Page 89 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

Wranth’s lips quirk up on one side. “It’s been a while since we went at it one on one.”

“Too long.” Aldronn claps him on the shoulder. “How about a sparring session once all of this is done?”

“Deal.”

My heart goes gooey. These two have such a great bromance, and discovering they’re cousins has only made it all the more special.

Pushing past the fatigue eating at me, I store another of the entwined crystals in my cleavage and move over to the standing stone. “Okay, Avalon or Earth?”

“Avalon seems safest,” Wranth says. When the other orcs give surprised grunts, he adds, “Even though the Dark God resides in that realm, we’ll arrive in an uninhabited location. The same cannot be said for Earth.”

“I don’t know. Depending on the time of day, Main Street can be pretty empty.”

“Is this street the place with the mechanical beasts?” He frowns down at me.

“Yep. Cars.”

Wranth gives a sharp nod. “It’s as I said. It’s more dangerous.”

“Okay.” It’s not as if it makes much difference. I have to open both doors within the next hour to open all the doors of Faerie successfully.

I stretch my hand out, and he takes it. This time I know what I’m looking for and dive right past all the brighter threads leading to the places in Alarria.

Finally, the dark-purple thread of his infancy swims into view. I follow along it until I slam into the door to Avalon. Gripping my crystal more tightly, I strain against the door, using the brute force of my magic to pound it open. Even with all the red crystals, doing this for the fourth time today starts to burn along my nerves. I suppress a gasp of pain, knowing if Wranth hears it, he’ll make me stop. Opening this many doors is always going to be this difficult, so waiting to try again won’t help. Best to get it done.

Wranth’s home.

I picture Tumbletoad in his cozy kitchen.

Wranth’s home.

The taste of his delicious bread fills my mouth.

Wranth’s home!

The universe rips in two, and I fall forward. Wranth’s strong grip keeps me from hitting the ground as the light level around us drops like somebody turned off the sun. That eerie wrongness hangs in the still air, and I can just make out the ruins of the hunting lodge in front of us as my eyes adjust to the light provided by the twin moons.

“Are we alone?” I whisper.

“I sense one being,” Wranth murmurs. “Tumbletoad. Tumbletoad. Tumbletoad.”

“Your majesty!” Tumbletoad’s voice comes from the darker doorway. “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

We explain how I’m opening the doors of Faerie, and I hand the small man the paired crystal. “Do you know where we canput this to anchor the door on this side? It’s got to be somewhere safe and also a place where people can emerge out of thin air.”

“There’s a spot in the back garden that will do nicely,” he says, leading us around the ruins and past a small bed of vegetables to a barren patch where he digs a hole and buries the crystal. “Nothing will grow here, so there’s nothing to be trampled.”

“Thank you, Tumbletoad,” Wranth says.

The moonlight glimmers in the brownie’s eyes, and I think he might start crying because of Wranth’s thanks.

Wranth must see it, too. “Tumbletoad, once the doors of Faerie are open, come to me in Alarria. I cannot promise you I live like a king, but it’s a lovely realm.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” the brownie says. “I would be honored to serve the two of you.”

“Oh!” My mouth snaps shut before I can protest that it won’t be both of us, confusion filling me. Home? Where is home anymore? Is it the apartment over my parents’ garage? Is it the cottage in Moon Blade Village? Or a castle I’ve never seen?

I shake my head. I need to focus on the here and now. Once I open one more door, all the doors of Faerie will open, and I’ll have time to stop and figure things out.

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