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"Do this," the fae elder said in his dry leaf voice. "And you will earn the gratitude and support of the wild fae. That is no small thing." His voice moved closer, both a benediction and a curse. "Do not falter when the moment arises," he intoned. "Lest you see what fury lies in the wild."

I blinked and the room around me had changed. There was suddenly more light than shadow. And the air was crisp and cold. A breeze stirred my hair and plucked at my clothes, and birds sang around me. A particularly vocal squirrel chattered in surprise, startled by the sudden appearance of "the big lumbering ones."

I rubbed my temple, getting my bearings as I took in the feel of the powerful auras around me. "Mother goddess," I muttered.

Warm, strong fingers lightly gripped my jaw and tilted my head back as Robin's cinnamon and incense smell filled my senses. "Are you okay?" she demanded, her voice more than half growl. "Did he harm you? What did that asshole do to you, Ruya? You're pale as a ghost."

I let out a shaky sigh that turned into an even shakier laugh. "I'm not harmed," I told the overprotective dragon shifter. Another set of bigger, rougher hands gripped my shoulders and squeezed from behind as Sanka flanked me, the two of them wrapping me in a cocoon of protective fiery rage. "He made a request that I need to carry out to fulfill the bargain. In exchange for taking care of me and Yukio. That's all."

"What did he want?" Sanka demanded, clearly not willing to let me slide by with that vague explanation.

I squared my shoulders and forced myself not to show fear. I needed to rein in my feelings and sort this out in my own head first, before I dealt with the protective instincts of my rather impulsive new family. "It's nothing to worry about right now," I said firmly. "We'll talk about it later. Right now, I want to go home."

"Well, that request won't be hard to honor," Yukio said dryly. "The old fart basically threw us out of the preserve. I'm pretty sure the road is just through those trees there."

Robin's voice was tight when she spoke. "The car shouldn't be far. There are others who will want to assure themselves you are well, Ruya. Let's get back home." Her hand found mine and squeezed lightly. "But we will talk about the request that was made of you."

"Of course," I said evenly, not letting my exasperation show. It wasn't like I expected them to just merrily carry on as if I hadn't just made an unknown bargain with the leader of the wild fae. If they weren't concerned, that would be worrying. But new worries were already crowding out the concern over what exactly I was going to tell Robin about the fae's demands.

"Sadavir!" I bit out. "I can't believe I forgot to ask about him! Is he okay? We left him there with the syndicate people. Yukio said he'd be okay, but…"

"He's fine," Sanka grunted, stealing me from Robin and leading me carefully through a shadowy patch that turned out to be a screen of tree branches, and over a fallen log. "Duck your head here. There you go. Step up." He tucked my arm through his as we got to more even ground. "Maybe the dumb naga will calm the fuck down once he sees you're in one piece. He got shoved through the portal back into the real world, took out a few thugs, but couldn't find you anywhere. He's been a pain in the ass ever since."

"I nearly had to put him down," Robin said coolly. "But I knew you'd cry over his scaly carcass. So, I let him live."

Yukio snorted. "Are you sure you want to go back to all of this?" he asked me sweetly. "I'm pretty sure we could just turn back and take up with the wild fae. They're annoying as hell, but at least they aren't quite this bad. And, as an added bonus, there's no snakes."

I swatted at his general direction, managing to catch a glancing blow to something hard. Probably his shoulder. "Stop. You'd pine away over missing Robin and Sanka, and then I'd be all alone with a bunch of fae who never say what they mean. I'd go insane."

Yukio's cool hand slid into mine and he tugged, getting a surprised, "Hey!" from Sanka when I was pulled into the pixie's wake.

"I don't pine," Yuki informed me in a haughty tone. Take that nonsense back, or there'll be no cinnamon rolls for you when we get home, witch."

I laughed at his teasing. "Yes, there will. Because I'm your mate and you love me. I want cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa. The kind with hot pepper in it. And those homemade marshmallows you make."

He scoffed. "You get dry toast and cheap tea. Pining. Honestly, what do you take me for, woman?"

We both stopped in our tracks when Sanka burst out laughing. Robin joined in, her husky chuckle making my face heat. "What's so funny?" I asked, turning back toward them.

"Oh, greater demons of the ninth level," Sanka wheezed. "Are you seeing this, Robin?"

She huffed. "Oh, I'm seeing it, Sanka darling. I'm just surprised you only now noticed."

"What?" I demanded.

"Ignore them," Yukio advised, tugging on my hand to get me moving again. "They're idiots. Clearly."

"Oh, clearly," Robin intoned. "Because it seems we both underestimated just how infatuated you were with our omega, Yukio. You frosty little liar."

I chuckled. He really was bad at accepting his feelings.

"Witch," the pixie warned, his smooth voice full of danger. "Careful, or you'll end up lumped in with those two idiots. I am not infatuated. I take it back. No toast and tea for you. You get a saltine cracker and an ice cube."

I barked a laugh at his ridiculous threat and reached out my arms for him, making a kissing noise. "Come here, Yukio, you absolute charmer!"

The dark fuzzy shape that must be his body danced out of my reach, then disappeared as he leapt up into the air with a snap of pixie wings. "Fine," he snarked from above. "Find your own way back, you ridiculous morons."

Dragonfly wings buzzed, and he was gone.

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