‘When are you going to realise?’
‘Realise what?’ My traitorous voice caught in a hitch.
‘That you’re the only woman for me.’
My fist was clenched and I knew I should have been doing something with it, but the depth of his eyes blazed all rational thoughts from my mind. I was frozen in place as his mouth moved closer to mine.
His hands settled onto my waist and he pushed me back onto the tree as he closed the last few inches between us.
My head was screaming no, but my heart was clambering for what he was offering. The memory of the moments in the spell wiped away all self-restraint and I was powerless to resist the lure of him any more.
One second I was sighing as his lips melted onto mine, and then I was gone, fading from Trillania into a blissful state of unconsciousness.
***
Ice-blue eyes stared into mine. I blinked a couple of times and my vision expanded to encompass the whole of Turos’s face. I was in my room, on my bed, and Turos sat next to me with Scruffy curled up on his lap and Mia hugging his neck. Her little eyes were closed and contented snores rumbled out of her.
I raised a hand to my head. Someone had undone my braid and brushed out my hair. I suspected that someone may have been Turos. Thankfully, I still wore the same clothes I had been in.
‘Sabby,’ he called out. ‘She’s awake.’
Scruffy stretched and yawned and then leaned over to lick my face. His tail thumped against Turos’s chest a few times.
‘Well, it’s about time.’ Sabby appeared at the top of the stairs, and Phantom, her huge, black cat, appeared a few seconds later. She strode into the room and placed her hand on my head, closing her eyes as she did. I felt a tingle where her hand touched me. ‘You can get up Little Miss Lazy Bones,’ she said as she opened her eyes. She softened the words with a smile. ‘There’re people waiting to see you.’
‘Sabby, where do you want these…Oh she’s awake.’ My old friend Thomas stood in the doorway. His arms were loaded with a huge pile of towels.
‘Thomas?’ I sat up in bed and stared at my friend. I hadn’t seen him in months. ‘What are you doing home?’
He shrugged a shoulder. ‘The School of Witching Administration has shut down. Well, to be quite honest, what with the imminent threat of war and everything, all of London has shut down.’ He had gotten taller, and broader as well. And he had stubble on his face.
‘You’ve grown up.’ I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up, brushing away Turos’s supporting hand as I did.
‘I’ve grown up.’ He let out a chuckle as he placed the towels on my couch. ‘Says the village girl who just rode into Eynsford on a dragon’s back, fought a pack of goblins, and saved the day.’
I laughed. ‘And then passed out.’
‘Yes.’ He nodded his head. ‘That did kind of ruin the effect.’
‘I’ve missed you,’ I said, pulling him into a hug.
‘I’m surprised you’ve had time.’ He squeezed me tight before releasing me. ‘Sabby’s been filling me in on everything that’s been happening.’ He shot a shy smile over his shoulder at Sabina. She blushed and returned the smile.
Oh. So that’s how things stood.
‘I see all those fencing classes paid off.’
I shrugged. ‘Yeah. They’ve been kind of useful the last year.’
‘Perhaps…,’ he scuffed the tip of his boot against the carpet, ‘I could train with you,’ he said. ‘You know, to sharpen my skills.’
‘You’re not going to fight, are you?’ My voice rose up an octave.
‘Izzy, everyone’s going to fight.’
‘I’d be happy to train you.’ Turos stood and stretched. ‘There’s not much else for me to do.’
Thomas’s eyes widened as they travelled up the length of Turos’s body. ‘Th th, thanks,’ he stammered. ‘I think.’
I laughed. ‘He won’t hurt you. In fact,’ I looked to Turos for confirmation and he nodded once, ‘he’s going to teach you a mind technique that may just save your life.’ I reached out and squeezed Turos’s hand. It didn’t feel so awful knowing Thomas would be fighting if he had the advantage of speed.
‘I’d like to learn that technique too.’ I hadn’t heard Aethan come up the stairs. He entered the room, his gaze pointedly on Turos and my clasped hands.
Turos’s grip tightened to an almost painful level. ‘It would be a pleasure,’ he said. ‘But I thought Head Guard Rako said that we wouldn’t have time to train.’
‘The latest scouts report that the enemy advance has stopped.’
‘When did you want to start?’ Turos let go of my hand and wrapped an arm around me. He tucked me in close to his side.
I pasted a smile on my face to try and hide how awkward I felt. All the testosterone zinging around the room was making it hard to breathe.
‘No time like the present.’ Aethan’s smile told me I hadn’t fooled him. ‘Izzy, Rako and Wolfgang are waiting to debrief you in the kitchen.’
‘Mum? Grams?’ I resisted the urge to add lemon cake to my list of questions.
‘They are both there as well.’
‘Excuse me.’ I ducked out from under Turos’s arm and trotted out of the room, in a hurry to put as much distance between myself and the two alpha males. I didn’t want to be there if push came to shove because I wasn’t sure which side I would come down on.
‘That was awkward,’ Sabby said as she followed me down the stairs. She let out a sigh. ‘Still, it must be nice to have two gorgeous hunks fighting for your affections.’
‘I’d rather fight a pack of goblins, blind-folded,’ I said. I reached the bottom of the stairs and headed for the kitchen, my nostrils flaring as they picked up the scent of…lemon cake. Yes!
‘Well, young lady.’ Mum’s foot was tapping. That was never a good sign. ‘What do you have to say for yourself?’
‘Ummmm.’ My thoughts flitted through the many different answers to that question, trying to work out which one would be the most likely to earn me an extra slice of cake. ‘I’m really sorry we left like that, and I missed you so much.’
I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around her, waiting till I felt her body soften before letting go of her. ‘Honestly I am,’ I said. ‘And I did.’ I risked a glance over my shoulder at the table. There was half a cake left, but Radismus was reaching for another piece. The man was a lemon-cake-eating machine.
She let out a rueful laugh and ruffled my hair. ‘Don’t worry. There’s two more in the oven.’
I took that as my get-out-of-jail-free card and took a seat at the table next to Grams, smiling at Rako, Wolfgang, Lionel and Radismus.
Grams handed me a plate with a giant piece of cake on it. ‘I think you’ve earnt that,’ she said. ‘But we haven’t had our conversation yet.’ Cyril, draped around Gram’s neck like a scarf, lifted his head and hissed in my direction.
Scruffy, who had been sitting at my feet staring intently at the table, looked up at Cyril and barked. Cyril flicked his tongue once and then nestled his face back into Grams.
‘It was all very boring,’ I said to her as I picked up the piece of cake. ‘You would have hated it.’ The last sentence was a bit muffled, due to the cakey goodness that I had wedged into my mouth. I let out a moan as the sugar in the icing rolled over my tastebuds. It had been a long time between sugar hits for me.
I may have been a War Faery, but at heart I was just a girl.
The men waited politely for me to finish my first piece. Radismus, very nobly, pushed the platter towards me so I could take another.
When I had finished, I sighed and leant back in my chair, resisting the urge to unbutton my leather pants. ‘So Aethan says the advance has stopped.’
Rako nodded. ‘They must be resting their troops.’
‘You don’t think it’s because we just whipped their butts?’
A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth but his eyes stayed sombre. ‘That was a tiny piece of their force. A drop in the ocean.’
‘Even the Vulpines?’
He nodded.
‘Oh.’ I played with the handle on my tea cup.
‘Ahhhhh.’ King Bladimir stood in the doorway to the kitchen. His nose twitched a few times and his gaze locked onto the cake. ‘They told me the council was being held in here.’
‘King Bladimir.’ I jumped out of my seat and bobbed my head.
A plate smashed behind me. ‘Sorry, sorry, your Highness.’ Mum swept into a low curtsy.
‘Fair lady, there is nothing to be sorry for.’ His nose crinkled again. ‘Does that taste as good as it smells?’ He pointed at the cake.
‘Please.’ I held my seat out for him and then retrieved another for myself from the next room.
By the time I got back, he had taken my seat, helped himself to the cake, and Rako was doing the introductions. Mum had spelled the broken plate off the floor and it sat shiny and new on the kitchen bench. I placed my chair on the other side of Grams, between her and Lionel.
‘Do you know why my son and Prince Aethan are out the back wrestling?’ King Bladimir said to me.
I could feel a wash of red creeping up my face. ‘No.’ My squeaky voice didn’t lend much weight to the word.
‘Well, not that it matters I am sure, but my son seems to be winning.’
‘Okay. Thanks.’ I nodded much too rapidly, and hid my face behind my teacup.
