Page 22 of The Stones for It
I scowled at the back of his head. “A bit of warning before I become a kebab would be nice.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Apologies. I forget how delicate you mortals can be,” he drawled, no hint of remorse onhis stern features as he turned to me fully. “We can fly back across here.”
The thought of being carried like a sack of potatoes again didn’t appeal. Or maybe it was aboutwhoI’d have to let wrap their powerful arms around me again. He was the exact kind of fae I’d trained to fight; so arrogant in their superiority over us.
I hated that I knew how good it felt to unravel beneath his firm touch.
The bastard arched an icy brow at my hesitation. “You can swim, if you’d prefer.”
“Nae.” I forced a smile. “A lift would be lovely.”
He grabbed me without a word, crushing my waist to his solid front so my feet dangled above the ground. I tried my hardest not to tense in his hold, but it was impossible not to feel vulnerable in the cool arms of my enemy. At his mercy. Surrounded by his strength.
And the unexpectedly soft skin covering his taut muscles like silk over stone.
He spread his wings and leapt, far too graceful for such muscular bulk. Powerful wingbeats fought to lift us until the ground fell away as he defied physics. We angled above the river, and I held my breath as silvery monsters swam beneath us, tracking our progress.
Within seconds, we landed on the burnt side, and I wriggled from his arms. He let me step from his embrace and swiped his hands down his giant thighs like he could erase the contact.
Or the germs he thought I carried.
I was tempted to copy the gesture, but I was trying to be a sensible, mature adult.
He’d flown us to the edge of the burn zone. Swirls of ash drifted through blackened trees on one side, and my heart squeezed at the destruction.
“Keep up,” Vrath grunted, stepping into the gloom of the living side.
I brushed past once-glowing flowers and leaves, now dark and wilted, following the giant. For someone so large, he moved on soundless, clawed feet.
We walked in silence, eyes scanning the forest for any hint of Neiron or the boudas.
Almost half an hour passed before a hiss had my attention snapping up to the canopy.
Something snatched my ankle and dragged me into the air, knocking free a startled yelp.
Vrath spun and leapt for me in the same movement. Grasping claws grazed my fingertips, but his wings crashed into dense branches, cutting his momentum short.
Furious red eyes locked with mine as I was ripped away.
Leaves slapped my flailing arms, twigs raking my skin as I was rushed higher.
I jerked to a stop, swinging through the canopy like a pendulum. A purple vine coiled around my ankle. It was the only thing stopping me from plummeting several stories to the forest floor.
My pulse thrummed through my skull as the blood rush caught up to me through the pounding adrenaline.
The vine crept along my skin, squeezing my calf as it wound further up my leg.
“Hold on!” Vrath called below. “I’m coming for you.”
The trees were too dense for him to spread his wings, though. I reached for the blade in my holster, but there was no way I’d survive the fall if I cut myself loose.
“What’s thissss, hmm?” a feminine voice rasped. “A tassssty treat in my trap?”
I stiffened.
A curious fae wrapped herself around the nearest tree. Momentum carried me so close I was almost within reach of her extended claws.
She had a humanoid head and upper body, feminine curves covered by a simple leather halter top, but her lower half was pure serpent.
