Page 65 of Beyond the Faerie Gate

The others just nod in approval. “Finally, the redcap makes himself useful,” Drystan grumbles.

“That’s—” Barbaric. Possessive. Ridiculous. Hot. “You’re all insane!”

All three of them just give me confused looks, as if they aren’t calmly discussing murdering anyone I might show a flicker of interest in.

My indignation is cut off when the bond in my chest flickers. My hand flies to the spot, massaging my breastbone like I can soothe away the ache. It’s no use. The skittish, sad bond inside me is trembling. I reach out to it, but instead of arching beneath my mental touch as it did before, this time, it latches onto me and draws.

“What is it?” Drystan demands.

“He’s close,” I murmur. “He’s close and he’s… in pain.” The world swims before my eyes and my gut starts to rebel as the bond draws on my own energy again. “I don’t feel so well—”

This feels horribly familiar. For a second, old panic washes over me, and I grasp around for my stick. I’m fae now. I shouldn’t have my old illness anymore. So what is this?

“Shit. Let go.” Jaro steers his mount beside Drystan’s and Lore does the same on my other side, boxing us in and hiding me from anyone who might be watching. “Rose, it’s draining your power. Your glamour is fading. You have to let go.”

I can’t.

I’m stuck. An unwilling voyeur to the bond which holds me captive. I have no choice but feel what’s happening to my púca as my power rushes to help him. I feel the pain and the violation as if it were my own, and I shrink away from Drystan instinctively.

My arm flies out, reaching blindly in the direction of my fourth Guard.

“Rosie,” Jaro says, reaching for me. “Give her to me. I’ll take her to the inn.”

Drystan doesn’t argue. He rips off his cloak and wraps it around my shaking body before using both hands to lift me from Blizzard’s back and onto Jaromir’s horse.

“What’s in that direction?” he demands as Jaro canters us away from the pair.

I barely hear Lore’s grim reply. “The Toxic Orchid.”

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