6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Yukio

M y wings twitched, then stilled, and the tips of my fingers iced over before I dismissed the runaway surge of magic.

I wasn't sure if the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach was some part of my fae gifts telling that something awful was about to happen, or if it was simply paranoia. Either option was unacceptable. Today was the day we toppled the corrupt emperor of the local paranormal syndicate and restored Robin's stolen birthright. It was the day the woman I loved finally, finally got her revenge and took back her power. And yet… here I was with literal cold feet, like some fledgling sprite, rather than a man who had served as an assassin for the fae court for decades.

It wasn't a premonition , I told myself firmly. It is simply the fact that you've been placed on witch-sitting duty with the stupid snake . I was being left behind at this midway point between the pocket world entrance and the emperor's palace to watch over Ruya and play errand boy, rather than joining the front line where I could witness Robin tear the emperor's head off. It was insulting.

I fluttered my wings again and glanced to my right, where the silly witch stood in her long white parka and boots. She had valuable skills. Theoretically, she could warn us if one of our court were in danger of losing their life, thanks to her strange banshee heritage. And she had strong healing magic that we might need to save one of us if things went wrong. Not everyone could cryogenically preserve themselves until help came, the way I managed to last time an outing went wrong.

But Ruya couldn't see what was going on. Couldn't scan her environment and step out of the way of danger. She couldn't heal herself if she was injured. And that knowledge was causing my lungs to have difficulty expanding. We should have left her behind in the real world, safely tucked away at The Fox with the snake's human valet, instead of dragging her along with us.

We shouldn't put her in danger this way.

But of course, she would never agree to being left behind. And Robin would never force her. Free will was a big deal to our leader. And she was especially careful when it came to Ruya. Everyone would rather see the witch injured than see her wings clipped. And she was a valuable asset in times like these.

I hated that they were right.

With the help of Sanka's sorcerer skills, Acacia's limp body, and the disguise magic of the few wild fae who were keen on helping, we had all spilled through the portal into the pocket world unscathed—and so far, undetected—just moments ago. But we couldn't set off on our mission right away. Oh, no. First everyone had to fuss over the damned witch.

Martina and Dusek kept an eye on our surroundings. Though it was dark, the pocket world's moon was as bright as the one in the real world, allowing those of us with functional paranormal vision to see across the open space between us and the sprawling mansion in the distance. Sanka, thankfully, seemed to be able to keep at least some small part of his attention on the protective magic he had cast around us. Our alpha, though… she did the impossible and set aside her urgency for one brief, poignant moment.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Robin approached Ruya. They were quite a pair. A stunning portrait of contrasts and similarities. Both were outfitted in long white parkas with fur-lined hoods—chosen moments before, when we had assessed the environment and found a snowstorm awaiting us inside the pocket world. Both women were tall and queenly, but Robin was warmth and fire, cinnamon and honey, to Ruya's silver and porcelain.

And I was about one step away from spouting some flowery fae nonsense. For fuck's sake, what was wrong with me?

Robin cupped Ruya's face in her hands, her golden dragon eyes studying the witch's face as if memorizing every line. Ruya lifted her chin and gazed back, as if her nearly colorless crystalline blue eyes could actually see the face of her alpha. Their foreheads touched, and I felt a pang of something just witnessing the fierce emotion between the two of them. It wasn't jealousy, not really. Emotions were always difficult for me to name, but this felt important. Resentment? Fear? Resignation? An ache that I didn't understand.

I didn't hate the thought of them together. I didn't hate seeing how hard and fast they had become attached to one another. I simply…I was afraid. Afraid of what it all meant. Afraid of how all-encompassing it was. Afraid of how we all cared for the damned witch, even me. And how that would change the dynamic of our entire court.

I was afraid of it all falling apart and how much it would hurt us all. Robin, certainly. Her alpha heart would rage, and she would suffer on so many levels if anything happened to her precious omega. Especially if they ever truly bonded. But the rest of us… Sanka, Martina, Dusek, the silly optimistic faun, the lost human and the creepy snake… the grumpy pixie half breed who was currently lost in sappy nonsense instead of doing his damned job and keeping watch. We would all suffer if this strange witch chose to betray us. Or if she was taken from us.

Loving people was dangerous. That's why I tried to do it as little as possible.

I shook myself out of my ridiculous damned moping.

"Promise me," Robin was saying, still cupping Ruya's face in her graceful hands, while Ruya gripped Robin's forearms with gloved hands as if to keep the dragon from disappearing. "If I lose myself, promise me you'll get out of the way. And," she said with a wry smirk, "promise me you'll forgive my embarrassing lack of class."

