Page 154 of Fate and Flame
“He won’t kill her,” Wren said softly. “I don’t know if he will hurt her, but I saw the look on his face when he found the mark. When he felt her power.”
“He knows, then?” Rhogan whispered with lethal intensity as his wings grew wide.
I could feel the world spiraling out of control. I couldn’t determine if those were Fen’s feelings or my own. Somewhere the boundary between our own thoughts and feelings had begun to gray.
Kai paced, holding his fists to his side. “We move the army now. We march through the night and take a stand outside of his camp.”
“That won’t be a threat to him,” Rhogan interjected. “Even though we can move faster than his army, we wouldn’t make it in time. And he’d probably love to have us delivered on a platter.”
“We still have to start moving,” Fen said. “We can’t let him get past the hills. We don’t want him much closer to our border.”
“That doesn’t solve this problem. That doesn’t help us get Nadra back. Move the army, prepare for battle, do what needs to be done, but how do we get her?” I asked.
“I can fly overhead, see where he’s keeping her, and drop Greeve into place, then he can cleave in, grab her, and shoot out of there before the king even knows what happened.”
“Except no one is flying over undetected,” Gaea said. “The sky is full of faeries and armed sentries and Autus had Evin in the tent with him. He’ll know you’re there before you’re within five feet of that tent. He detects magic. I’m sure that’s how he knew we were getting closer. Nadra was probably a beacon of power to him.”
We stayed up the entire night trying to figure out how to extract Nadra. Temir eventually woke, but he was no help at all. We knew she was still alive based on their connection, but aside from that, he paced around the tent demanding he be included in each and every plan.
The problem with taking Temir was that he would be a wild card. His instincts would force him to do whatever was necessary to save his mate, and that could be dangerous for anyone else. He would have to stay behind, even if it meant we had to knock him out again or lie to him. My stomach rolled at the thought, but I hoped he would forgive us if it meant we could save Nadra.
The sun began to rise, and the deep, ground-shaking roar of a dragon pulled us all from the tent. The great yellow beast waited for us just outside. Plumes of smoke rose from his nostrils as he stretched low and slow, curling into a ball. “There is a messenger. Shall I eat him?” he asked eagerly.
“Well, yes, but give us the message first,” I answered.
He huffed and opened his giant claws. A faerie with massive wings, damaged by the dragon, rolled to the ground. He reminded me of Rhogan by size alone. It took a great effort for the male to pull himself into a standing position, but it took an even greater effort for me to keep from hitting the asshole as he spat at the feet of my king.
“King Autus, High King of Alewyn”—he paused to sway, catching his balance—“has sent me to inform the promised one that he will trade her for the healer’s mate.”
Fen growled and stepped forward. “Enjoy your breakfast, dragon,” he said, eyes locked onto the fae.
The dragon grabbed the faerie, tossed him into the air, burnt him to a crisp, and swallowed him in one single motion. “Thank you, King Fancy Pants,” he said and lifted back into the air.
I smiled, and Fen jerked his head toward me.“I mean, it’s kind of catchy.” I raised a shoulder and turned to hide my smile.
“No. It isn’t. Especially from a beast that size. Kai, get this army ready to mobilize. If we aren’t moving by sundown, you and I are fist fighting.”
“I’d be happy to throw some punches right now, if you need, King Fancy Pants.” Kai bounced back and forth on his feet with his hands up.
“Not in the mood.” Fen stormed back to the tent.
I released a heavy breath. “At least you tried. G, I need a favor.” We stepped away from the group and I whispered to her. “I need you to take my father’s sword back to the castle. If something happens to me, I want Fen to have it.”
“No. Nothing is going to happen to you, don’t be ridiculous.”
“Just please do it. If nothing happens, then we won’t even mention it. But, if it does, make sure he gets it. No one else can. It’s powerful.”
“Then give it to him before the battle.” She looked back to the war tent over her shoulder and sank a little.
I shook my head. “He’s already taking Tolero’s twin blades.”
“Fine. I’ll take it back before we start marching.” Her eyes went to the ground.
“What?” I asked.
“A favor for a favor?”
“Anything.”
