Page 34 of Last Ride of the Umbra Fae

“You were being reckless. I had no choice,” Raven snapped back.

“Elaborate, boy. I’m not too keen on riddles.” End’s Wrath’s warning was enough to get me listening again.

Silence strangled the air.

“Well?” I gruffly said, popping off my hat just a few inches from my face. “Spit it out so we can all get some decent rest tonight.”

Vessa snickered as her head tipped back, exposing the side of her neck, a place I’d love to lick again if given the chance. Her eyes narrowed back down toward me as her iridescent freckles shimmered against the flames.

Heaven’s hell, she is beautiful when she’s mad.

“Ra-ven”—she pronounced the “v” with a slice of attitude as she looked back to her father—“decided to butt into our dance last night and extended his power to shield me.”

“What do you mean?” I placed my hat beside me. “Are you telling me Raven’s magic was…dancing with mine?” My lips curved in disgust as I sat up and sneered his way. “Your…magicwas all over my body?”

End’s Wrath and Vessa laughed. The old man’s deep bellow was so loud, it reverberated around our campsite. They were laughing so hard, I thought they’d lost their gods-damn minds.

“It’s not funny,” I growled and immediately stood, feeling violated when I’d thought it had been hers.

“Sit down, asshole. It was mine, but because we have aforcedbond”—Vessa glared at End’s Wrath—“sometimes our powers can merge when desperately needed, or depending on how strong the bond is. It can vary per situation.”

“And you were too fucking desperate,” Raven cut in, but he didn’t find it any more humorous than I did.

End’s Wrath was still laughing, not even phased by this bullshit. He sighed as he leaned back against the tree, covered his face with his hat, and crossed his arms.

“Fuck this.” I took my blanket to seek shelter anywhere else but in the company of these fucking crazy western woodlanders.

I found a small,partially enclosed space far enough away to have some privacy. Not long after that, I heard light footsteps scraping against the gravel. With my legs bent at the knees, forearms resting on them, my hands remained clasped as I looked out into the desert night, watching the few tumbleweeds to see how long it would take for them to get enough kick from the wind to keep going. With the power ofNai, I gave them a gentle gale and watched them bounce away.

I felt like a mess, tangling myself up in something I didn’t understand.

Vessa placed her blanket to her side and took a seat beside me. She was dressed down to just her top and pants. The black sleeve that covered her arm had been left behind. Her boots were never removed for long except at the end of the night, cloaked beneath the luminescence of the moon; she slept with them on.

“He’s not like us,” she finally said, watching the same tumbleweeds caught in the brush. “He was raised by the Umbra Fae, but we don’t know exactly where he came from or which type of Elemental Fae he could be. We had suspicions he was from Emer Forest, the island north of Black Water Woods—our home. Yet he doesn’t have the power ofNan, earth. I think a part of his earlier memories are missing, the life he had before us.”

I guessed that explained a little more about him, why he had so many different powers. A male like me, who was stuck between two different worlds, only one of his was in the form of a bird.

I turned my head to look her way.

“He was a young boy who lived in a cage, waiting on the fate of an owner. I think this bond was a way out for Raven and asolution for Pa to try to tame my wild heart. If you can imagine, I was hard on the reins even back then.”

I hummed. Any anger I’d held melted away as my lips curved into a half grin. “I find that hard to believe.”

We shared a glance momentarily. She laughed, looking down at the soles of her boots, and began picking at a few stuck rocks.

“Pa said if I was bound, then I would have to think about the choices I made, and in return, he got a bodyguard for his daughter. Raven was chained in a cage and now to me. For the first portion of our lives together, he refused to shift back to our form. Not until we were older and, maybe, he was getting lonely. He has never been free, and we are all he’s ever known. All was merry, until one day, it just wasn’t.”

There was a long pause.

“They came on boats from The Nil Bend.” Her voice was a soft shudder.

“Who?” I asked.

Her brows hit her hairline as she struggled to keep the swell of tears from falling. Every shadow cast upon her face hid terrors. A part of me wished she didn’t have any. I wanted to be angry with myself for feeling this way, for caring when this was just a job. I was no better than the ones who had betrayed them, but here I was.

“The humans,” she whispered. “There was no warning, no sound. They came in the middle of the day when we couldn’t call upon the power of the moon to summon ouramaandano.”

With the pad of my thumb, I wiped a tear from her face. Grief was a crippling bitch. Some scars were loud and observable while others were kept hidden and preserved. No matter how one wore them, they were all the same. They were scars nonetheless, forever etched into their soul. She had both kinds, and my gods, she rode the fuck out of hers. She was braver than I could have ever been.

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