Page 106 of A Song of Air
“Yeah, well, I know when and where to rebel.”
The last she heard was Weylyn’s soft chuckle before he disappeared from her line of sight. She leaned back against the tree, the bark digging grooves into her hot back, and she listened for Weylyn to return. She took stock of her own inventory while she waited. A dagger at her waist and a quiver with arrows and a bow. She was sure some of them were broken because she’d fallen on them when she’d landed in Unseelie, but she had yet to remove the ones she no longer needed.
She began doing that now, pulling the pack from her back and feeling at the weapons with expert fingers. Splinters snagging onto her calloused fingertips were easy to ignore as she felt up and down on the arrows, tossing the broken ones off to the side.
Weylyn arrived once again, a dead bird in his hand of a species she wasn’t familiar with. He set the bird on the ground near her feet like an offering. It was a blob of bright purple and yellow feathers. While Bryson picked the poultry into her hands and began plucking at the feathers, Weylyn got to work building a small fire.
Using the dagger at her waist, Bryson gutted and cleaned the bird, stripping and cutting it down to hold it over the fire for consumption. It was instinct to fall into that routine, even if she couldn’t see it as well as she’d like.
While they waited for the meat to cook, Bryson sat back on her palms. A brief moment of peace settled over her mind. She didn’t trust it. It made room for the darkness and invasive thoughts to take root.
Her nails scraped into the dirt. “We have to get out of here,” she said finally, breaking through the oppressive silence. “We have to go through the circles.”
“No.”
“It’s the only way.”
Weylyn emitted a soft growl but didn’t contradict her, so she pushed on.
“We would hold onto each other as we step through. Keep stepping through circles until we end up somewhere I can make contact with my familiar. Unless...” Her gaze strayed to him. He sat with his shoulders relaxed, though his lips were pressed into a shadowy line. “Can you somehow make contact with one of your people?”
“Unseelie doesn’t work like that,” he whispered. “It is an older, much more wicked magic that controls the Ley Lines of this Court. It does not follow the same rules of time and space as other places; therefore I am unable to reach them, and it is why Uric would not be able to open a portal. We are in different dimensions, so to speak.”
“Great, that’s just great then.” She shook her head back and forth. “So, the circles are our only hope.”
Almost reluctantly, Weylyn drawled, “Yes.”
“Great. Then we need to find one immediately. I can usually sense them, but the iron in the air is making everything so much more difficult. My magic feels like it’s sleeping, but I think if I try, I’ll be able to get it working.”
There was a pop and a sizzle of the bird over the fire.
“Of that I have no doubt, little mate.”
Bryson rolled her eyes at the cool confidence he mustered. She didn’t even bother telling him not to call her that. “Your faith in me is astounding.”
This time, Weylyn chuckled deep and low. “I have witnessed Fae Elementals do extraordinary things. I have witnessed iron melt at our feet and rendered useless against ice. I’ve seen it consumed entirely with water. If anyone is able, it isyou.”
His faith in her brought a new surge of warmth that had no business nestling itself in her chest. But it also brought up so many more questions. “They can do that? Defy iron?”
“Yes.”
A thrill shot through her. She’d sensed their individual power, but all of them together had been astounding. It made her wonder just how far her own abilities could extend, what she would be able to accomplish. She wanted to find out.
Discreetly, she called forth her magic. It responded far too slowly for her liking, like it was sluggish and wading through thick pools of sludge to get to her. It was the iron, but it frustrated her that it responded so slowly. Once it was there, she sent a small gust towards the fire, fanning the flickering flames.
It responded and blazed up, consuming the bird before dying down once again, leaving scorched edges behind. She smelt the charred skin and her stomach rumbled once again. With a groan she laid back down against the grass, pressing her palms against her stomach.
“You know a lot about the Unseelie Court,” she murmured in the ensuing silence.
From beside her, she felt Weylyn’s body stiffen a single fraction before he relaxed. “I know what everyone else knows.”
“Hmm.” She wanted to push, but was afraid to pry into his life. She didn’t want him to think this would be anything other than what it was. They were helping each other to get out of this court. Nothing more. When they arrived back at camp, she was going to reject the mating bond, no matter what pain it brought them both. She had to make that very clear to him now. “Why did you jump into the circle after me?”
He sighed, almost as though she were annoying him. “Because.”
“Because why?”
“Because you are my mate.”
