Page 16 of Of Pixies and Promises
There had been too many wrong things about that situation. Sid hadn’t consented. They were flying on a bird, and he had no wings. They were from different worlds.
But as she watched him claw closer, fiercely cutting the web, furiously aiming for the spider—not her, she thought she mightbe wrong. He might not be fae, but he knew how to survive in Elphyne.
Sid was ruthless as he attacked the spider. Like his lethal digging machine, his arm dropped on the creature’s face, the rock destroying. Then he zeroed in on the spider’s weak legs—the ones her fire had scorched—and wrenched each from its body. He didn’t stop pulling apart limbs until none were left, until manabeeze popped from its carcass, and he was kneeling, chest heaving, covered in some kind of bug fluid.
He’d saved her.
Sid barely caught his breath before dodging the spider’s manabeeze exiting its body. Even he, a human Reaper, knew to avoid the magical life force as it rejoined the Cosmic Well. Each dangerous ball of light had the power to intoxicate anyone it hit. He crawled back to her on the thready web leftovers.
“Hold still,” he said, hacking the web around her wings.
They managed to unstick themselves enough to lower to a branch below. Nyra launched into his arms and buried her face in his chest. It was the only way to stop her emotions from bursting.
“It’s okay,” he crooned and cupped her head. “You’re safe.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and couldn’t speak. From how he repeated his words, she thought he felt the same way. Like his insides would boil if he couldn’t get closer to her. Like his heart would shoot out of his ribs. Like he would die if he couldn’t be with her.
Both heaving in lungfuls of air, they dropped to their knees and continued embracing.
“You let go,” she accused.
He stroked her hair with a trembling hand. “You know why.”
“The bargain.”
He pulled back and stared hard, his eyes searching hers.
“I don’t know,” he confessed.
“What?”
Sid’s thumb brushed a rogue tear that ran down her cheek. Concern filled his gaze.
“Nyra, I…” His lips closed, and he looked away. “I don’t think it’s all the bargain.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before the bargain, I had the urge to protect you. And there are moments when I feel this compulsion to keep you safe. It’s like my limbs move on their own. But other times, the compulsion comes from somewhere else.”
“Sid?” She searched his anguished, handsome face. “Where?”
He brought her hand to his heart, then a cheeky smirk as he briefly lowered it to his groin before sliding it back up to his sternum. She stopped breathing and flattened her palm against the thudding muscle beneath. When she braved lifting her lashes, she found wonder and affection staring back at her.
“When you pinned my wings,” she whispered. “Up on the robin. I started making pixie dust.”
“For me?”
Was that hope she saw flickering in the captured shadows of his gaze?
She nodded. “I had to use every ounce of control to stifle the urge to release.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Sid,” she breathed. “You’re not?—”
“Fae.” His expression shuttered. He averted his gaze and stood, brushing his hands against his pants. “We should find that power source. It mustn’t be far.”
“Sid,” she protested. But he was already hunting for a way down the tree. She scrambled to catch up and yanked on his shirt. “Sid, look at me!”