‘Ahhhhh. If I had known there was cake, I would have come sooner.’ King Arwyn stood where King Bladimir had a few moments before.
‘King Arwyn.’ I jumped back to my feet and gestured to my new chair.
Mum let out a squeak and knocked the plate off the bench again. Grams shot her an amused look and shook her head.
‘Young Isadora,’ Arwyn said as I brought in another seat. ‘Do you know why my son is fighting that big, blond fellow?’
‘No.’ If I shook my head any harder, it was going to fall off.
‘Well,’ he said, ‘I’m sure it isn’t important, but it looks like Aethan has just given him a black eye.’
I slid further down into the chair and let my hair fall over the side of my face.
Grams let out a chuckle and elbowed me in the ribs. ‘You were a late starter,’ she whispered, ‘but you seem to have it sorted out now.’
‘That big, blond fellow is my son.’ Bladimir held out his hand. ‘Bladimir of Millenia.’
‘Ahhhhh.’ Arwyn nodded his head and looked at me again. ‘That makes a bit more sense now.’ He reached out and shook Bladimir’s hand. ‘Arwyn of Isilvitania. So you’re responsible for the dragons. I hear your people saved the day. I thank you for that.’
Bladimir nodded his head. ‘You are most welcome.’
Aethan and Turos appeared in the doorway. Grass and leaves clung to their clothes, bits of which were ripped. One of Turos’s eyes was already swelling shut and both had broken skin on their knuckles. I couldn’t be totally sure, because it was so messy, but it looked like Aethan was missing a clump of hair.
‘Grab a chair boys.’ Grams gestured to the lounge room as she said to me, ‘And to think I always said this table was too big.’
They reappeared a few seconds later and wedged into the doorway, both trying to be the first into the kitchen. I slid even further down my chair.
Aethan managed to wiggle through first. ‘Excuse me,’ he said to Grams.
‘Oh be my guest.’ I didn’t need to look at her to know she was grinning as she shuffled her chair over.
‘Do you mind?’ Turos said to Lionel.
‘Not at all young man,’ Lionel said in his huge, booming voice.
Both Aethan and Turos placed their chairs as close to me as possible. Their girths meaning their arms were touching mine.
‘Awkward,’ Grams stage-whispered in a sing-song voice.
There was no way I could sit here like this and discuss how we were going to win an unwinnable war. I need to be playing my A game, and at the moment I didn’t even feel capable of an F.
‘Right.’ I stood up. ‘That’s quite enough. You,’ I pointed at Turos, ‘sit over there.’
Aethan let out a snort and I rounded on him. ‘And you,’ I pointed at him, ‘sit over there.’
The two of them glared at each other as they shuffled around to sit at my three and nine.
I sat back down and turned my attention to Rako. ‘Have you briefed King Arwyn on my situation?’
‘Child, I don’t need to know about your love life,’ King Arwyn said.
I leant forwards and put my head on my hands while Grams chuckled and rubbed my back. ‘Not that situation,’ I said through my fingers.
‘Isadora has been living in an alternate reality,’ Rako said. ‘King Bladimir was the monarch of that land.’ He went on to explain where they had originally come from. ‘That’s as much as I know,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure why they have all returned.’
I sat back up as Bladimir explained about the pirates and how they had forced us to flee.
‘I don’t know if this is important,’ I said. ‘But it was Santanas. It seems that in that world he didn’t get imprisoned in stone, but went on to rule.’
They were all silent for a while as they digested that bit of news.
Finally Rako said, ‘I don’t think it’s going to affect the outcome of the next few days.’ He turned to Bladimir, ‘How much assistance are you willing to give us?’
Bladimir popped some cake into his mouth as he considered the question. ‘Well, it appears, if we do not want to find ourselves in the same situation again, that we must support you whole-heartedly. My warriors are yours to command. We will need to ask the dragons if they will also help. They are our allies, not our pets.’
Turos got that faraway look in his eyes that meant he was talking to Lance. A second later he stiffened. His fingers gripped the chair arms and his nostrils flared. His blue eyes bored into mine, burning with a fire, an intensity that sent a jolt of electricity through me.
I sent my mind out to Emerald and instantly regretted it. Lust slammed into me like a high-speed train and it took every ounce of concentration not to leap over the table and take Turos to the floor. It appeared Emerald and Lance were having some ‘alone’ time.
Bladimir didn’t seem to be having the same trouble with his dragon. I gripped the edge of the table with my fingers while I waited for the lust to fade away, but it didn’t.
Finally, Bladimir’s eyes refocused and he said, ‘Reech will ask the others and they will hold a vote. Some of the dragons are busy, so he should have an answer in an hour or two.’
Against my will I met Turos’s eyes. Emerald’s emotions were so strong, her pleasure so great, I was having trouble severing the link I had created. An hour or two of this? I’d probably be pregnant by the time it was over.
‘Water?’ Grams handed me a glass.
I took it from her hand, using the coolness of the glass as a distraction. Condensation rolled down the outside, and suddenly I found myself remembering the way water droplets had danced on Turos’s skin the day we had gone swimming together. I risked a glance up at him. His hands trembled where he gripped the chair and sweat had formed on his perfect brow. Aethan looking between the two of us, and I knew that that should make me feel something, but it didn’t. My mind was too full of the want, of the need, of Turos.
I gripped the glass harder. Perhaps the water would be more affective if I tipped it over my head.
I lifted my hand and Isla appeared in the doorway, Mia curled around her neck.
‘Izzy.’ Her eyes studied my face, no doubt taking in my dilated pupils and shallow breathing. ‘Some of the dragons need healing.’
The dragons! I leapt to my feet. Dark Sky. I had totally forgotten about them, what with passing out and chasing Galanta and now my problems with Turos and Aethan. It was no excuse though. They deserved better than that.
‘I’m sorry.’ I looked around the table. ‘I need to go.’ My eyes settled on Turos and I licked my lips.
‘I’ll come too.’ Turos started to stand but Bladimir clamped a hand over his arm. ‘No son, you will stay. Isadora will look after the dragons far better than you could.’
The muscles on Turos’s face bulged as he clenched his teeth and for a second I thought he would disobey his father. I was toast for sure if he did. I wanted to use my teeth to rip off his clothes and my tongue to bathe him. Then he nodded stiffly and Aethan, who had also risen, relaxed back into his seat.
I dragged my gaze away from Turos and followed Isla from the room. Scruffy let out a sigh as he dragged his gaze from the lemon cake, and trotted after me.
‘Looks like I got there in time to stop you making an idiot of yourself,’ Isla said.
‘Huh?’ An image of Turos, stripping off his trousers and striding into the ocean, was taking up all my concentration. If I could only go back in time, I would make much better use of that situation.
Isla stopped, turned to face me, and slapped me hard on the cheek.
‘Ooooowww.’ I clutched my face. ‘What was that for?’
‘Trying to break you from your lust bubble.’ A grin appeared on her face. ‘I seem to be doing that a lot lately.’
‘What are you….’ I pulled a face. ‘How did you know?’
‘Lance and Emerald have been making cow eyes at each other since we got here. An hour ago they flew off, leaving Arthur in my care. I figured it could only mean one thing.’
‘No, I mean how did you know about that?’ I waved a hand back towards the house. ‘About what happened to us?’
‘I wasn’t totally sure. It was just a hunch I had that Lance and Emerald’s relationship might be influencing your and Turos’s feelings for each other.’
I stopped walking and stared at her. She was the most astute person I knew. I shook my head and hurried to catch up. That was food for thought for a later time. I had work to do now.
We reached the top of the windy track down to the field below the house. Ahead, I could see Arthur. Well most of Arthur. He stood upright behind a large oak, but the bulge of his body and his tail stuck out on either side.
‘What is he doing?’ I asked.
Isla let out a little laugh and whispered. ‘He’s hiding from us.’ She laughed again. ‘He’s so adorable. Pretend you can’t see him.’
‘Okaaaaay.’
We made heaps of noise as we progressed down the path. Just before we got to Arthur he leapt out from behind the tree, waving his front feet on either side of his head as he roared. We both let out terrified shrieks and Isla even went as far as to stumble backwards, landing on the ground with her legs up in the air.
Arthur let out a delighted gurgle and clapped his front feet together. Then he reached forwards and slapped Isla in the face with his huge tongue. When he had finished licking her, he grabbed the neck of her shirt with his teeth and lifted her back to her feet.
