Page 159 of Fated or Knot

My pussy clenched as I imagined my gentlest male in rut. Maybe it wasn’t part of his designation, but I wanted it all the same.

Marius burst out of the inn, fixing me with a predatory gaze. “All set?” Kauz asked mildly.

Those yellow eyes turned from me to his brother reluctantly. “Aye.”

“I have a deal for you. Lark’s heat is close.”

“Very,” the kelpie growled.

“You know where I’m taking her. Follow us, just in case. She won’t be in a state to return to Neslune if her heat arrives, andI can’t see to her needs like you can,” Kauz reasoned. I nodded in agreement, even though I knew I’d try to hold out and travel back to the palace anyway. I couldn’t imagine succumbing to my heat without all four of my mates in my nest.

Marius didn’t even blink before he blurted, “Deal.”

We said our goodbyes quickly, since we’d see one another again soon. I picked up on his hope that he’d be back in bed with me by tomorrow evening.“As long as Kauz is willing to share. But I’m certain he will be.”

I nuzzled against his arm with a soft purr.“Bye, mate.”

His gaze was bright with longing already, but he stepped away.“Safe travels, p’nixie.”

I turned to Kauz, who had his wings mantled for flight. The brothers exchanged a nod of farewell before the dream warden said, “Let’s fly. It’s not far.”

I should’ve asked what wasn’t far before he launched into the air. I followed with a boost of speed from a vortex spell, waving to Marius until he was a featureless speck of blue next to a toy cottage from this height. The kelpie bond faded the further I traveled from my mate, until I couldn’t feel anything but my own thoughts and emotions. I missed it immediately. It was going to be harder to go without him than I thought, after getting used to it over several days of newly bonded bliss.

If only dream wardens could make similar bonds. Kauz flew much faster than I did, though with his wing shape he couldn’t stop or hover like I could at a moment’s notice. So, he did the same thing Marius had done in kelpie form, flying circles around me like an absolute showoff. If I didn’t know his skill with dream magic, I’d assume at first glance that the sky was his true element. He flew without any of the awkwardness that sometimes came with carrying that heavy pair of wings on the ground.

I was used to measuring out my essence for glimpses of flight. Without the silencing band, I had plenty of magic to do this without breaking a sweat. The height and speed we’d coaxed from my pixie wings was new, and my palms slicked with nerves every time I happened to glance down. I still checked my essence levels constantly to be as sure as possible I wouldn’t suddenly drop out of the sky.

My preoccupation distracted me from noticing when the sky started to shift. I glanced up, wondering when the sun started setting, as the clouds were painted in shades of orange and purple. Kauz swooped down to fly beside me for a moment. “Can you feel it?” he called.

I started to shake my head, but…something odd was going on. The wind whistling through my ears was calming, the sun was setting far earlier than it should, and a magnificent spread of stars glittered in the sky ahead of us around a luminous crescent moon. My jaw dropped and my skin tingled before taking on the pleasant warmth that could only follow a well-deserved nap.

Oh. Oh, literal stars.We’d crossed into the dreamlands, the portion of Serian where the magic of Ever, Always, and Never leaked from sleep into waking. It was more surreal than I could’ve imagined. Rolling alpine hills covered the land, lit red from one side, reality, where the needles and branches were crisp and distinct. From another angle, they were outlined in blue, turned into indistinct blobs like they were a painted backdrop.

Kauz wheeled around again, his wingbeats and momentum slowing. He coasted above me, like I could take shelter under the canopy of his open right wing. “Just glide. You won’t fall,” he said.

I stopped flapping my wings. The calm air seemed to buoy me, as long as I angled them like I was still manually flying. I gave the occasional flutter, nervous despite the feeling thatgravity had given up on me and would allow me to stay up here for as long as I liked. “What is this magic?” I asked.

He smiled serenely. “The dreamlands recognize a dreamer. Welcome home, Lark.”

The stars and moon painted him in silvery light, and as I smiled back, I noticed movement on his wings. I looked over my shoulder and ended up flipping over with an ‘eep’ of surprise. My momentum stayed the same and after a moment, I let out a thrilled laugh, and he echoed it.

The tattoos on his wings that I admired so much weremoving. They glowed silver from some ambient magic here, dancing and glittering in waves of mist and stars on the bottom half of the leathery span. I figured I could twist around to turn right side up, but instead I angled my wings so I flew lazily into Kauz, who caught me. I looped my arms around his shoulders. “I have questions,” I said, immediately distracted as I looked into his eyes. They were extra sparkly, with a glaze of purple.

“Of course. But first…” He cupped my cheek and kissed me, drawing his wings in to spiral us through the air in a whirl of colors and sparkles. I was glad he held me, as I was dazzled by this beautiful place and the handsome male who seemed cut straight from the cloth of semi-night resting over the land. “You want to know how things work here, sweetheart?”

“Mmm.” I soaked in the ambiance, and him. Maybe making sense of everything didn’t matter so much as long as Kauz was holding me.

“One of the most common dreams is flight. During true night, you can see specks of light floating in the sky over the dreamlands. Each one is a fae’s sleeping mind as they dream of flight. As winged dream wardens, we can fly without trouble and bend reality to stay up here as long as we like. I get quite spoiled by endless flight when I visit.”

“Wow,” I murmured. “Your wings tattoos are moving and glowing.”

“Ah, aye. I painted them on under the light of the dreamlands so they’d take on some of its magic. Do you like them?”

“They’re gorgeous. But…how did you reach around to do that?” I asked.

His eyes creased with his amused smile. “There’s a spell to lift ink that’s painted on something else and apply it to skin. They’re unfinished, you know.”

I hadn’t considered them unfinished, but now that he mentioned it, he did have the top half of his wings left unmarked. “I thought that was intentional.”

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