Page 15 of The Barbaric Fae's Soul

Korrik only shrugged. “We didn’t know if they had even escaped. And if there are klynnas coming for your mate, shouldn’t she see them before any of us?”

Priel took a threatening step toward the man, and I took another step back.

North put herself between me, Korrik, and her furious mate, and his chest met her back.

We’d travelled through the night. It had been midday when Korrik and I had noticed a shadow above us as we approached the entrance to Priel and North’s cave—and we had rushed inside just in time. The thing’s monstrous claws had barely missed Korrik’s body.

That had been an hour ago.

Priel was still raging.

“I’m still trying to figure out my magic,” North said as she held Priel back. His hands landed on her waist, and she relaxed slightly. “I don’t have anyone to teach me, so it’s all trial and error. But the point is, I didn’t know the klynnas even existed. So what are we supposed to do now?” She looked over her shoulder, at Priel.

He was still pissed off, but his expression softened slightly when she looked at him like that. “There’s nothing wecando. Korrik and I can’t take down a fucking klynna. We’d need a dozen basilisks, and a heap of other fae. We’ve got to sit here, and hope like hell that they can’t decimate this mountain.”

My eyes widened in horror. “Could they do that?”

“I don’t know.” Priel’s voice was grim.

“If I were to take Dakota’s clothes, I may be able to distract it long enough for you three to get away,” Korrik said, with a heaving sigh.

“His scent is barely on her at all,” Priel argued. “Not enough for them to follow her clothing if she was nearby and the smell was on her actual skin.”

“Unless you broke the mate bond, right?” North asked. Her gaze was on mine, and panic clutched my abdomen.

Aev probably didn’t want the bond. He hadn’t even looked back at me when he took off into the forest. But… breaking it would hurt him.

And the last thing I wanted to do was hurt him, after he had spent so many years in pain because of Naomi. Both of them were at fault for that situation, but he was the one who had suffered the most, because he was a male fae.

“I don’t want to do that unless we have no other choice,” I said quietly.

“I don’t either,” Korrik agreed. “If we kiss or exchange vows, Aev will probably kill me.”

North rolled her eyes. “He let Naomi break their bond without so much as an argument. I think he’d understand in this situation.”

“That’s not true. Hewantedthe bond broken,” I corrected her.

“We can wait until they start ripping the mountain apart,” Priel growled.

Unlike us, he hadn’t gone off topic.

“Fine,” Korrik agreed. “When they start trying to take the mountain down, Dakota and I form a bond. Then, I take her clothing to distract the klynna long enough for the three of you to get away.”

I didn’t like that plan.

Hatedit.

But what was the alternative?

Since I couldn’t find one, I stayed quiet.

And we waited.

A dayand a half passed quickly, and tensely. I slept a bunch, getting comfortable on one of the couches because there was no way I was getting in North and Priel’s bed.

North and Priel painted together, communicating silently, and Korrik paced. He looked exhausted, but stressed too.

When I woke up late during the second night, I heard Priel and Korrik discussing their plan in low voices, and remained quiet.

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