‘You are so naughty,’ she said, her huge smile belying her words. ‘We had no idea you were there.’
Arthur let out another gurgle then turned, leapt into the air and floated down to the field. Little puffs of smoke came from his nose as he went.
Isla shook his head. ‘I started playing peek-a-boo with him when he was in his egg. Now it’s his favourite game.’
I shook my head and laughed as I followed her down the track. I wish a playful dragon was the top of my problem list.
It took us another five minutes to reach the injured dragons. I could see Sabby and her mother Grindella with some of the Guard healers.
‘They can’t get the metal out,’ Isla said. ‘They can heal all the other wounds, just not those ones.’
‘So if I draw out the metal?’
She nodded. ‘They should be able to finish the job.’
Well, that was a relief, because half of the dragons seemed to be in the injured area. I felt a flash of guilt. It was my fault they were hurt. If I had been stronger I could have held a bigger shield.
She punched me in the arm. ‘You’re such a glass-is-half-empty person.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re thinking about what you couldn’t do. You should be thinking about what you did do. Without you, we’d all be dead.’
I tried to hang onto her words but the guilt still lingered. I shrugged my shoulders and strode towards the closest dragon. A particularly large surge of pleasure broke through the barrier I had erected against Emerald and I had an urge to run to Turos. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and placed my hands on the closest dragon.
A few moments later I felt the last of the metal balls make a sucking pop as it exited a wound. I rubbed a hand over the dragon’s shiny scales and moved to the next patient.
It took the rest of the afternoon and most of the night to finish healing the dragons.
When the last one was done, I joined the other healers, flopping down with an exhausted sigh next to Sabby.
Somebody handed me a cup of broth and a chunk of bread. I looked up to see Sabby’s Mum, Grindella. She looked as tired as I felt.
‘You should be resting,’ I said as I took the food she offered.
‘I already rested. I had to stop healing a few hours ago.’ She reached down and squeezed my arm before straightening back up. ‘More mouths to feed.’ She smiled and then turned and hurried away.
The smell of the broth assaulted my nostrils and my stomach roared in displeasure. I was suddenly, desperately hungry. I moaned as the salty broth cascaded over my taste buds. When I had finished I stood up and stretched. ‘I’m going to bed.’
‘Me too.’ Sabby held her hand out to me.
I grabbed it and hauled her to her feet. She’d been healing all day, I didn’t know how she was still able to stand.
Thomas appeared out of the shadows of the night, a sword strapped to his side. He gave Sabby a shy smile and the two of them began walking towards the village.
‘I’ll be your bed buddy tonight.’ I hadn’t even known Isla was still there.
‘You don’t trust me.’
She pulled a face. ‘It’s not you I don’t trust. I don’t want Aethan and Turos to have their next wrestling match on the floor of your bedroom.’
I let out a snort. Emerald and Lance had returned a few hours ago and I had my emotions back under control. ‘Do you know what came of the War Council?’
‘The rest of the army are nearly in place. We’re heading out tomorrow morning to meet them.’
‘Do we have a plan?’
She flashed me a grin. ‘Of course we have a plan.’
‘Care to expand on that?’
‘And ruin all the fun?’ Mia unravelled from Isla and scampered down her arm to jump over to me. She hissed down at Scruffy and then nestled into my neck, her small paws patting me as if to console me.
I sighed as I reached a hand up to smooth her pelt. ‘Geographically speaking, the most tactical place for us to meet a force larger than us would be the Pass of Bones. Have the night faeries arrived?’
‘No.’ She pulled a face. ‘Ebony says they are not far away.’
I batted down the flash of annoyance at hearing her name. ‘They would have had to go around goblin territory. But still, they’ve had plenty of notice.’
‘Apparently it takes a while to muster a full army.’
We passed a series of huge marquees that had been set up to accommodate the now homeless Milleniums. A woman sitting with her back against the wall of one of them looked up as we passed. She bowed her head to me and pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. I smiled and nodded my head woodenly. ‘I’m never going to get used to that,’ I said.
‘You need to.’’
‘Why?’
She quirked her head to the side and looked at me. ‘Wow. You haven’t worked it out yet have you?’
‘Obviously not.’
‘Whichever choice you make, you will end up a Queen.’
Her words took my breath away. ‘But, I don’t want to be a Queen,’ I spluttered.
‘Well, maybe you should stop making out with the heirs to the thrones.’
She had a point.
‘I can’t help it.’ I raised both my hands in the air.
‘You’re going to have to choose.’
‘I know, I know.’ We reached the bottom of the track leading up to my house. ‘It’s just….’
‘You’re having too much fun?’
‘No. Not at all.’ I was appalled that she thought I was doing this for my own amusement. ‘The thing is…,’ I paused while I struggled to capture the vastness of my emotions and shape them into the two-dimensionality of words. ‘All my life it’s been Aethan.’
‘But now there’s Ebony.’
‘Yes. But, even pretending she doesn’t exist.’ I stopped and turned to face her. ‘I love him. You know that. But this Aethan…well, we don’t have the depth, the history we should. When Galanta stole his memories, she stole our relationship. What we have now is new.’
Isla nodded as she understood. ‘So what you feel for Turos, and what you feel for this Aethan is equivalent.’
I nodded, relieved she got it. ‘I miss him so much.’ Tears welled in my eyes. ‘He was my best friend.’
‘He’s still there.’ She grimaced. ‘Well, forgetting about the whole betrothed thing.’
‘It’s not the same.’ I started walking again. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I still love him. But it’s like I’m loving a shadow of him, of what we had.’ We walked for a while, negotiating the bumpy path in the dark. ‘It’s like part of him died.’
‘Just as he shaped the woman you are today, you shaped the man he was. That part, the part that was because of you, it’s gone.’ She reached out and clasped my hand. ‘It doesn’t mean you can’t recreate the depth in your relationship. If there was a reason to.’ She shook her head slowly as if she doubted that was a possibility, and I knew what she was thinking of. Who she was thinking of. ‘At least you’ve got a fall back.’ She pulled a face as if to soften her words.
I felt stupidly selfish. The love of her life was off in servitude to a Goddess, and I was moaning about the hardship of having to choose between two amazing men.
‘You’ll see him again.’ I squeezed her hand. ‘You know that, right?’
She turned to face me and I could see the tears in her eyes glinting in the light of the moon. ‘I know I will. I feel it here.’ She beat her fist against her chest. ‘And I have faith.’ She nodded slowly, the wisdom of her years showing on her perfect face. ‘She will return him when we need him the most.’ She glanced towards the moon, a beatific look settling into a peaceful mask.
We stood like that for a while. Two friends, admiring the beauty of the moon, and hoping that we would still be here to admire it, when all was said and done.
***
I woke with a soft hand on my shoulder and a heavy lump on my chest. It turned out that the hand belonged to Isla and the lump was Scruffy. He licked my face as I opened my eyes.
I could hear a drum beat, echoing in the distance. ‘Goblins? Really?’ I blinked my eyes a few times and then said, ‘Eric, lights please.’
The house responded by flicking on my lights.
Isla sat beside me, her long black hair tousled from sleep. ‘What is she up to?’ she murmured.
Mia sat up from where she was pressed against my side and shook herself.
‘I never know.’ I shrugged my shoulders. ‘She’s far too clever for me.’
Isla held her hand out to Mia and the little monster climbed over me to scramble up her arm. She let out a laugh as Mia’s tongue found her cheek. ‘Tickles,’ she said before turning her attention back to me. ‘The chess game is not won till the King is in checkmate.’
‘I don’t play chess.’
‘Well, that’s something we are going to have to fix in the future.’
A possibility of a life where there was no urgency, no need to be constantly thinking of the next attack, the next assault, came to me. I realised that there were voids in history. Times when there had been decades, no centuries, where the most dramatic thing to happen was a feud between two neighbours. Suddenly, the idea of being able to play a lazy game of chess was appealing.
But that time was not now.
I jumped out of bed and pulled on my fighting leathers, slapping my blades into their holsters and strapping my sword to my waist. Emerald?
Coming now.
I got a mental image of her, Lance and Arthur waiting for us in the field.
‘Let’s end this,’ I said to Isla, ‘before it begins.’
‘My type of fight.’ She grinned and hefted a bow and quiver bristling with arrows onto her shoulder.
Mum and Radismus were already in the kitchen. I couldn’t help but notice Mum’s nightie. Lace and skin were a predominant feature that had been lacking in her old one. I squished that thought before it could mentally scar me, and said, ‘What are you doing?’
