Page 80 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

“Witches,” Ashley says, wonder filling her voice as she turns to me and grips my arms with excitement. “It explains the witches! We’re part fae!”

“Now, back to your magic,” the dragon says loudly, cutting over us. “It’s one of the most powerful, and therefore, one of themost draining. Most far travelers can only make one trip at a time.”

“The red crystals help with that,” I say. “With them I can keep going.”

“They ameliorate the side effects. They do not dispense with them completely.” He gives me a hard look. “You could strand yourself in a dangerous place if you push past the warning signs of burnout.”

Wranth growls, his body bristling beside me. “I will protect her from any dangers.”

“This must be why you two are tethered,” Aldronn says to Wranth. “So that you will go with her no matter where, a warrior to protect her.”

“It would be better if more of us could go as well,” Zephyr grumbles. “Wranth is a fierce fighter, but who knows how many foes await you? You could use my horn.”

“And my claws,” Shadow says.

“A dragon should definitely travel with you to Dularia,” Lukendevener adds.

“I’m not sure how many I can take,” I say. “I teleported Zephyr to Moon Blade Village, but wasn’t able to bring Wranth. The tether brought him.”

“And you did yourself harm taking someone as large as Zephyr.” Wranth frowns down at me.

“I’ve got the red crystals now. They’ll keep me from magical burnout.”

His scowl says he still wants to protest, but he doesn’t—he knows I’m right.

“If only we could tether more people to you. Hmm.” Sheevora curls her talons in a come hither gesture. “Come here, little witch. I want to explore this tether.”

Wranth stirs as if he wants to put himself between me and the dragon, but he doesn’t. I like that he remembers ourconversation from the bathhouse. He’s respecting that I make my own decisions about what I want to do, even if he wants to protest.

I step forward, and Sheevora’s talons close around me like the bars of a cage. But for all her size, she doesn’t hurt me by squeezing too tightly.

“Hmm,” she hums. “It’s interesting. It’s not your mate bond. I can’t tell what caused it.”

“Can you break it?” I ask.

Wranth’s eyes bore into the side of my face, but I can’t make myself look at him. I know my question hurts him—hell, it hurtsme—but we can’t live like this forever, even if by some miracle we can stay together.

“No,” she says, her talons opening so I can step away. “But I sense it will break on its own once you open the doors.”

“Well, I can take another person to the other realms with the red crystals’ help,” I say with confidence. It’s only a little bitty lie. I certainly hope I can teleport someone other than Wranth. “I’ll need to take another fae with me—one who comes from that realm. I think I need the connection, like I followed Wranth’s thread to Avalon.”

“I will help you get to Umbria,” Zephyr says.

“And I will go with you to Dularia,” Lukendevener adds. “But it’s not enough. Everything I’ve read says you’ll need to open the doors to at least five different realms for all the doors to open.”

“What about pixies?” I ask.

“They’re from Avalon.” Wranth shakes his head.

Shadow says, “I suppose you could use me to go to Ketalia.”

Everyone turns to gape at him, and the wolf says, “I thought the cat sith came from Avalon. You were all over the realm!”

“Cat sith go wherever we want, hound.” Shadow grins. “Avalon just happened to be the most interesting realm. All the politics and fighting and whatnot.”

“Even the dragons did not know of this Ketalia,” Sheevora says.

Shadow’s smile simply grows wider.

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