Page 20 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

He scowls over at Shadow. “I thought you said you know where a meadow is.”

“I do.”

“So why aren’t we there yet?”

“I said I know where it is.” The cat’s green eyes laugh at us. “I never said it was close.”

A growl rumbles through Wranth, and he takes a step forward.

I press my hand to his chest to stop him and glance at Shadow. “Is it far?”

He gives one paw a slow lick and drags it across the side of his face. Then he grins. “Not far if one walks the shadow roads. For a unicorn, though...”

The vibration under my palm returns, the growl more felt than heard as Wranth bares his tusks.

“Humph. Race me without cheating, and I’ll show you who’s truly fast, cat. And I’ll do it carrying two others on my back!” Zephyr’s hoof strikes the now-bare ground of the small glen she’s already cleared of grass. “Let’s go. I’m hungry.”

We run and run, Shadow flickering through the trees beside us. I can’t tell whether he uses his magic or if it’s the camouflaging abilities of his fur that make him so hard to see. Probably both.

When the way ahead lightens, the unicorn puts on an additional blast of speed. “Finally!” She bursts from between two pines onto the muddy bank of a river. “Dammit! That’s not a meadow!”

Shadow’s ratcheting laugh cuts off, only to return much fainter as his smile appears on the opposite side of the river.

I gasp. “How’d he do that?”

“Sneaky cat cheating.” Zephyr snorts. “That’s how.”

Now that we’re no longer racing the sound of rushing water fills the air. The river’s so clean and clear, the rock-coveredbottom shows, with the occasional flicker of silver-scaled fish darting around.

Then the surface froths, and a few humanoid creatures made of water rise into the air. Long locks of liquid hair pour down, sheathing their body in “clothes,” and they stretch foam-flecked fingers toward us. “Come, unicorn,” high, burbling voices cry out. “Come dance with us!”

“What are they?” I ask.

“Water nymphs,” Wranth says. “They’re harmless.”

“You only say that because I carry youabovethe water,” Zephyr grumbles. She turns to spear me with one sharp blue eye. “Can you take us across? Fast like the cat?”

Funny how Shadow’s “cheating” has turned into something she now wants to do.

Can I teleport other people on purpose? And someone as large as the unicorn? Won’t know if I don’t try. I grab my crystal and squeeze, concentrating on the far bank. Fire races down my nerves, and I give a small whimper of pain as I release the pendant.

“Are you all right?” Wranth’s arm tightens around me, and he pulls me back into him.

The burn halts as soon as I stop pushing. “I’m fine. I guess my magic’s still fried.”

“Of course it is,” he growls. “It’s far too soon for you to use it, and you shouldn’t have been asked.”

Zephyr flips her mane. “I wasn’t trying to hurt Naomi.”

“I know you weren’t.” I attempt to lean forward to pat her neck, but Wranth’s holding me too tightly. I squirm a little, but he refuses to loosen his grip.

He reaches forward, tugging at my legs until I pull my feet up to the saddle. Now the only thing keeping me in place really is him. His feet remain anchored in the stirrups as Zephyr starts forward.

“Aren’t you going to get wet?” I ask.

“The leather of my boots is bespelled to be waterproof.”

“Oh.” All the little things magic does in this world. But are any of them really so little? To be clean and dry, to have magic bandages, to be able to find food—it’s all the trappings of a comfortable life, even if it’s one lived without technology.

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