‘We heard the drums.’ Fear trembled in her voice.
Radismus grasped her hands. ‘There now love, Izzy won’t let anything happen to us.’ He looked at me as if to reassure himself that that was true.
Mum pulled herself up, as if she should be the one protecting me.
‘Hey.’ I pulled her into my arms. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got this.’
Isla let out a polite cough.
‘Fine.’ I rolled my eyes at her. ‘We’ve got this.’
Grams burst out of her wing of the house with Lionel right behind her. She was dressed in full camouflage gear, including her black balaclava. His striped pyjamas looked ludicrous with a sword buckled to his waist.
‘Oh good.’ Grams slid to a stop next to Mum. ‘I thought we’d missed you.’
I let out a sigh. There would be no stopping them, and Grams had proved herself to be quite valuable in our earlier staged attacks on the field.
Banging on the door turned out to be Turos and Aethan, both with their fists raised as if competing to see who could knock the loudest.
‘Rako’s rallying forces down at the field,’ Aethan said.
‘The dragons are ready to go,’ Turos said at the same time.
‘Men.’ Isla muttered as she shook her head.
‘You’re confident on Arthur?’ I asked her.
She nodded, a grin spreading over her face. I knew how much she enjoyed flying.
‘Grams, you and Lionel go with Turos. Aethan, you’re with me.’ I ignored Turos’s scowl and Aethan’s triumphant smile. I didn’t have time for that at the moment. ‘Let’s go.’ I hugged Mum and followed Turos and Aethan back out the door.
Our dragons were crowded onto our front lawn. We climbed onto them, even Grams scurrying up with surprising ease, and within a few seconds we were landing in the field where Rako was giving orders.
‘Do we know what we’re dealing with?’ I asked him.
‘Goblins. Lots of them.’
There was only one reason they would be attacking here. To stop us joining the rest of our forces.
‘Want us to fly a reconnaissance?’
‘Can you see well enough?’
I looked over at Aethan. ‘He can.’ I jabbed a thumb at him. ‘And I can see what Emerald sees.’
‘We can see as well,’ Turos said, pointing between himself and Lance.
‘And we can provide cover.’ Grams was bouncing up and down on her toes.
Rako nodded. ‘Fine. But no risky moves. I don’t want you engaging the enemy.’
‘What if they need to be engaged?’ I said. ‘If our engaging them would bite the head off the snake, so to speak.’
Rako squeezed the bridge of his nose. ‘Don’t do anything risky.’ The six of us burst out laughing and the corners of Rako’s mouth curled up. ‘Fine,’ he said, ‘don’t do anything ridiculously risky.’
The drums’ beat pulsed in the cool night air. Wherever they were, they were getting closer.
We started to lift off when I remembered the cave the night before. Stop.
Emerald cut her wings and her legs flexed as she absorbed the force of us landing again. What?
I didn’t answer. Instead I slid off her neck and trotted back to Rako. ‘It’s a trap.’ It was the only thing that made sense. Always before I had fallen for her subtle manipulations, danced to her tune. But not this time.
‘You’re sure?’
I nodded.
He didn’t question me. He just stared into my eyes for a second and then said, ‘Well, you know her the best.’
When she had stolen Aethan’s memories, she had kidnapped him and used a shield to manipulate the final battleground, the final players. Then she had done the same with poor Orion. Last night she had led us into a snare-filled cave. I was one hundred percent sure, that this was her attempt to control the final battle. But it wasn’t happening tonight. Of that much I was also sure.
Turos strolled over to us, his long, muscular legs eating up the ground between Lance and us with ease. I tried not to think about what those legs would feel like wrapped around my body, holding me down onto the length of him. I was only partially successful and I could feel my face flush red.
‘It’s a trap,’ I said before he could ask anything.
‘What do you suggest?’ Rako asked.
‘We continue as planned. But we do it now.’
He nodded his head and turned away from me, whistling a high-pitched tune. The Border Guard call to arms.
Aethan hurried off in the direction of the Guard and Turos winked at me before he and Lance disappeared toward the Millenium.
It only took Isla, Grams, Lionel and me moments to get back up to the house, but Mum was already dressed. Lionel slipped off to his and Gram’s quarters and returned a few minutes later clad in battle gear. Grams was opting to stick with her camouflage outfit. I suppressed a grin. It was nice that some things hadn’t changed.
Sabby, Grindella and Thomas arrived not long afterwards.
‘We’re leaving now,’ I informed them.
Sabby nodded, not at all surprised, and Thomas rested his hand on his sword as if he were readying himself to protect her.
‘Did Turos get time to…?’ I nodded my head at his hand.
‘A little. I get the theory but I’m having trouble with the practical.’
‘Well, you’re doing better than I did,’ I said. ‘It took me ages to understand the theory.’
‘She’s a slow study.’ Isla shuffled her arrows around in her quiver, making sure they would all pull out smoothly when she needed them. She patted her head, checking her braid was secure, then ran her hands over her fighting leathers, making sure her daggers were where they were meant to be.
I followed her example, slipping my fingers over the familiar feel of the steel blades strapped to my biceps and thighs.
There was one last thing I had to do and my heart squeezed at the thought. A war was no place for familiars. They were too easy a target, and if they were killed, the witches’ powers would be neutralised. Some familiars would go. The small ones that were easily concealed on one’s body. The rodents and insects. But the rest would be taken by relatives to be kept safe until the witch returned. If the witch returned.
Scruffy stared up at me with huge golden eyes. He stood on his hind legs and scratched at my knees with his front paws. I reached down and scooped him up, cradling him in my arms while I scratched his head. I pressed my face into his fur, breathing in his doggy smell. ‘Stay with Mum,’ I whispered. ‘I need to know you are safe.’
‘Mum.’ I held Scruffy out, blinking back stupid tears as she took him from me. ‘You and Radismus are to go with the civilians.’ We already knew that that was the plan. That Mum and Radismus’s job was to lead the civilians to London, to the barracks there. But saying it made me feel better. As if I could assure her safety by the will of my words.
Tears stood in her eyes but she nodded in acquiescence. Her magic didn’t extend to anything that was going to help us this night. Nor the next few days. And I didn’t want her anywhere near Santanas.
‘Grindella,’ I turned to Sabby’s Mum, ‘will you go with them? They’ll need healers in case….’ I didn’t finish the sentence. Didn’t want to think about the finish of the sentence.
Her eyes were huge and wise as she nodded her head. She turned to Sabby and held out her arms. ‘Give Phantom to me,’ she said. ‘I’ll keep him safe till you return.’ Tears trembled on her lashes as she looked at her daughter.
Sabby bent and picked up her huge, black cat. She shushed him as he struggled in her arms. ‘It’s for the best,’ she whispered. She buried her face in his fur, holding onto him as if she couldn’t bear to let him go, then she took a deep breath and passed him to her Mum.
Thomas’s arm crept around her shoulders and she sagged against him.
Grams unwrapped Cyril from around her shoulders. Mum took the huge python, bowing a little under his weight. He didn’t look happy as he took up residence over her shoulders.
‘Here.’ Isla reached up and unwound Mia from her neck. She held her out to Radismus. ‘Will you protect her? Where we are going is no place for her. We need to keep her safe till we can find her baby.’
At those words Mia stopped struggling. She let out a forlorn mew, and then jumped to Radismus, her body trembled as she tucked herself in against his throat.
‘I’ll keep her safe.’ Radismus put his arm around Mum’s shoulders and lifted his chin. ‘I’ll keep them all safe.’
‘I know you will.’ I had no doubt that he would fight to the death to protect them.
I hugged Mum tight, trying to pretend that that might not be the final time I got to feel the warmth of her body.
She wrapped her free arm around me, then kissed me on the cheek and pulled back till she was holding me at arm’s length. ‘Make me proud.’
‘Have I ever not?’
‘Well, there was that time….’ She stopped and smiled at me, and I knew it was time to go.
A piece of my heart splintered off as I turned and walked away.
The goblin drums echoed through the night, their pace increasing, a call to action. I steeled myself to ignore it. For once, I was going to move in the opposite direction, I was no longer willing to dance to the beat of her drums.
***
The Guard had assembled by the time we returned to the field. The Millenium fighters scattered amongst them. Turos stood at the front, towering above them and I could see the dragons in the distance. I let out a sigh of relief. So they had agreed to help us.
