Page 14 of Of Pixies and Promises
Darkness fell as they flew.Sid and Nyra grew quiet as the wind buffeted their faces. They flew so fast that she would struggle to hear him unless he shouted. It was just as well. He had thinking to do.
Sid should be focused on the fact he traveled to a source of power—a place where mana was rich and ripe for the taking, but he had just spent his evening with his tongue in his enemy’s mouth and between her thighs… and all he could think about was returning there. He’d never felt so alive, so full of need and satisfaction. Since Nyra had stumbled into Sid’s life, he couldn’t stop thinking of her. It was more than attraction or this magical bargain of duty. He’d felt the need to protect her since she’d bumbled around the inside of the truck. She made him laugh. She made him talk… everyone in Crystal City knew he hated to talk. To feel.
His brows slammed down as he recalled his lie.
The humans would be back. The cobalt deposit was too rich, and they hadn’t gathered enough resources to consider the mission a success. When they returned, they would bring reinforcements.
Sid’s brows drew even lower when he realized he’d called themhumans, nothis teamorhis people. Was he distancing himself? Was he already done with Crystal City after giving so much of his life and body to the cause of freeing them from cold isolation?
He glanced at the scars on his hand, gripping the robin’s feathers next to Nyra’s dainty hand. How he loved the feel of her fingers on his body. How he ached to feel them again.
He’d been angry at Silver for falling in love with a fae vampire… but he’d always known she was different. She’d never told him why she had to wear a metal vambrace while they’d fucked, and she’d never asked why he preferred not to talk or cuddle or extend their sexual releases into a relationship.
He never asked personal questions because he didn’t want them asked about himself.
Probably because he’d had doubts a long time ago.
He’d been drawn to Silver because she was the closest thing he could get to that magical life beyond the gray crystal walls… even if she came with a lick of danger.Especiallybecause of that danger. That thrill had permitted him to feelsomething. The lack of conversation had allowed him to keep those guilty feelings to himself.
And now here he was, riding on a bird with a pixie braced in his arms. Her prismatic wings buzzed every so often as though she was restless. In the darkness, it made him wary. He hated not controlling all the variables, so the next time they fluttered, he folded her wings and pinned them with his body flush against hers.
Nyra gasped and glanced over her shoulder.
“What are you doing?” she shouted, eyes wide.
“They’re in my way,” he bellowed through the wind. “Do they hurt?”
She shook her head, returned her wide-eyed gaze to the front, and shivered. He tightened his grip around her to keep her warm. It was cold up here. She continued to shiver sporadically over the next hour of the flight. He was about to suggest they return to the ground and resume their journey in the morning when it was warmer, but she suddenly pointed to something below them.
Craning his neck, he glimpsed an enormous lake surrounded by bioluminescent plant life. This must be the power source.
A sinking feeling grew in his stomach. Soon Nyra will refill her personal well with mana. The magical bargain between them would be fulfilled once she’d helped him return to his full human size. He would have no excuse to stay. No excuse to work through these confusing emotions. The notion caused him to tighten his grip on Nyra possessively. She leaned back into him. He almost buried his face into her sweet, smelling hair, but something heavy collided with them.
A giant screech split the air. Panic engulfed Sid. He used every ounce of strength to cling to the robin, keeping Nyra in his embrace. But the enormous shadow bumped into them again.
“Well-damned kuturi!” Nyra shouted. “It shouldn’t be flying at night.”
With a lion’s body and an eagle’s head, the kuturi was a hundred times bigger than them. It most likely had no idea they were on the same flight path. The robin tried to swerve, but the kuturi’s talons clipped the robin’s wings, and they went down, spiraling. The bioluminous ground grew closer by the second.
They say when you stare death in the face, your life flashes before your eyes. But for Sid, at that moment, he only saw the future he’d never have. The future he wanted in Elphyne with Nyra.
She shouted something at him, but the roaring wind stole her voice. She pointed at her back.Wings. He eased back until herpinned wings released. With a nimble grace that awed him, Nyra pirouetted and locked her legs around Sid’s torso. Her wings vibrated so fast that they buzzed and blurred. She shouted and gestured for him to let go of the robin.
Sid had seen Nyra’s quick thinking before. He trusted her.
He let go, gripped her waist, and held his breath as they separated from the panicking bird. As with that first time they’d escaped the explosion, Nyra struggled to hold Sid’s weight. Gravity pulled them to the ground.
He glanced up, saw fear on her face, and shouted, “Let me go, Fangs. Save yourself.”
The whites of her eyes showed, and she shook her head. So he gritted his teeth and steeled himself for the most difficult decision he’d ever faced. He let go. But the little minx’s thighs held onto him tighter as she shouted obscenities, angry at what he’d attempted.
Her still-repairing wings rallied and slowed their descent.
Not enough.
They crashed through the leafy canopy of the forest. Twigs and branches lashed their faces, but Nyra refused to let go until they landed on something bouncy. And sticky.
It took Sid a moment to realize they weren’t on the ground but still high in tree branches.
