Page 20 of The Fae King's Labyrinth

I frowned at him. He was lounging against the far wall watching us with a smirk on his face. “Considering I don’t know how I shifted in the first place, I have a hard time believing I can do it again.”

The pooka laughed. “I can explain how you’re able to shift now.”

Azulin tensed. His demeanor changed in an instant from warm and sympathetic to cool and distant. Rising quickly, he moved away and began fiddling with his storage spell.

The pooka grinned and came to sit beside me. “You see, his magic—” He gestured toward Azulin. “—unlocked your shifter magic. Meanwhile, your magic is straightening out the chaos the curse created of his magic. You two are magically compatible.”

I lifted my vine-covered arm. The sleeve fell back, revealing the magical tattoo in all of its glowing, glimmering glory. “Is that why I have this now?”

“Yes, and much more.”

“Eat.” Azulin interrupted the pooka by dumping an apple in my lap and then tossing a second one at the pooka’s head. “We need our strength to survive what the maze has in store for us tonight.”

“The moon is rising?” the pooka asked.

“Any minute now. I can feel the curse growing in strength.” Azulin offered me a flask. “Water?”

“Thank you.” I gulped down roughly a third of the contents before handing it back. “Sorry, I was thirsty.”

He accepted the flask and slipped it back into his storage compartment. “That is why I gave it to you. Now eat. The curse is growing in strength, and we need to be ready to run.”

I bit into my apple. The sweetly tart moisture burst on my tongue.

“I can carry her in my horse form,” the pooka suggested as he munched loudly.

“And when I am in need of your assistance?” Azulin asked.

“She can get down.”

Azulin rolled his eyes. “Have you missed the last day? The labyrinth changes won’t wait for her to climb down. And if the passage shrinks down smaller than a horse’s size, what are you going to do? Dump her?”

The pooka smirked. “I could always become a rabbit.”

“Then I would crush you,” I pointed out. “There has to be an alternative.”

“I could carry you,” Azulin suggested.

“I don’t see how that will be easier than me riding on the pooka.”

“If you are in your cat form, carrying you would be easy.”

The pooka finished his apple and tossed the core into the darkness behind us. “He has a point, Calypso.”

Azulin went rigid with anger. “Don’t call her that.”

“Why ever not? It is her name, isn’t it? Not her true name, but neither is Callie. So, no danger there.”

“She didn’t give you permission.” Azulin’s intensity and the ramping up of his magic made my entire arm tingle—not unpleasantly so. It was strange.

“Since when do I need someone’s permission?” The pooka straightened. “Names are names.”

“I noticed you haven’t offered us yours.” Azulin moved his right hand to the hilt of his sword, revealing his own glowing marking.

The pooka threw his hands up in frustration. “Is that what is keeping you from trusting me? My name?”

“I have a question.” I reached for Azulin’s sleeve and missed as he moved to invade the pooka’s personal space.

“Not your name. I want—” The air sizzled with Azulin’s magic. If I didn’t intervene soon, they would come to blows. And that was the last thing any of us needed right now. . We needed to work together to survive.

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