The dragon handlers were busy strapping on the leather harnesses that would allow multiple people to fly at once. The Millenium civilians were filing up the path towards my house where Mum and Radismus were waiting to lead them to safety. Some of them stayed, their axes and swords clutched in their hands.
I walked over to Turos and nodded my head towards a particularly brawny looking man.
‘That’s the blacksmith,’ Turos said.
‘He’s fighting?’
‘Can’t take away a man’s right to protect his family.’
As if his word had summoned them, a group of men from Eynsford strode towards us over the field. I recognised Rowan, the Publican of The Toasted Toadstool, in the lead.
‘Izzy.’ He nodded his head and then turned towards Rako as he waited for the briefing.
‘Right,’ Rako said. ‘We need to meet up with the rest of the army. And we’re not going to walk. We’re going to fly. Nothing else to say. Saddle up.’ He crossed his arms across his chest as he waited for everyone to obey him.
Aethan appeared by my side and I smiled at him. If only Wilfred were here it would be just like old times. Except Aethan couldn’t remember the old times. I stifled a sigh. Now was not the time to dwell on that.
I climbed up on Emerald’s neck and waited for Grams, Lionel and more of the Border Guard to fill up Emerald’s harness. Aethan climbed up, sitting snugly behind me. I could feel the warmth of his legs running alongside mine.
‘Everyone grab a bridle and grip with your knees.’
Beginners. Emerald’s sigh held resignation.
Lance was the first to take off, but I urged Emerald to catch up with him. He was going to need me to open up the veil. I waved an arm at Turos and saw his grin slip off his face as his eyes flicked to Aethan. I thought he was going to protest, but instead he pulled Lance back, letting Emerald take the lead. I concentrated on the feel of the veil draped over me, hoping I would be able to open it from the air. I had only ever done it a couple of times, but I figured opening a gate from an alternate universe had to be harder than this. For once, I was right.
I grasped the edges of the veil and pulled it back, the vista of Isilvitania spreading out before me. The castle was still, a silent reminder of the people that had gone to do battle with the foe.
‘Is anybody still there?’ I asked.
Aethan leant forwards far enough that his chest pressed against my back. I vetoed the thoughts that began dancing through my mind. Now was not the time to be enjoying the feel of that so much. Especially not with Turos watching like a hawk. I didn’t need the two of them at each other’s throats continuously.
‘No. Mother and her entourage have fled to London.’
‘And…,’ I really didn’t want to say her name, ‘Ebony?’
‘She has insisted she will fight. Which is ludicrous.’ He let out a hard laugh. ‘But she is right in the fact that we need her to be there when the night faeries finally turn up. She has gone ahead with the rest of the Guard and the human and witch army.’
I took a deep breath and dispelled the image of Ebony’s perfection from my mind. I hadn’t looked in a mirror for over twenty-four hours, and during that time I had flown through a storm, fought with other-world Santanas, battled the Vulpines and the goblins, healed dragons, and slept. There was no way what was happening with my head at that moment was pretty.
‘Where is the army?’
‘At the Pass of Bones.’
The Pass of Bones was on the western border of Isilvitania. The Black Mountains and the Mountains of Doom ran together into a V, culminating at the pass. If the goblins had mustered down near the ogres’ land, this would have been the only way they could come. This boded well, as the only thing stopping them from coming around the east side of the mountain ranges was the dark faeries.
I nodded. ‘Perhaps that’s why the dark faeries are taking their time. Because they are making sure they have to come through the pass to get to us.’
‘That’s what Ebony says.’
I wiggled around a little so that I could see the look on his face. I studied his expression and then said, ‘But you’re not so sure.’
He shrugged a shoulder. ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ He was harder than he had been. Losing Orion had made him so. It saddened me and pleased me at the same time. I wished we could remain innocent, but we needed to be strong and hard if we were to have any chance of winning this war.
We didn’t talk through the rest of the flight. I’m not sure what he was thinking about but I was picturing the goblin forces marching towards that pass and wondering how we were going to defeat a man that couldn’t be killed.
***
Two mountain ranges loomed in front of us. The small slice of air that separated them was just visible in the early-dawn light. Fires flickered in the distance, spread out across the land like a sea of twinkling lights. Close enough to The Pass of Bones that we could defend it, yet far enough away that the camp was not immediately vulnerable. A twist in the land meant a rise hid the camp from view from the pass, and our attackers would have a ground disadvantage if we were forced back.
Guards from all around the world had come to join us, their numbers had swelled the ranks of the humans and witches.
‘Rako said the training has been going well.’ My voice was rough from not talking.
‘Yes.’ Aethan cleared his throat. ‘General Tamsonite has taken control.’
‘He’s the head of the witch army, right?’
He nodded his head. ‘And General Robertson is the head of the human army, but Tamsonite has overall command.’
The Border Guard was responsible for just that – guarding the border between the land of the Fae and that of the witches and humans. The English human-witch army was much more extensive, and used mainly in peace keeping amongst the nations.
‘So, no other countries came?’
I felt Aethan move and turned to see him shaking his head.
‘I suspect they’re sitting back to see how this plays out.’
‘Hoping we can handle it?’
‘And possibly thinking about a land grab if we can’t.’
That was a sombre thought. ‘How can they not see that this is a threat to ALL of us?’
‘People see what they want to see.’
I turned to look at him again, squinting suspiciously. Had there been a double meaning in that? The look on his face was pure innocence. I opened my mouth to retaliate, sighed, and then closed it again.
As we flew closer, I could make out the tents; black pyramids in the pre-dawn light. Horses stood picketed at different points, spread throughout the camp with the wagons. No need to put the supplies in one area to make it easier for the enemy to disable us.
Occasionally an ant-sized soldier could be seen, stirring pots over fires as they started the morning ritual of breakfast. Soon the rest of the soldiers would emerge and start to break up the camp. I knew we had an army, but I was gobsmacked by the size of it. Even though we were about to fly over the start of it, it disappeared into the distance.
Shouts echoed up to us and some of the soldiers on the ground began to point. I saw a few lift their bows towards us and pull back to release arrows. They paused, knowing we were too high for their arrows to do us any harm, but soon we would need to land, and then we wouldn’t be so safe.
Whizbang. I hadn’t even considered that they would think we were the enemy.
‘Can you shield us?’
I gave him a look over my shoulder that should have made him burst into flames.
‘Fine.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Get Emerald to tell the others to go high. We’ll land and let HQ know we’re friendlies.’
I opened up my mind to Emerald and felt languid satisfaction rolling off her. Apparently last night had been more satisfying for her than it had been for me.
Already done, she said, her voice a smug sing-song.
I turned to watch the other dragons peel off and start circling upwards.
‘There’s the headquarters.’ Aethan pointed past me to a circle of tents larger than the rest.
I wrapped a shield around us as Emerald headed for the tents.
‘Helloooooo,’ Grams hollered from behind me. ‘Helloooo there. Oh, buzznuckle.’
‘Now Bella.’ I could hear Lionel’s voice even at his normal tone. ‘There’s no need for foul language.’
‘But Lionel, that was my favourite balaclava. Oh look. It’s stopped.’
I heard Aethan snort, and looked down to see Gram’s black balaclava sitting on my shield.
‘Let me guess,’ I said to Aethan. ‘She was waving it at the soldiers.’
‘Something like that.’
It only took us another minute to reach our destination. By then the soldiers had realised we had a shield in place and stopped shooting. Now a circle of them had drawn up around the command tents, their swords drawn, shields ready.
I’m almost tempted to fry the tents just to show them how useless that is.
Shhhhhhhh. I admonished Emerald. They’re just doing their jobs.
She huffed out a puff of steam as the wind from her wings caused the flaps of the tents to dance in a flurry. A maelstrom of dirt swirled up into a cloud which hovered over the command post.
Dust swirled and a few tents started to collapse at the down draft we were causing. A man pushed open the flap to the largest tent, his arm held up to shield his face from flying shrapnel.
Emerald landed gracefully and folded her wings back by her sides, amusement at the mayhem she had caused brushed against my mind and I smiled in response.
Aethan leapt nimbly from her back. ‘General Tamsonite,’ he said.
‘Prince Aethan.’ He looked from Aethan to Emerald and back again. ‘I see a lot has happened since we left.’
I slid down to Emerald’s raised front leg. She lowered me gently and I felt that brush of amusement again. I shook my head, hid my smile and walked over to stand next to Aethan.
