Page 13 of Of Pixies and Promises
But as Nyra went in for a kiss, a screech rent the air.
“The mama!”
Chapter
Six
Sid’s palm flattened against Nyra’s head as the robin swooped low, its sharp beak clacking loudly as it passed. The impulse to protect wasn’t entirely his.
The bargain.
It compelled him to shield her. He frowned at the implications of his free will being taken, but there was no time to ponder. The bird returned for a second swoop. Only this time, Nyra wrenched from his grip, gave him a challenging smirk, and leaped upward to grab hold of the bird’s feathers. She mounted it between the wings with such ease that he imagined she could do this in her sleep.
“How can I keep you safe if you do things like that?” Sid growled as she tamed the bird with a palm on its head.
She did things with her magic to calm the animal, but he wasn’t appeased. They were high up. Nyra’s wings were still injured. She might fall, and there was no way he could save her.
“That was reckless,” he scolded, feeling anger burn the back of his throat.
“Not done yet,” she mumbled, gripping the neck feathers tight and squeezing her thighs.
She had no fear, he thought as he watched her carelessly cling to the twittering and fluttering robin. No fear here in her element, but she’d frozen in front of a rifle. If he hadn’t been there… if any other Reaper had stumbled across her…
The robin’s head cocked to the side a few times as it considered Sid with an impatient snap of its beak.
“Yes,”Nyra said to the bird, smiling. “We will leave you in peace, and my?—”
Nyra’s eyes widened as she met Sid’s gaze. Her cheeks flushed.
“What is it?”
“I was about to say, my mate,” she mumbled, her voice a whisper of awe. Then she shook her head and focused on the bird. “Sid will not eat your eggs. I promise.”
Mate?
A strange warmth spread in Sid’s chest, evaporating the anger.
The robin calmed and then blinked at him, waiting.
Nyra grinned. “Mama says yes. Hop on.”
He tugged his spear from the nest and vaulted onto the robin behind Nyra. He adjusted her pixie wings so he wouldn’t crush them and reached around her waist to grip the feathers at the bird’s neck. This way, he had Nyra caged safely in his arms.
As they took off into the sky, Sid wasn’t sure which part of this situation worried him most—that they were flying on a bird or that Nyra had almost called himmate… and he’d liked it.
They flew above the forest canopy. Smoke and burning embers signaled the location of Sid’s raiding party. He winced and turned away, but Nyra’s shrewd gaze reflected the shimmering flames in the gloaming.
“The forest is crying in pain,” she said, voice tight. “The explosion was my fault. I had no idea it would be so big.”
“The smoke looks like the fire is being put out,” Sid said. “The glow is small. Just seems big at this size.”
She shook her head. “Will they return?”
Sid was grateful she faced away because she couldn’t see the lie on his face. “No.”
But she glanced over her shoulder, and his heart lurched when their gazes clashed.
“Good,” she said, smiling. “I’ll take you straight to the power source, then.”
