Page 39 of Conquering the King of Storms

“How are you guys walking over these rocks so fast?” Ayla called from behind us.

Ivy and I stopped, glancing back at her. She was way behind us, and Flood was behind her, his eyes still glowing.

“We’ve been hiking through the wilderness for ages.” Ivy shrugged. “Makes your feet tougher, I guess.”

It definitely had.

“Wake Flood up for a second and ask him to carry you,” Ivy said, gesturing toward the glowing-eyed king. “Or pretend you’ve injured yourself. That always worked on Flame.”

“Flood can’t hear, Vriva.” Flame’s reminder was gentle. “If she wakes him up, me or Storm can sign to him that he needs to carry her.”

Ayla heaved a sigh. “Fine. Just… turn around.” She flicked her hand toward us. “We’re just friends. It’ll be awkward if you see us kiss.”

“Which of the guys do you want to sign to him? If he’s not going to be sane long, they can’t turn around,” Ivy reminded her.

Ayla grimaced, studying Flame for a moment before sliding her gaze to Sirus.

My stomach clenched as she stared at him a bit too long before finally saying, “Storm.”

I ignored the way my jaw clenched as I turned around, giving the new human girl my back.

Maybe we shouldn’t have finished this damn quest after all.

Sirus’s hand landed lightly on my shoulder as he watched the other couple. I knew it wouldn’t be much of a show; Ayla didn’t exactly seem eager to kiss the gigantic king.

It still bothered me that Sirus had been chosen, though. What if the other human girl was into him?

That was pretty ridiculous, and I knew it. But even if it wasn’t, it shouldn’t have been any of my business. I was planning on leaving Sirus, and he wasn’t interested in being anything more than friends.

So, my insecurity just needed to fuck off.

Things hadn’t worked out between us, and that was that.

I eyed Sirus’s free hand as it moved quickly, forming signs I didn’t know. Though I’d never learned Sign Language, I wondered if, if I had, it would’ve translated thanks to whatever magic made us and the kings able to understand each other. Itwas like the magic translated our languages automatically for us.

Honestly, I kind of wanted to learn the actual language that the fae spoke in Bluhm. There just wasn’t a way to go about doing so, because of the magic.

I heard an “oof” noise, and when I peeked over my shoulder, saw that Ayla was in Flood’s arms.

His eyes slowly resumed their glow, but the king strode toward the rest of us.

“Let’s get moving,” Flame said, scooping Ivy up off the ground. She grinned up at him, and he grinned back at her.

My chest ached a little.

“May I?” Storm’s murmur had me turning my head toward the man, who stared down at me with a mostly-neutral expression.

“Mmhm.” I held my hands out, and he lifted me carefully into his arms. I wrapped mine around his neck, holding on to him as he took the lead and began to run.

Peering over his shoulder, I watched for a few minutes to make sure the others were following. Ivy and Tariq had waited for Flood and Ayla to go in front of them, so that Flame could be at the back of the group. That was probably a good call, considering Flood’s lack of sanity.

The men all fell into a line, and I lowered my head back to Sirus’s body. We were moving fast, and as much as I hated that we were traveling again, I was thrilled to know that we were finally headed back to the opening of the Aboa. Soon, we would be back on land.

The men ran fartherand longer that Sirus had when it was just me and him. They pushed each other for more, and even when Ivy and I tried to get them to take a break, they refused to slow down.

When they finally stopped and slept, Ivy kept a hand in the nearest water pool so she could practice using her power to watch for monsters that might be approaching us.

I sat next to Ivy, sliding my legs out in front of me carefully. Though I planned on crashing soon too, I needed to stretch out my achy muscles.

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