‘Is this her?’ the General said. He looked me up and down a few times. ‘I thought she’d be more impressive looking. Are you sure she’s up to it?’
I could feel my eyebrows rising up my forehead and I could tell Aethan was fighting a smile which only made me madder.
‘I am sure she will do what needs to be done,’ he said.
General Tamsonite looked back at me and nodded his head. ‘Welcome Isadora Gabrielle. It is good to finally meet you.’
‘Thank you,’ I said.
‘Athol? Is that you?’ Grams pushed past me.
‘Bella?’ General Tamsonite blinked a few times. ‘Bella?’ He said again, his stony face breaking out into a huge grin. I was surprised that cracks didn’t fissure across his cheeks. ‘I thought you were dead.’ He held his arms wide and laughed.
‘Dead smed.’ Grams let out a girly laugh. ‘I didn’t recognise you with that moustache. It’s magnificent.’ She trotted over to General Tamsonite and threw herself into his arms. Her black balaclava was safely tucked into the waist of her camouflage pants. ‘And you’re a General now too.’
It took me a few seconds to realise that the gravelly-rumbling noise that accompanied the hug was Lionel clearing his throat.
‘Oh.’ Grams stepped back, adjusting her uniform into place. Her cheeks held colour that hadn’t been there before. ‘Athol this is Sir Lionel Heartfelt.’
‘Her fiancé.’ Lionel emphasised the word as he held out his hand.
‘Pleased to meet you.’
I suspected by the strained looks on their faces that they were both giving that handshake everything that they had.
‘Aethan. Oh Aethan.’
Even though I hadn’t heard it for a while, I recognised Ebony’s bell-like voice.
She pushed out of the tent next to command, a vision in a pale-blue riding dress. Her dark hair flowed down her back in soft waves. Her sea-green eyes glowed with joy as they fixed on Aethan’s face.
My hand went to my own hair without my permission. I snatched it back down again. I refused to apologise for how I looked. Even if there was still goblin blood in my hair.
She moved with a fae grace I hadn’t inherited as she rushed towards Aethan and threw herself at him. ‘I’ve been so worried. I thought, I thought….’ She dashed the back of her hand across her eyes. ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter what I thought. You’re here now.’
I resisted the urge to blast them with a lightning bolt as she pressed herself against him.
She pulled away and smoothed her riding dress down as if worrying she might have creased it. I couldn’t stop the snort that escaped me. As if she ever looked anything but perfect.
‘Isadora?’ She spun towards me. ‘Oh Darling, you found her.’ She sounded genuinely pleased as she linked her arm through Aethan’s and stared up at him. Her face melted into gooeyness for a second before she released him and stepped towards me, wrapping me in a hug.
Darling? The glare I gave Aethan over her shoulder drove him back a few paces.
Good. He deserved to be scared.
I dropped the glare and pasted a saccharine look on my face, smiling sweetly at her as she released me.
‘Aethan said you might want to paint my nails one day.’ She held her hands out in front of her face. ‘Could you help me with them tonight?’
Aethan took a few more steps back, no doubt getting out of immediate range of my left hook.
‘Ahhh, Ebony,’ Aethan said. ‘Izzy will be too busy for the next few days to paint your nails.’
‘Shame.’ She pushed her bottom lip out. The manoeuvre made her look even more kissable. ‘Oh well. After Daddy gets here to save the day we’ll have plenty of time for things like that.’
It was possible she had gotten even more annoying. I imagined Aethan having to put up with her airy prattle for the rest of his life and this time my smile was genuine.
‘Sir.’ Aethan seemed to be trying to pretend neither of us were there. ‘We have a contingent of dragons circling a few miles from here. We also have the rest of the Guard, some civilian fighters and the dragon riders.’
General Tamsonite considered the unasked question for a few seconds, bushy, black eyebrows drawn together in concentration. ‘They can land on our training ground. It’s about a half mile north of here. Send the soldiers to the supply carts to the south west of the field to get tents and supplies.’
I opened my mind to Emerald.
Did you hear that?
Yes.
A warm tingle that created a blush on my cheeks flowed back to me through our mental link. She was talking to Lance. I la-la’d in my head, trying to ignore the emotion unfurling in my stomach. Even then, I found myself anticipating Turos’s arrival far too much.
A few minutes later the dragons came into view.
‘Won’t the soldiers try and shoot them?’ Grams beat me to the question.
‘Yes, we should prevent that if we can.’ Tamsonite grinned at her and turned to the soldier standing to attention at the entry to his command tent. ‘Roger. Sound the stand-down please.’
Roger saluted, whipped a bugle from his belt, put it to his lips and blew out an ear-piercing trill of notes. It echoed out into the dawn air, and soldiers that were starting to ready their bows immediately relaxed.
Lance led the contingent of dragons, his massive black body sparkling in the first rays of sunshine. My heart surged as I recognised Turos on his neck. Arthur flapped by his side, beating fast to keep up with his father’s lazy strokes.
Emerald let out a rumble of pleasure as she saw her family drawing near. Coming? she asked.
I answered her by turning and trotting towards her. Within a few seconds we were on our way, both of us keen to catch up with the rest of the dragons – or with one dragon in particular.
Emerald sailed towards the group, leading them to the field General Tamsonite had mentioned. But she didn’t land. She and Lance stayed aloft while the others touched down and then she turned and flew west away from the camp.
Where are we going?
I saw a meadow in the forest a few miles back. It was full of wild flowers.
Pretty.
Pretty secluded.
I liked the sound of that. A lot.
Emerald landed first and I dismounted, standing with my back leaning against her front leg.
Lance landed a few moments later. Turos swung down from Lance’s neck and strode towards me. I smiled up at him, feeling shy for the first time since I’d met him.
He stopped a foot from me, his eyes searching my face. I reached out and took his hand. The callouses on his palm grated deliciously against mine as I rubbed them together. He shivered and pulled me along beside him as we walked to the nearby stand of trees. We didn’t talk, an energy building between us as the shadows of the trees fell over us. He stopped and turned to face me, pushing me gently backward against a tree trunk.
I could feel the heat between our bodies, and was struck with a powerful need to be even closer. To remove the restraints our clothes were causing and to take his body with mine. Instead, I took his hand again, tracing my thumb back and forth over his skin.
‘I didn’t like seeing him that close to you.’ He reached out his free hand and traced my bottom lip with his fingertips. ‘To see him touching you.’
His hand moved to my cheek and down to my neck, his fingers leaving a trail of fire in their wake. I sighed and closed my eyes as they ran along my collar bone.
His fingers moved down my side to my waist and I let go of his other hand so that it could join its twin there. He plucked at the edge of my shirt and then suddenly both of his hands were on the soft skin of my stomach. I sucked in a sharp breath and arched toward him, urging his hands higher. He didn’t disappoint.
I gasped as they grazed over the peaks of my breasts. Fire erupted in my veins and I grabbed the back of his neck with my hands and pulled his head down to mine. I bit down on his bottom lip as his hands found my breasts again. This time they stayed there, kneading the softness, rubbing over the hard peaks pressing into them through my bra. I bucked against him and wrapped a leg around his, leaning my hips into him. I moaned against his mouth, caressing his lips with mine.
Stars exploded in my head as his hands made their way under my bra, the calloused skin of his palms grazing over my erect nipples.
Dark Sky. I needed him. I needed him so badly I couldn’t breathe. I needed him more than air, more than life itself. I would give anything to feel his body pressing me down underneath him. To feel the long length of his legs intertwined with mine. To feel him entering me and moving inside me.
I gasped and pushed against him, feeling the hardness of him pushing through his pants into my groin. He was so close. So close. All I had to do was….
‘Ahh, Izzy.’ Isla’s voice intruded.
I shook my head and ignored her, revelling in the sensations he was creating within me. I kissed him deeper, grabbing his buttocks with my hands and urging him to press even harder into me. He broke the kiss and moved his mouth along my jaw and down my neck.
Oh boy, I hoped those lips were heading where I thought they were heading.
‘Izzy.’ Isla’s voice was harder. More insistent.
His mouth was exploring the edges of my shirt, and one hand was working its way back down my stomach to the edge of my pants. The tips of his finger teased the skin under my waistband.
‘Yes,’ I moaned, lifting up on my toes so that his mouth was closer to my breast.
He chuckled. ‘My little hell cat.’ He pulled my shirt up and licked one of my nipples.
