Page 78 of Heart of Dawn
Prince Dorian smiled as I glanced at him. “Don’t even worry about me. I’ll get out of here.”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Wendy responded. “I only have the strength for Orion. And he needs to get this honey to his mate.”
“Of course. Do what you have to do.”
Anya’s urticating hairs swayed like grass in a breeze. “I shall protect the good-hearted prince.Weshall. My brothers and sisters are coming. They will fight the yetis and the undying one.”
I swallowed a heavy lump in my throat. “Oh, stars. I…” I honestly didn’t know what to say other than, “Thank you.”
“Get to the?—”
Pink smoke ensnared her, seeping into her body. Horror became an iron ball in my chest, a snow spider under Dawn’s control would be a new type of nightmare.
She hissed. “I will… You will not have me!”
Black goo leaked out of her in less than a minute.
Anya reared, triumphant. “Go, Your Majesty! Get this done, Orion. Save us all.”
I locked eyes with the prince as my body ignited in golden light, Wendy’s warmth engulfing me.
“Thank you for saving my life,” I managed to get out before leaving the hive.
Please let him be okay…
My feet connected with the white sands of Crystal Beach, the heat a shock to my system. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the brightness of the sun, to take in the palm trees and gorgeous blue waters of the ocean.
“We’re here,” I breathed. “Oh. I dropped the axe.”
Curses!
The gates lay up ahead, minutes away if I jogged.
“You really are a golden gift,” I told Wendy, expecting to see her in my hand.
But she wasn’t there.
Panic ensued, my heart a kickdrum. “Wendy?”
“Here.”
There on the sand, at my feet, struggling to breathe.
“Are you okay?” I moved the sack’s threads to my shoulder and plucked her from the hot sand, sheltering her from the sun with my hands.
“I… I must sleep. I must…” She said no more, buzzing in panting-like beats against my palm.
“You rest,” I soothed.
What thank you gift would suit a queen bee? A big bouquet of flowers?
Okay. All I had to do now was get off the sand and follow the path to the gates. But how did I get them open? Beg? Offer a deal? From my position, I made out the plethora of guards by the freestanding silver door beyond the market stalls. The huge white-gold lever gleamed in the sunshine, so tantalizing. Give it a pull and hello London.
“How did you do that?” a woman in a bikini asked me.
I ignored her, other fae staring at me.
“Well? What do you have to say?”