Robin would be taking back her birthright—which meant she would be reunited with a large portion of her magic and her dragon essence. Our already powerful alpha was about to level up. And it was quite possible that the dragon would take over entirely, at least for a time.

Having a vulnerable omega standing nearby could end in disaster if Robin failed to control herself.

But Ruya was as oblivious of her fragility as ever. "I promise I won't be afraid of you, no matter what happens or what you become," she said evenly, her chin up defiantly and her shoulders squared like she was preparing to do battle. "And I won't run away."

Stubborn woman. Both of them. Robin would kill Ruya in her rush to love and possess her. And Ruya would let her in her rush to prove that Robin was worth risking everything for.

I sighed, loudly and pointedly. "I will personally drag the witch through the portal or freeze your smoky ass in place if I have to. Will you both just hurry up and get this over with? We have an evil dictator to murder.

Robin didn't look away from Ruya's face. "Thank you, Yuki. You're such a wonderful assistant."

Ruya chuckled. "Go, Robin. I'll be here. And if I sense anything, I'll send Odin or Yuki to you immediately." She released her grip on Robin's arms to pet the big black crow who was perched on her shoulder.

Robin didn't show any fear. But she paused for just a second longer than necessary, and I saw her long throat work as she swallowed down her emotions. "Good. Well, I'll see you in a bit then. Be safe."

The dragon alpha finally released her omega and turned to regard the naga at her side. One red-gold brow lifted, and her expression turned flinty in an instant. "Do not let any harm come to her, or I will personally execute you in the most painful way imaginable." She signed that too, just to make sure he got the point.

Sadavir crossed his arms over his broad chest and returned Robin's glare, with an equal amount of haughty prince to match our haughty princess. He voiced his reply, something we all knew he hated to do, and reserved only for when he was very pissed, or very intent on making his point. His blunted speech was certainly clear enough for Robin.

"If I let harm come to her, I will not need you to take my life, dragon. I will not fail my mate . "

They stared at each other. And fuck knew how long that would have lasted, if Ruya didn't shove them both and cluck her tongue at them like a disappointed mother. "Stop it."

And just like that, the tension cut off and Robin spun on a heel, switching over in an instant from heated alpha vying for a mate to cool, commanding alpha of a rebel court on a mission. "You all know your duties. Let's go."

I shook my head, thanking the universe that I was a gamma and not a fucking alpha with all their need to posture and preen. Or a beta, with all their need to fuss. Sanka and Cicely each tossed the witch a longing look and a few sappy words—at least I assumed the faun was speaking to the witch using mind speech—before heading out with the others.

I stiffened when the witch's gloved hand found my own and squeezed. "They'll be okay," she said firmly, as if giving me some much-needed reassurance. "I'll know the instant they are in danger. And you can fly fast as the wind. They'll come back to us."

I huffed. "I'm not worried. Don't be ridiculous. I have more faith in my alpha and the rest of my court than that. This is child's play for them."

But I found myself squeezing her hand in return before I released it and stepped away.

Sadavir's big body was tense and alert for danger as his keen eyes scanned our snowy, shadowed environment, but he stepped behind Ruya and wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her close, acknowledging her worry and fear as he kept watch.

It was disgusting.

Even if they did look good together, both tall, handsome, proud people emanating a strong sense of duty.

Sadavir glanced my way and smirked at me over the top of Ruya's head. Then he flicked his forked tongue at me. I couldn't help the shiver that rippled through me. Snake. The man was a giant fucking snake wearing human skin.

Robin also had a forked tongue, and that certainly didn't bother me. But she was a dragon. A giant magical lizard. Not a damned snake. I had watched a snake eat a dragonfly once. For some reason, every time that image flashed through my mind my imagination gifted me with a very vivid guess at what it would look and feel like if a pixie with dragonfly wings were swallowed whole by a giant serpent.

I bared my teeth at him and gave him the finger. "I know I'm hot and all. But do your job and stop leering at me, snake."

Then I turned away and followed my own advice.

It was quiet out here under the tall trees that lined the lawn. Too quiet. But then, it was always too quiet in pocket worlds. There was no wildlife to give the world that background hum of vitality. Everything here was an illusion. Solid and almost real, but lacking the life and energy of the outside world.

Still… I was a bit unsettled by the fact that no one had felt us enter this place. Sanka was a very powerful sorcerer, but even so… the emperor should be able to afford to employ others just as strong. How long before one of those hidden sorcerers broke through the disguise spell that kept us hidden here?

Robin and the others reached the estate. There was no need for subtlety here. The moment we were noticed, it would be apparent that Robin had death on her mind. I huffed a soft laugh when the front door of the mansion exploded in a shower of flames that lit up the night. Robin and Sanka stepped through the hole they had created, with the others trailing behind.

