Chapter 3
Orion
“Away with you, gnat!”
“Oh, but your flame lord, if you’re not—”
A bellow loosens from my chest as a forest dweller charges me.
And not the pleasant kind.
No, this one has rows upon rows of needle point teeth that don’t bite through, they shred.
“Careful.” Whispen sighs, stepping out of the way of the creature as its light skin reflects the moonlight. “This one’s teeth shreds.”
Fucking gnat.
The ax no longer feels heavy. Not after the amount of times I’ve had to use it. New calluses form where the handle’s gone rough.
I’ll have to sand it down later.
If there is a later after these damn creatures.
I swing the ax and aim for its neck.
“Well done!” Whispen bends down to look at the creature’s head as it pauses its roll. The face settles staring at the star-filled sky. “Oh, it is ugly this one.”
He leans down, going nose to nose with the thing. He’s been doing this since we started traveling together. I did have to talk him into an older form.
The childlike form freaked everyone out. Especially me. And after a month of traveling with this pest I needed something that didn’t terrify me in the middle of the night.
When he’s bored.
And staring at me. Because he doesn’t sleep.
Never. Again.
The tip of my ax thuds into the soft earth and I lean on it. I’m hungry, thirsty, and tired. And I’d like to get to our destination before we both die.
“They’re all ugly, Whispen,” I remind him.
“You are seven for seven, flame lord!” He says this as he remains staring at the creature eye to eye.
He’s done this with each of them. And each of them he finds fascinating.
“Come on now. We can’t be far.” I stretch out my back, the cracks echoing through the Dark Forest.
“You’re right, the borderlands aren’t far.” His head finally snaps up. His blue body has taken the shape of a young man, though his tipped ears are too pointy for even a Fae.
Whispen is still terrifying. Just taller now.
“Let’s go.” I shoulder my ax, stretching my neck. “Stay vigilant.”
“It’s not me that needs to stay vigilant,” he says, trailing beside me. “I’ve already died.”
I pause on the game trail and turn back to Whispen. “You died?”
“Well, yes.” He blinks at me, then frowns. “Why are you staring at me?”
“You just said you died.”
“I did?” His eyes widen, terrifying smile stretching. “What else did I say? This is fascinating.”
“I thought you were born this way.”
He gets right in my face. “I was born?”
And this is why I might kill him.
Never mind that Ash would never forgive me. But I may kill him.
It may be the biggest fight we ever have and that is saying something.
One month of this, and I’m convinced I’ve lost my fucking mind.
The bond at my wrist pulses. Faint. Steady. The only proof she’s still out there somewhere. Still breathing.
For a moment I swear I catch it. That wild green scent of hers, moss and thunderstorms and something underneath that was just her.
Gone before I can hold onto it.
The bond pulses again. Faint. Steady. Mocking.
I need to talk to Finnian. I miss the fool.
Hell, even Kieran is better than the whisp.
I walk through him.
“Hey,” he cries.
“You are a gnat!” I hiss because last time my yell attracted another forest dweller. And this time I’d like to get to our meeting place before I have to kill another one of these fucking creatures.
“I am a whisp.” This time he jumps through me.
Right through me.
I grab my ax and swing at his body. I aim for the neck.
He shoots straight up now, abandoning his young adult form and switching back to the little orb. “Flame lord tries to kill Whispen?” He frowns before hovering before my face again.
Guilt creeps up my neck, burning into shame. I try to rub it away. “I—I don’t know what to say for myself.”
“You missed,” he deadpans.
I close my eyes and take the deepest breath of my entire life. My head tilts back until I’m staring at the sky. “Dagda, grant me strength.”
“Ohhh, calling on daddy D—”
“Don’t.” My eyes snap open. “Do not.”
He transforms back into an adult. “The tavern is around that bend.”
Nope, I am going to kill him. I take it all back. “How long were you sitting on that information?”
He just gives me one of his needle-sharp smiles.
Never mind. I walk around him, aiming for the path and the curve just ahead.
I remain silent, Whispen thankfully keeping his mouth shut this time.
The forest is quiet but alive. Crickets sing. Frogs croak. Only in the Dark Forest those creatures are anything but innocent.
That cricket song could be a creature mimicking one while it follows you. Yet there are no branches breaking or shifting movements.
And that frog croak?
Could easily eat you.
But I don’t worry about those creatures as much as the others.
Thankfully just ahead sits the borderlands tavern. Neutral territory between the Dark Forest and the Unseelie Court.
Owned and operated by Donn. That’s his name. Just Donn.
He’s been around for as long as I’ve known him.
Good Fae. Wild Court.
Around the tavern a few horses neigh at our approach. Others sleep in the barn not too far from the tavern.
Luckily it’s a quiet evening and there are no yells of laughter spilling out.
Pushing through the doors, I stomp off my boots.
I can’t see inside but I see Donn behind his bar that lines the entire left side of the room. He’s cleaning a cup when I walk in.
Looking up he jerks his head, his heavy beard swaying with the movement.
His long hair sits in a ponytail at the base of his neck and his dark eyes immediately find Whispen.
For a moment I freeze up.
Last time I brought Whispen into a bar with me he created a bar fight.
Like I said, it’s been a month.
But this time Donn chuckles to himself.
Whispen darts past me to snuggle the bastard. Luckily in his orb form.
Shaking my head, I walk inside to where all the tables sit. There’s a lone woman sitting at the end of the far side of the bar, her head down as she hovers over her ale.
Several round tables dot the tavern room.
I only need one.
“Orion!” Finnian shouts from across the room.
Listen. I’m a big Fae. With a lot of big emotions. Some I’ve stuffed down over the years. Others explode out of me.
A month of silence and forest and that fucking whisp and here he is. Alive. Whole. Still annoying.
I’m across the room and lifting him in my arms before I think better of it.
I am not afraid to admit my throat gets tight. Heat presses behind my eyes. I blink it back.
“Orion,” Finn gasps. “Can’t.”
“I know but can you hold your breath for just a moment longer?”
He exhales all the air in his lungs in the next moment.
“Guess not.” I let him go.
He wheezes for a few moments, bending over and gulping down air.
It’s dramatic but who am I to say so? I pat him on the back a few times to help him through it. “There ya are.”
He swats my hand away.
Gods, I’ve missed him.
I hug him again for good measure.
A month ago I was supposed to protect her.
A month ago I watched them drag her away and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
Champion of the Wild Court. Couldn’t even keep one woman safe.
The shame of it sits in my chest like a stone I can’t cough up.
And here finally is the tether I have to our mate. I can’t help the fact I missed him.
“You’re going to kill him, Orion.” Kieran’s cold voice rolls over me and I immediately drop Finnian and turn to Kieran. “I will kill you,” he immediately snarls.
I don’t hug him. He’s using the same voice I used when I threatened to kill Whispen.
I hold my hands up and chuckle. “Fair enough.”
“Now that the gang’s all here,” Kieran rubs his hands together, letting little snowflakes fall to the sticky tavern floor. “Are you ready to get started?”
Finnian’s jaw tightens. “Some of us have been ready for weeks.”
Rude. Snorting, I mutter, “I was on my way.”
Kieran doesn’t flinch, but the temperature drops three degrees.
I look between them. Something happened while I was gone. Something neither of them wants to name.
I want to ask about her. The question sits heavy on my tongue, shoving against my teeth.
Is she—
I open my mouth.
Kieran’s eyes flick to mine. Ice blue and razor sharp. A warning lives there. Or maybe a plea.
Don’t.
If something were wrong they would have led with it. That’s what I tell myself.
So I swallow it down. Lock it behind my ribs where it can burn in private.