I let out a yelp and jammed his head against my chest as I raked at his hair with my hands. He licked my nipple again and then drew it into his mouth, sucking on it gently. A thousand nerves fired in an arc, radiating out over my body. It was exquisite.
I fumbled for the front of his pants, wanting to pleasure him as much as he was me. He moaned as my hand brushed over the top of his mound and suddenly I was desperate to take him in my hand. To stroke the velvety length of him.
‘Don’t say you didn’t ask for this.’
Cold water cascaded over my head. I let out a shriek and opened my eyes, blinking in the early light of the day. The time-lust continuum I had been in disappeared and suddenly Turos and I weren’t the only people in the world.
‘Sorry.’ Isla smiled ruefully and gestured behind her.
I could see Emerald and Lance through the trees. They were pressed up against each other. Their tails were entwined and one of Lance’s wings was wrapped over Emerald’s back. Her head was thrown back, her eyes closed as he bit her on the neck. He let out a low rumble, a dissatisfied animal wanting more. She shook her head and leant into him.
‘Oh no.’ I batted Turos’s hands away from me, feeling a strange mixture of relief and disappointment when he let go. Part of me wanted to ride him to the ground and have my wicked way. The other part wanted to get as far from him as possible.
Lance snorted again and jostled Emerald, working his wing further over her back. She wiggled her haunch and urged him on. Dark Sky. If he mounted her. If he took her this close to Turos and me, I didn’t know if we would be able to stop ourselves. Already my relief was fading away leaving only a desperate need for Turos.
‘Izzy.’ His voice was a low growl as he clasped my buttocks with both hands. ‘Izzy.’ He bent his head to my neck and nipped at the soft skin there.
We could stagger further into the trees, find some soft ground there and I could magic away our clothes. It would be faster that way. We could get straight to where we needed to be, him biting into my neck as he rode me like an animal.
No. I shook my head from side-to-side. I didn’t want this. I didn’t. I think. It was hard to see clearly through the fog of desire. Maybe I did. Maybe this was me. I mean his hands on me felt wonderful. Felt right.
‘Fight it Izzy.’
I sucked in a deep breath, pushed him off me and turned away. He let out a growl and grabbed me from behind, pulling me back against him and wrapping his arms around me. I could feel his manhood pressing into my buttocks and suddenly I wanted it like that. On all fours.
I groaned as his hands found their way back up under my shirt, back to where they belonged on my breasts. He growled again and bit down on the back of my neck. I pushed my bottom into him, wriggling it against his hard bulge. He panted, his hands moving down to unbutton my pants.
Oh, yes. Yes. He was going to take me here. Like this. I nearly cried with the knowledge. The deliciousness of the thought of him entering me. Of sliding into me. Of pinning me against him as he did.
He let out a snarl as he wrestled with my button. A sound of feral need and desperation that matched the sounds coming out of my own throat. I needed him. I needed him now. I would go mad if I didn’t have him.
Air hit the bare skin of my buttocks and his hands left me for a second as he wrestled with his own pants. His breath came in desperate rasps, and I was reaching back to find him when there was a sound similar to something hard smacking into a coconut.
Panting, I spun. He wasn’t there.
Well, he was. He just wasn’t standing. And he didn’t appear to be conscious.
‘What?’ I panted a few more times, the lust leaving me like an out-going tide.
‘It was the only thing I could think of.’ Isla stood over him, a small branch in her hands. ‘I hope I didn’t hurt him too much.’
Emerald let out a bellow and I tried to avert my eyes, the view of Lance mounting her far too confrontational. But I couldn’t. I could still feel it. Even though Turos was no longer pleasuring me, I was still a part of their mating ritual.
I pulled my pants back up and re-secured them, disappointment curling in my groin. I could feel Emerald’s ultimate pleasure mounting. Feel her getting close to her release. And I wanted it too. I wanted my mind to be soaring toward the sun, my eyes rolling back as wave-after-wave of intense sensation rocked through me.
Lance let out a roar and flapped his wings, using the momentum to surge him forwards again-and-again. Emerald’s cries matched his, each roar bellowing out around the forest. And then, a bolt of lightning rocked through me as Emerald threw back her head and let out a scream of pure, unadulterated pleasure.
Turos jerked on the ground as Lance echoed her cry. His pale-blue eyes snapped open, burning into mine. He held my gaze as the glory of their love flowed through us, both of us rocking in time with our dragons. As the last vestiges of their climaxes echoed away he said, ‘You’ve got to admit, that would have been incredible.’
***
‘Thank you.’ They were the first words I had spoken since we had left the meadow half an hour ago. Now we were gathered in a loose circle around the fire near the command tent, sharpening our swords and checking our bows.
‘So…you’re not upset I stopped you?’ Isla pulled a face and gestured towards Turos.
A bruise was starting to blossom on the side of his face. I hadn’t healed him. Hadn’t trusted myself to put my hands on him in case we had decided to finish off what we had started. As it was, sexual frustration was my number one emotion, but that wasn’t enough for me to want to lose my virginity. Not like that. I had to know it meant something more than just raw, animal lust.
As if he knew we were talking about him, he glanced over, his eyes pinning me in place with promises of what he could do to me.
‘He looks pretty frustrated.’
She was right. He did. His spiky, pale hair was even more ruffled than normal, evidence of where my fingers had curled into it, urging him on.
‘I know how he feels.’
‘Oh, you are upset with me.’
I glanced over at Aethan. He was sitting on the far side of the circle, a brooding look on his face as he glanced between Turos and me.
I let out a sigh. ‘No. I’m not. I would have regretted it. After it was over.’
‘I’m not sure if you would have. You looked like you were enjoying yourself. A lot.’ She grinned at me and pulled another arrow out of her quiver, looking down its length before placing it in a neat pile beside her.
‘What would you have regretted?’ Sabby looked up from where she lay on the grass next to me.
‘Oh nothing.’ I pulled a face and looked toward where Thomas sat next to her. I really didn’t want him overhearing that conversation.
‘Oh.’ She nodded wisely and closed her eyes again, no doubt making plans to pin me down for more information once we were alone.
The army around us also readied itself for the coming battle. Incoming scout reports informed us that the enemy army was still stationary on the far side of the Pass of Bones. It didn’t make sense. Why would they wait while we fortified our position? My skin itched whenever I thought about it, and I was thinking about it often.
I ripped at a piece of jerky with my teeth, working it around my mouth as I tried to get enough moisture into the dried meat to allow me to swallow it. The mundane action made me miss Scruffy. If he were here he would be pawing at my leg, his eyes huge as he begged me for my share of breakfast as well as his own.
‘You need to keep your strength up.’ Isla handed me another piece of the hard meat.
Grams let out a laugh from the other side of the camp, beating at her leg with her hand as she chortled. Tamsonite was regaling her with a story and Lionel didn’t look that pleased about it.
Isla glanced over to Grams and I stuffed the jerky into my pocket. I didn’t need food. I needed sex. And lots of it. But since I wasn’t going to get that I would have to get rid of my excess energy another way.
I stood up and stretched my arms above my head. Then I bent forwards and touched my toes. Perhaps I should go for a run. I hadn’t done that for a while.
Before I could suggest it though, Lionel hopped to his feet. ‘Izzy has the right idea. I haven’t swung a sword in a while. Anyone care to train with me?’
Not surprisingly it was Tamsonite who sprung to his feet. ‘I’d be delighted old chap.’
Lionel’s face hardened at Tamsonite’s use of the word old. He walked over to a pile of training weapons and grabbed a wooden sword, waving it from side-to-side as he warmed up his muscles.
‘This should be interesting,’ Isla murmured. She looked down the shaft of the last arrow in her quiver and nodded her head.
Grams clapped her hands together and said, ‘You two behave yourselves. Athol, if you break any of Lionel’s bones you’ll have me to answer to.’
Lionel’s face was a mixture of pleasure that Grams was siding with him and pain that she obviously thought Tamsonite was better than him. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders and then moved into an en garde position.
‘Ready old man?’ Tamsonite mimicked his position.
Rather than answering him, Lionel swept his sword in an arc toward him. Tamsonite blocked it, and the fight began.
‘Turos,’ I said, ‘maybe you could continue your training with Thomas and some of the others.’
Thomas jumped to his feet. ‘That would be awesome.’
Turos nodded and climbed to his feet. ‘Grab a wooden sword,’ he said.
I winced on Thomas’s behalf. I knew from first-hand experience that that lesson was going to hurt.
