Page 27 of The Fae King's Labyrinth

Azulin let out a pained groan, but I had no air to make noise. It had all vacated my lungs when I hit the ground. I closedmy eyes, blocking out the velvety sky above us and focusing on trying to draw in breath. Somehow Azulin’s hand had found mine, and his fingers locked with mine so that I couldn’t separate them if I wished. Strangely, my breathing eased.

I hurt so badly that I didn’t even register the thundering of approaching hooves until a new arrival drew up his mount in a shower of dirt clods that peppered my face.

“Unhand the king!” a harsh voice ordered. He jumped down from his horse with a flare of magic that made my whole body tighten in pain. Stalking forward to stand over me, he kicked more dirt in my face. “Release the king, or I will remove your hand from your body.”

I blinked up at him in confusion.

Azulin stirred next to me. “Ghost, you will do no such—” Azulin erupted into a ragged coughing fit. Rolling onto his side, he struggled to breathe for a moment. But through it all, he never let go of my hand. Instead, he pulled it closer to his chest as he coughed.

“Sire?”

I couldn’t get a good look at the new arrival, but his shadow in the darkness appeared massive as he loomed above us, blocking out the stars.

“Leave him a moment and he will recover,” the pooka advised. “We’ve been through an ordeal.”

The new arrival stiffened. “And who might you be?”

The heavy sensation of magic brushed past me. This time I wasn’t the target; the pooka was.

True to form, the pooka laughed. “Wouldn’t you like to know, O intimidating one? Your spells won’t work on me any more than your heavy-handed skills will force me to answer any of your questions. Pookas are immune to persuasive magic.”

The fae’s dark throaty laugh held no humor. “All the better for me. I’ll get to use a more hands-on approach with you, miscreant.”

“Ghost,” Azulin whispered hoarsely. I could barely hear him, but the man looming above us snapped to attention.

“Sire?”

Azulin groaned. “Leave the pooka alone. He just saved my life.” His voice rasped in his throat in a way that didn’t sound healthy.

Ghost bowed. “Perhaps you can explain, sire, after you have seen the royal healer. That cough doesn’t sound good.”

“No.” Azulin sat up, which brought on more coughing.

I tried to extract my fingers from his clasp in order to get out of his way, since he clearly intended to stand, but Azulin tightened his grip, preventing my escape.

“We visit this one’s village first.”

Eight

Calypso

“The mortal?” Ghost growled as though my very existence was offensive to him.

The darkness retreated as Azulin’s magic flame burst back into existence above my head.

“A shifter!”

I lifted my head to find Ghost glaring down at me. Overlong silver hair fell across his forehead as he regarded me with disgust, like I was a stink bug.

“I smell cat.” The irises of his amber eyes flashed in the shadows beneath his brows. Magic coiled around him like smoke, and the slight scent of burning teased my nose. I couldn’t be sure if the source was him or us considering our recent brushes with lava and the enraged dragon shifter. My ankle throbbed.

Azulin stood, drawing me up by my hand to stand beside him. I rose awkwardly, resting my weight mostly on my good leg.

The pooka laughed. “You best get used to the smell, dragon shifter. She’ll be sticking around for a while.”

Ghost glanced at Azulin, who had been watching the exchange with cold interest. “Sire? Is this true?”

Wordlessly, Azulin lifted his free arm, revealing his marked hand. The vine glimmered faintly in the light of the magical flame.

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