And still, no alarm sounded. No one came running.

"This can't be right," I muttered. Then I turned so the snake could read my lips as I signed badly, repeating my observation.

He nodded, his stupidly handsome face gone serious, thick brows pulling downward in thought.

Ruya turned in his arms to glance between us. "What is it? I'm not feeling any danger of death…."

I shrugged. "This just seems too easy. Too quiet."

Sadavir released his omega to sign to me. "Trap."

I nodded agreement. "It seems that way, doesn't it?" Then for Ruya's benefit, since she couldn't see the snake's signing. "A trap."

Ruya immediately tensed, her face drawing tight with concern. "A trap ? Shouldn't we do something then? Send Odin? Why aren't you rushing off to Robin's side?"

I looked into those captivating blue eyes and shook my head, though she couldn't see me. "Because that's likely to make it worse. This is not our first dangerous escapade. Robin and the rest of us have been doing this kind of thing for decades. You've got to trust our court to handle themselves when things get tricky."

She took a deep breath, and I thought she might argue, but when she finally spoke it was with a resolute nod and a resigned sigh. "You're right. Robin trusts me to be here. You all trust me to be able to hold my own. I can hardly deny them that same respect. Especially when you've all been completing villainous acts for longer than I've even been alive. "

I chuckled at that. Reaching out without thinking, I ruffled her silver hair, disturbing the snowflakes that had settled there. "The baby witch is finally starting to understand."

She huffed at me, and I withdrew my offending appendage. Then I realized that the snake was silently watching us, and I immediately stiffened in embarrassment. Turning away, I cleared my throat and focused on the scene in front of us.

A big portion of the mansion was on fire now, smoke billowing out of a couple of broken windows on the lower level. An eerie sight in the moonlight.

Either they were fighting for their lives, or Robin and Sanka were pissed off. Either way, the emperor would have to find a new place to live if he survived today. I called my magic to my fingertips and shifted my weight from foot to foot, waiting. Preparing.

And as expected, a moment later the magic around us rippled like a heat wave on a summer day.

But what I didn't expect was for the magic shielding us to immediately shatter, bursting around us like a thousand stinging shards of glass.

I held yuki-onna ice magic in my hands, and a fae curse on my tongue. But no target appeared. Sadavir had shielded Ruya with his body, and they straightened now, Ruya clinging to his hand as he scanned the place for threats.

"I still don't sense any danger," she was saying. "Robin and the others seem fine. I…" Then she hit her knees, a sharp, keening wail raising the hairs on the back of my neck. A banshee cry heralding death.

"Go," she managed to sob between cries.

I braced myself to leap into the air, my wings already buzzing, but she surged forward, clumsily gripping my ankle. "No. No. Not you. Not them. Odin, protect her!"

The bird shot off toward the mansion, its glossy black wings glinting. Then Ruya was tugging at me once more. "Down, get down here and make Sadavir leave!"

It all clicked into place at once, realization dawning between one heartbeat and the next. It wasn't Robin whose death Ruya had just seen. It was the snake's.

Targets finally appeared. Men and women of various paranormal races. I kicked up snow into a magically powered tornado of ice and fury, blinding the guards nearest me and Ruya. But Sadavir was standing further away, shoved there by the blast of our breaking shield. He couldn't hear. And the snow probably messed up whatever means he had of using his earth magic to sense movement around him. He didn't seem to notice that a grenade had just landed at his feet.

Pulling hard on my magic, I formed a thick layer of ice over the grenade, knowing it wouldn't do much to muffle the blast. Then I used the wind and snow to push. It created white-out conditions around us, making it so no one could see. But I created a clear tunnel to the portal out of here. And I used the wind and the force of my magic to shove the stupid snake toward it as hard as I could.

The snake went flying in the right direction. I could only hope he'd hit the portal and be ejected from the pocket world, rather than being forcibly slammed into a tree. But I had no way to verify, because just then the grenade detonated in a deafening, blinding flare of heat and shrapnel.

I grabbed the back of Ruya's parka, shifted time and space, and fairy-stepped us away, using up every last bit of my magical reserves.

We landed… somewhere. It was still snowy, though far less than it had been. And the sky was beginning to lighten. An actual squirrel scampered up a nearby tree. So, probably not the pocket world. My feet hit the earth and my knees buckled. The witch stumbled with me, and I wrapped my arms around her instinctively as we fell. One of my wings bent painfully as we rolled across the snow-dusted leaves of the forest floor and pitched up against a boulder.

Then everything went dark.