Page 17 of Claws of Death

Ayna

“You two are disgusting.”Astorian is grinning at me from a few feet away, his tousled hair full of leaves and tiny twigs.

With a groan that runs through my entire body, Myron tears away from me, his gaze following mine and a frown twisting his features.

“What are you doing here, Tori?” he prompts, one hand remaining in my hair and the other one on the small of my back.

“Just making sure you don’t get yourself caught again,” the fairy male replies, a smirk on his lips and an arm braced onthe trunk of a fat oak.

I take this moment to force some sense back into me and detach myself from Myron to assess the damage my magic has done.

A lot.

The carriage wheels are the only pieces intact; the horses have fled into a thicket of firs where they stand with wild eyes and steaming breath. But what’s worse is the three motionless bodies at Astorian’s feet.

Stifling a gasp, I scramble to my feet and bolt for what I expect to be my sister’s corpse.

“Don’t sweat it, Ayna,” Astorian comments as I drop to my knees beside Kaira’s hips. “They are alive. It will take them about a quarter-hour to recover.”

Kaira’s relaxed features are scattered with tiny cuts from where pieces of the splintering carriage must have hit her. A glance at Andraya informs me she suffered the same fate. Pouly seems to be the only one who got out of the way in time.

“Those three weren’t abducting you, were they?” He pushes away from the tree, prowling to stand behind me where Myron is already hovering like a shadow. I don’t need to look to sense his presence. My tattoo tells a story of his closeness that makes my skin tingle and the hair stand on the back of my neck.

“No.” I shake my head in emphasis before the two males can make any different assumptions. “They actually rescued Kaira and me.”

Myron’s leg brushes my shoulder as he inches closer like he can’t bear even this smallest of distances, and I allowmyself to lean into him. My head is still spinning from the outburst of my magic, and my hands are shaky from the shock of finding Myron and Astorian rather than Erina’s guards ambushing us. I don’t dare ask about the others yet. If Myron and Astorian are here, chances are Royad, Silas, Herinor, and Clio are safe, too.

“Then it’s time to wake them, I guess.” Astorian steps forward, placing his hand on Andraya’s arm, and I taste the magic in the air as he sends a burst of power into the lady whose eyes flutter open promptly.

He’s making a move to do the same to Pouly, when a large bird plunges from the treetops, body shifting into the form of a huge male. I don’t need to look twice to recognize Herinor, but I do need to stare to make sure I’m not imagining the way he crashes to his knees across from me by Kaira’s shoulder, face torn in anguish at the sight of her motionless body.

“If she’s dead, I swear to Shaelak, I don’t care who you are or who you’re mated to. I will kill you.” He grinds out the words like steel over gravel, and ice slides down my spine at the authenticity of his threat.

But before Myron can tear his head off, I grab Herinor’s hand and place it above Kaira’s heart. “Feel that?”

For a brief moment, his features go slack. Then he closes his eyes, listening to the slow thuds of Kaira’s heart.

It is only then I realize how much of the night I can hear: the whisper of leaves in the wind, the rustling of bird wings, the heavy breaths Herinor is trying to calm, and heartbeats. Kaira’s, Pouly’s, and Andraya’s human ones, butthree strong, violent ones belonging to the magical creatures around me. Then there are the swift, hard beats hammering in my own chest, telling a story of my own survival.

“Shall I do the honors, or do you want to…”

“I’ll do it,” Herinor cuts Astorian off before he can infuse Kaira with his magic and wake her up.

Myron’s hand finds mine as he crouches beside me, brushing a kiss to my temple, and I can’t stop a sigh from escaping at the simple touch. I’d been fearing never finding him in the vastness of the Eherean realms. Instead, I can relish his presence and the knowledge he’s alive.

“What, by the Guardians, is going on?” Andraya asks as she scrambles away from the males surrounding us while Pouly’s first reaction is to draw his sword and point it at Astorian, who stands closest to him.

“Don’t embarrass yourself, human guard,” he admonishes with a grin that would send lesser men running. “I’m as invested in the Crow Queen’s safety as you are.”

That earns him a pair of raised brows from Andraya and a grunt from Herinor, whose eyes never leave Kaira’s face as he waits for her to wake.

“You mean the Queen of Tavras,” Andraya corrects, Pouly supporting her statement with a nod.

Astorian, however, bursts out in laughter.

“What’s so funny?” I rise, trusting Herinor to wake up my sister, now that I’ve seen Astorian do the same for Andraya and Pouly. Like a shadow, Myron straightens with me, a menacing form at my shoulder, but doesn’t interfere as I wait for the fairy general to explain himself.

“You’ve made quite an upgrade to your life since those creatures retrieved you from prison, haven’t you?” He points his thumb at Myron, who tenses to strike yet remains where he is as if waiting for me to land the first blow. “From traitor pirate to queen of two realms in the span of mere months…”

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