Page 39 of Fae Reckoning

I quipped.

My eyes rolled all on their own.

I craned my neck back to look up at his face. Ittowered as high as some of the shorter new-growth trees. Even forty feet up, his black eyes were big as my head.

He stared down at me.

My eyes bulged.

Would I ever laugh again while in the Mirror World? Sure I would, I decided. Once the queen wasn’t part of it, there would be plenty of reasons to celebrate.

With all four of Einar’s legs firmly on the ground, I glanced around. Larissa, Zafi, and Pru were assisting Edsel as he fussed over the sleeper-fae who were sprawled across the clearing. Azariah huddled next to Bertram, who looked on with a slight smile—assuming giant, magical frogs could smile. West sat cradling Ramana over his lap. I was beginning to wonder if he might be physically incapable of letting her go now that he’d found her again. Hiroshi and Ryder were somewhere, possibly inside freeing more of the queen’s captives—or possibly aiding Roan and Reed around back.

A relieved exhale whooshed out of me as Rush, astride Bolt, popped around a corner leading a trussed-up Ivar by a rope. His legs bound, the queen’s advisor had to jump to keep from being dragged. Rush guided Bolt at a gentle pace, not due to Ivar’s limitations but out of consideration for Ivar’s horse. The steed waslimping so severely it seemed as if each of his steps might end with him crumpling. Rush’s beautiful lips were pressed into a hard line of regret.

“Where’s Xeno?” I asked just as he rounded the bend behind the horses. My entire frame relaxed while I continued to pet Saffron distractedly. My friend was in his dragon form. As I studied him, an unintentional gasp slipped free, loud enough for dragon-Xeno to jerk his head my way. Several times smaller than Einar, Xeno was still magnificent, all corded muscle, vicious lines, and lethal edges. His scales were shinier than when I’d last seen his dragon, indicating how much healing he’d achieved. In sunlight they were nearly silver. In the shade of this forest, they were a moody slate gray. But his wings…

“Oh, X,” I whispered.

Yes, they’d mended some since he’d taken on a horde of umbracs to protect the rest of us. And he’d assured me he could still fly. But they were far from the smooth, aerodynamic appendages they used to be.

Xeno tipped his lips upward in what would have passed for a sad smile when he was a man. As a dragon, his bared teeth would have appeared menacing had I not known he’d never hurt me. He’d taken an arrow to the chest in his attempt to save me from being abducted and delivered to the Mirror World.

Melancholy bubbled up my chest until it spilled out of me in an abrupt sob.

Xeno bared more of his teeth—his sadness deepening with my empathy. His intent dragon stareholding mine, he pulled his wings tight against his back as he followed Rush, who was heading toward me.

It was then that a final head-count caught up with me. With the immediate threat of an enormous dragon raining timber upon our heads addressed, I realized who was missing.

“The green dragon,” I uttered to no one in particular.

Rush’s head swiveled, searching for him as Bolt advanced at a sauntering pace.

I jerked my head back so I could see Einar’s face.

The thought of shouldering another loss stuttered through my chest. I might not have known the green dragon, but I’d still failed him.

Hatred for the queen speared me so savagely that I couldn’t even voice my agreement. Never had a person needed to die more.

12.NO PLACE BETTER TO BE THAN WITH THE HOPE OF THE MIRROR WORLD

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