‘I think they may be an even match,’ Isla said, pointing her sword toward Lionel and Tamsonite. She looked down its gleaming length and then took the sharpening stone to an almost invisible nick on its surface.
I sat down and picked my sword back up. She was right. Lionel was holding his own as he dodged, parried and attacked. He held his wand in his left hand and every few seconds he would flick it at Tamsonite. Tamsonite would respond with a flurry of his own wand.
‘Impressive,’ Sabby said, putting an arm behind her head. ‘Duelling and sword fighting at the same time.
It was impressive. I had only ever fought with the Guard, so I had never seen witches fighting in earnest.
Sweat started to appear on their foreheads and their faces turned red, but still they battled on. Grams had her hands pressed to her mouth, a look of delight on her face. And then Lionel stumbled over a rock. It was only a small movement but it was enough to give Tamsonite the edge he needed.
He closed the gap between them, stepping inside Lionel’s guard, and he cracked him over the head with his wooden sword. There was a resounding crack and Lionel dropped to his knees, both hands pressed to his head.
‘Lionel.’ Grams let out a terrified shriek and launched herself at him. His eyes rolled back in his head as he toppled to the side. ‘Izzy,’ she yelled as she clutched at his hands.
I leapt to my feet and raced to his side, laying my hands on him to feel for his injury. I closed my eyes and kept them closed, fighting to keep the smile off my face.
He wasn’t hurt badly at all. A little bump on his head which would be sore tomorrow.
I was tempted to leave it, to teach him a lesson for scaring Grams like that. But then I figured that she probably deserved it, what with how she had been flirting with Tamsonite. And then that made me wonder what sort of fright I deserved for leaving my heart hanging between two men.
I let out a sigh as I healed him.
‘What is it?’ Grams tugged at my shoulder. ‘Is he going to be okay?’
‘I got it in time,’ I said. ‘But he’s going to need some rest and perhaps some extra care.’
Lionel let out a groan and opened an eye.
‘I’m sure I didn’t hit him that hard,’ Tamsonite said.
Grams hopped up and waved a finger at him. ‘You did too, you bully. I heard it from all the way over there.’
Lionel winked at me and I winked back, then I helped him into a seated position. ‘Grams. We’d better get Lionel into a bed. General Tamsonite, may we use your tent?’
‘What?’ Tamsonite rubbed his moustache with his hand and Grams glared at him with her hands on her hips. ‘Yes, of course,’ he said quickly. ‘Be my guest.’
Aethan helped me get Lionel up and we supported most of his weight as he staggered towards the tent.
‘Don’t lay it on too thick,’ I murmured out of the corner of my mouth.
Aethan shot me a quick look and then understanding creased the corners of his eyes.
Grams rushed ahead of us, opening the tent flap and then fussing around the bed, straightening the sheets and plumping the pillow.
‘You sure he’s going to be all right?’ she asked me.
‘I’m quite sure.’
Aethan placed his hand on my arm as he exited the tent, stopping me from heading back to the others. ‘Is that what I need to do?’ he asked.
‘What do you mean?’
‘To get you to admit that you love me still. Do I need to fake an injury?’
‘Shhhhh,’ I said. ‘She’ll hear you.’ I gestured at the tent opening. I didn’t want Lionel getting sprung. And there was also Ebony to consider. She had said she was going to wash her hair but she could burst from her tent at any moment.
He took my hand, his beautiful eyes serious as they stared into mine. ‘Is that what it will take?’
I pulled my hand away, guilt warring with indignation. Why couldn’t I just choose Turos? Why couldn’t I set Aethan free? He wasn’t mine any more, and giving him any sort of hope was a cruel joke. Especially with Ebony actually there in the camp. The woman he was being forced to marry.
The truth swam up from the depths of my subconscious. It wasn’t this Aethan I was holding out for. It was my Aethan. I couldn’t let go because if he ever got his memories back I knew I would do whatever it took to have him.
‘No.’ I shook my head. ‘You don’t have to do that.’ I gazed into his eyes, searching for the man I grew up with. The man who had crafted me into the woman I was today. But he wasn’t there.
I blinked back tears and squeezed his hand, suddenly drained of all my excess energy. ‘I need to get some sleep,’ I said. A smile flickered over his face and I shook my head. ‘Can we make each other a deal?’
‘It depends what it is.’ His face became wary.
‘The next few days are going to be intense enough without all of this.’ I waved a hand between us. ‘I need my friend, not my jealous ex-boyfriend.’
His face distorted at my use of the word ex-boyfriend. ‘So Turos, he is your boyfriend now?’
‘This,’ I poked him in the chest, ‘is exactly the sort of thing I am talking about. No. He is not my boyfriend. But seeing as how you are betrothed, neither are you.’
He sucked in a big breath of air, letting it puff out his cheeks before releasing it. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I’ll make that deal. As long as you promise me that the minute this is all over, you’ll let me do whatever I need to, to make you mine.’
Thoughts of dark-faery wrath flashed through my head but I was too tired to be responsible. Too exhausted to try to fight him any more.
‘Deal.’ I stuck my hand out and he grabbed it, spun me into his arms and lowered his mouth to possess mine. Part of the kiss was like coming home to a warm fire and a hot meal, and climbing into my pyjamas and fluffy slippers, but the rest of it? Dark Sky help me, the rest of it was fire and ice shooting through my veins.
His breath mingled with mine as I curled my fingers into his back and tried to remember exactly why we shouldn’t be doing this very thing.
‘Hey,’ I said, when I finally came up for air. ‘That wasn’t the deal.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s only fair that I get to give you a bit of me to think about.’ His eyes glanced over to where Turos had disappeared with Thomas and the remaining Guard.
I tried to control my expression but I could feel a blush start up on my cheeks.
He looked back at me, tilting his head as he examined my face. ‘I thought so,’ he said. ‘So I’ll keep my bargain if you keep to your end. But I’ll not stand back and watch him take what I can’t have. Not unless you declare yourself for him that is.’ A look of pain flashed across his face. ‘If that happens, I will bow out of the competition. Maybe.’
I felt a flash of irritation, but not at him. At myself. He was right. I couldn’t stand there insisting that I needed friends, not emotional turmoil, while there was a possibility I would make out with Turos. If I was going to draw a line in the sand, that line had to be long enough to contain them both.
I nodded, too ashamed and exhausted to speak. I swayed on my feet and put a hand onto the tent to support myself.
‘Sleep,’ he ordered. ‘You’re right. The next few days are going to be strenuous enough without entering them exhausted.’
Isla appeared beside us, tucking my arm through hers. ‘Come on sleepy head,’ she said. ‘Our weapons are ready, our dragons are asleep. There is nothing more for us to do. General Tamsonite has said we can use the next tent down.’
I saw Sabby staggering towards us rubbing her eyes. I followed her to the next tent and a few seconds later was sinking gratefully onto a camp stretcher. A piece of tight fabric had never felt so good.
‘Here.’ Isla dumped a bag on the ground and rifled through it until she pulled out our dream catchers.
‘Oh.’ I hadn’t thought about packing anything when we had left.
‘Yes, you’re hopeless,’ she said. ‘Lucky you have me and Sabby to look out for you.’
I saw Sabby shoot her a grateful look at being included in the statement and I made a mental note to include her more. It had been Isla and me against the rest of the world for so long now that I had to remember there were others in my life. That knowledge, along with the conversation I had just had with Aethan pressed down on me and suddenly I felt so selfish I couldn’t breathe.
‘Hey.’ Sabby was at my side pressing a hand to my head. ‘Stop it. Everything is going to be just fine. Here. Lie down.’ She pressed me back down onto the pillow and picked the dream catcher up. ‘What do I do with this?’
‘Just tuck it under her pillow.’
‘Okay then.’ Her voice said that she had no idea why, but she would do it anyway.
I felt her hand moving underneath the pillow and then she rested one hand on my forehead. ‘You need to get some sleep, and I’m going to help you.’
‘No I need to….’ What did I need to do? Apologise to Turos for leading him on. Apologise to Aethan for same. Apologise to Grams for not spending enough time with her. Apologise to Mum for never being there any more. Apologise to Isla for Wilfred not being there with her. Apologise to the whole wide world for releasing Santanas’s soul, and for not being strong enough, or fast enough, or smart enough…
Sabby released her will into me and sleep flowed up over me like a warm, thick blanket protecting me from my thoughts, and from the outside world.