Page 12 of The Barbaric Fae's Soul

At least I was doing something useful, instead of sitting on my ass and waiting for a klynna to attack.

Four

Aev

The longer I ran,the more I regretted not bringing Dakota with me.

Honestly, the woman was just a ray of damn sunshine. She laughed easily, and smiled even easier. When something went wrong, she didn’t yell or panic, just calmly took it in.

She was so full of life that her entire body blushed when she was embarrassed, or excited. So full of life that when she grew too sad, or too happy, her eyes even watered.

I’d never been the enthusiastic type. My nature was laid-back, calm, and steady.

And something about her joy made the world brighter.

I couldn’t have brought her with me unless she volunteered to ride on my back, though. The skies weren’t safe for a phoenix if the klynnas were free, and I would never risk her that way.

It had crossed my mind to ask her, but I’d already been heading away—and I knew the invitation to ride on my back would strike her strangely, given her desire for independence.

Whether she would accept or not was beyond me, but in the moment, I didn’t want to risk her being uncomfortable. Not after she’d given me the most intense sexual experience of my life, just to take away my pain.

Eighteen hours of running alone were enough to make me regret not asking, though. While I felt free, it would’ve been nice to be free with company.

And even if we couldn’t speak, everything would have been better with her beside me.

I stopped runningwhen I could finally feel the melting snow around the cave. My claws dug into the dirt as I sank into my ice magic, and slowly, I used Vevol’s power and my frost to create a mental image of the prison.

Sure enough, the stone we’d closed the cave with had been turned to rubble.

And the inside was completely bare of everything but loose, fallen feathers and scales.

That was all the confirmation I needed, so there was no point in delaying my return. The cave was empty, and the klynnas were free. I hadn’t heard or seen them yet, but past experience told me they would head for their nests before they went hunting. Their prison had been too small for laying eggs—and their numbers, too low.

The males would take their females to their nests, hidden throughout the mountains, and ensure that the women and their eggs were safe before hunting us down.

But theywouldcome for us.

And we needed to be ready.

So I turned and headed back.

Dakota’s swaying golden hair and bright smile filled my mind as I ran. I needed to stop and sleep… but I was itching to return to her too much to bother.

She had been about to offer me more of herself, when I realized I’d lost control of the klynnas. I was sure of it. And whatever she offered, I wanted to take. The more distance I’d put between us, the more certain I was of that.

The generals were runningpractice drills with our people, the harsh female fae, and the seelies too, when I made it back to the Stronghold. Though I was exhausted, I was alert and searching the trees for any sign of Dakota, as I had been since I’d approached.

One of our dragons, Juret, was in the sky, acting as the klynna.

Oren and Devv were watching from the trees, barking orders when someone did something wrong.

Vuvim and Summer were on the ground, watching together. They had returned, apparently.

The drill continued as the generals climbed out of the trees—minus Korrik, I noticed. The Wild Hunt men, except Priel, met us too. Those of them who were mated brought their females. And Fovea abandoned the drill, leading a few of her women down to our group as well.

Though my first instinct was to ask where Dakota was, I knew she was safe. My men wouldn’t have let her put herself in danger. So I explained the situation, instead of inquiring about her.

“Without the mate bond, I am much weaker,” I said bluntly. “It’ll take time to adjust to the new length of my power. I couldn’t feel the prison until I had nearly reached it. When my magic finally met it, it was empty. The klynnas are long gone—back to the mountains, to rebuild their nests, if I had to guess. When the males have ensured the safety of their mates, they will be in our skies, hunting us down.”

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