Page 15 of Bound to the Orc King

And I need to learn a lot more about it.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“We’re traveling south, toward the Dular Mountains, where we’ll meet Naomi, so she can take us back to Moon Blade Village.”

“Wait. Naomi?” He can’t mean my best friend, can he? Excitement zips through me, and I twist in my seat to stare at him. “Did you say Naomi?”

“Yes, she’s the human witch with the ability to far travel.”

“And what’s far travel when it’s at home, lounging on the sofa on a Sunday?” I glance over my shoulder.

“Is this another of your colloquial expressions?” He frowns down at me. “Faerie’s translation magic is very literal. Those never make sense.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get your knickers in a twist.” I wave a dismissive hand and purposefully use another “colloquial expression” I picked up in China, where English is more heavily influenced by the UK than the US. “I just asked what far travel means.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” he says in that haughty way he has.

God, could this guy get more arrogant?

“It means she can travel far distances in only a second. She uses a word similar to the human one for your power, teleport.”

“Teleportation!” Can it really be my friend? Is this the “exciting new job” Naomi wouldn’t tell me about over the phone? “That’s amazing!”

“Humph.” Starfall shakes her head. “You’re not the one who has to shift into a lesser form to do it.”

“Shift?” I ask. “As in shape shift?”

“Unfortunately,” she says dryly. “As if any other shape could be as glorious as my natural unicorn form.”

“Starfall doesn’t enjoy her fae form,” Aldronn says.

“Why should I? Being a biped is pitiful compared to the real me. That form doesn’t have a horn and can’t run anywhere near as fast.” As if to prove her point, she speeds into a full gallop, the forest racing by in a blur.

Aldronn leans forward, pushing me lower over the unicorn’s neck, his huge body wrapping around me to take the sting of whipping branches.

Yep. I never thought I’d say it—and I’m sure as shit not admitting it out loud to Mr. Bossy Pants—but this being protected thing isn’t half bad.

We ride for hours, Starfall never needing a break. I’ve only done a little horseback riding, but it’s enough to know most horses can’t gallop safely for that long. When I ask her about it, she scoffs, “I’m no horse! I’m aunicorn.”

“What my old friend is trying to say,” Aldronn interjects, “is that unicorns have healing magic. They self heal as they run. It gives them amazing stamina.”

“And don’t you forget it.” She turns her head, spearing us with a crystalline-blue eye. “I’m amazing. You said so yourself.”

“It was never in doubt.” He pats her neck.

“Can you heal other people, too?” I wiggle on her back, my butt and thighs protesting the unusual strain of riding for so long. “I could use some healing right about now.”

“Only in special circumstances, which I hope to never need to use on you,” she says.

“Uh, okay.” I thought she liked me.

“Unicorns don’t have general healing powers,” Aldronn says. “Their magic only works on another person when that person is on the brink of death.”

“Oh.” I curl my fingers into her silky mane. “In that case, yeah, I sure as shit hope you never have to use it.”

Evening falls as we break through a stand of the gorgeous blue birch trees. A meadow opens out in front of us, tall grassbending in the breeze until the wind-tossed blades resemble a miniature ocean. Wild flowers add splashes of color, catching the last of the daylight to blaze in yellows and blues. Mountains smudge the horizon ahead in a jagged wash of purple, and orange and pink streak the deepening blue of the sky overhead.

It’s heart-stoppingly beautiful.

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