Page 37 of Faerie Fate
Mike sniffed, his gaze bouncing between us before he smiled. “Madam Muerte hasn’t been born yet. We’ve traveled back before her time. So maybe the curse is suspended. That’s the only thing I can think of that makes sense.”
I jumped to my feet, actually jumped, pumping my fists into the air.
Then Mike’s gaze dropped to my neck and my smile faltered. He glanced away from my scar, his green eyes narrowed, and I paled. My symptoms might be gone but the scar remained.
“We still have to find the flower, though. Because I’ve got to go back to our time eventually. I’ll be sick again once we do.” I kept one hand on Noren’s head and forced my voice to stay strong.
“I’m not willing to take a risk,” Mike muttered. He shrugged and the fabric of his cloak bunched. “So what do we do now?”
“Now we actually have tofindthis great witch.” Bronwen struggled to stand, gulping great mouthfuls of air into her body. I reached out to steady her. “Damn it, Mike, how do you manage to travel this way without hurling every single time?”
He bent at the waist, his elbows on his legs and his lips thinned. “You get used to it.” His voice broke and he paused. “This is the farthest back I’ve ever gone.”
A groan came out as an irritated hiss before Mike straightened his hands at the small of his back like it was everything he could do to keep himself from collapsing. His skin had the bloodless fragility of glass.
He’d said it was harder to go back this far, and he did look a little ragged around the edges. Something leached the vitality out of him and left him a husk of his normal fae self.
“Hey.” I crossed to him immediately, before I could second guess myself, and pressed my hand to his cheek. “How about we get you some food first? Then we can worry about Oxana the Sightless.”
Much to my surprise, he didn’t push me away. He leaned slightly into the contact before he seemed to come out of his stupor.
He took a step away, trembling slightly. “I’m fine, Tavi. Worry about yourself.”
Goddess, he still didn’t want me to touch him. My hands fluttered down to my sides and I hid their slight quaking in the pockets of my cloak.
Sensing the tension, Bronwen cleared her throat. “So, we know Oxana was here but we’re not sure exactly where. Eahsea might not be as massive as it is in our time but it’s big enough,” she said. Her voice grew steadier the longer she spoke. “We can’t blunder around. It will look suspicious.”
“At least she’s here,” Mike replied. “But you’re right. We need a plan.”
I stared across the field, then at Noren, who held me in his unblinking gaze.
We’d done it.
We were back in the time of the Red Dawn. I’d always wondered why historians called it that, but it made a sickening kind of sense. They always said that a red sky in the morning heralded a storm, and the upheaval of the Great Pixie War would have been an enormous upheaval in Faerie.
Whoever Oxana the Sightless was, I understood why she’d want to go into hiding. Her gifts were too great to share,especially if somehow the magic that allowed her to see pushed her to share her prophecies.
I set my shoulders.We’re back in time. And with the return of my health and sanity, I had to be smart about this.
Movement flashed over my shoulder. I reached out in time to catch Mike before he lost his balance, the bulk of his weight careening into me.
“Whoa!” Nerves prickled and strain caused a dim ache in my jaw. “Okay. Food.”
“His magic suffered a massive loss by taking us all with him.” Bronwen automatically moved to his other side. “Let me help.”
Mike moaned in answer.
I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him to me. “Absolutely.”
Our second year at the Fae Academy for Halflings, Mike had to use an ancient artifact to bolster his power. He’d given the thing to me, and of course Dorian Jade stole it for himself when he brought me over the wall.
Without it, Mike was flying solo, relying on his own powers which I’d never considered to be the strongest even with the royalty in his blood.
He’d proven me wrong. And I’d never underestimate him again.
If we ever managed to get on the same page. Right now, it was a bigif.
The gears clicked in my head as we shuffled Mike between us, setting off at a brisk walk along the line of trees. There was nothing ahead but a line of hedgerows and a clear sky above the undulating landscape. The path curved into a dirt lane and fell down the slope of a hillside.
