Page 70 of Fae Exile

“We have to figure out what magic’s at play first,” West said. “Why did Elowyn and Azariah show up here?”

Saffron whipped his head up as if to say,Hey, what about me?

I peered at him from over my shoulder with a fresh perspective. Had the mischievous little dragon understood me all along, even when he’d pretended not to? The rascal...

West was quick to amend, “And Saffron too. Was it the magic of the Fae Heir Trials? Was ither? And can she do it again? Pull them away without warning?”

Rush growled as if he were more beast than man, his hand landing possessively on my hip.

At that faintest of touches, my skin erupted in heat so all-consuming that I felt my face flush. I dared not step away, experiencing the need for his touch with every thrum of my heart. My skin pulsed beneath his hand as if stretching to be closer to him.

Azariah clip-clopped a bit nearer. “I can confirm it’s the magic of the Fae Heir Trials. I’m assuming Her Majesty attempted to kill Drake Rush?”

Azariah looked at Rush.

“She did,” he said.

“Then that would have activated the magic of the trials, since she’s prevented from harming anyone still protected by the trials.”

“Then what about me?” I asked. “She tried to kill me plenty of times.”

Azariah dipped his head to one side in consideration much as the blue dragon had. His mane slid down his neck, catching the light streaming through the gaping windows. “Yes, that shouldn’t have been able to happen. But then again, I’m starting to realize how very much about you there is to learn, Lady Elowyn. You are not as you seem.”

Rush’s hand pressed harder into me, his fingers kneading my flesh with need. “Willshebe able to yank Elowyn away?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Then we get the dragons out,” I urged. “Now. Before she shows up.”

“We can’t go down there,” West said. “She can trap us all.”

“Then we don’tallgo down there. But first, we get these guys out.”

Satisfied the others responded to her guidance, I fully faced the blue dragon, a mere dozen feet from her now. “Whether or not it makes any sense how you came to be here, you need to get out while you still can.”

“And go where?” Hiroshi asked. “There’s nowhere safe from her for them, not within the mirror world.”

“Within the Wilds,” I said. “Maybe.”

“The Wilds?” Rush asked with a sharp arch of his brows. “How?”

“Not the Wilds,” Azariah interjected. “They can come home with me.”

“Um...” I trailed off.

With high, cautious steps, the unisus stepped over debris while his large eyes continuously roved from dragon to dragon.

I went on, “No offense, Azariah. You’re absolutely magnificent in your own right. But you seem ... scared of them.”

His head jerked in my direction, air whistling through his nostrils. “Of course I’m scared of them! I have a healthy respect for any creature that can nibble on me as a snack and still be hungry for more.”

“Exactly, my man,” West said, obviously as confused as I was to have full conversations with magical creatures who acted like people but still weren’t.

Azariah stopped before drawing too near a rust-colored dragon. “But just because I’m scared doesn’t mean I’m going to let that fear affect my behavior. I know what must be done, so I will do it. The land of the fae requires it of me, and I answer to the magic of Faerie that still lives in the mirror world.”

“Okay,” I said. “Then, thank you. We’ll find you at your home when we can get free of here.”

“You won’t find my home unless I want you to. Not even Her Majesty will.”

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