8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Ruya

…

itch…witch per…witch person….

I wanted to groan, but I held the sound in. If I let The Mother know I was in pain, she would only scold me for being weak. For bringing it on myself. And if I displeased her, she might take away the little bits of pleasure that existed in this tower. I might not get a cupcake once a year on my birthday, or be allowed to listen to the few movies or songs that were grudgingly allowed… she would stop visiting my room and would keep everyone else away until I thought I might go mad with only my own voice for company. I could endure the pain. I could endure the way my entire body burned when she refused to let me use my magic. What I couldn't endure was the loneliness…

A low, pained groan sounded from somewhere nearby, overriding my worry. Someone needed me. I could never ignore a person in need of healing. My magic flared up warm and needy inside me, and it was only then that I registered the coldness around me, and the fact that it didn't come from lying sprawled on the cold stone floor of my lonely tower prison. Those little prickles on my cheek were snowflakes. And the surface beneath me was loamy earth littered with dried leaves and more snow.

I slowly opened my eyes as the past faded and the present took shape. I wasn't in my isolated tower with the cult. I was here. Wherever here was. With my new family. Or at least… part of it.

The day was bright, in that way only a carpet of snow could ensure. That made the shadow looming over me even more obvious. I sucked in a breath and half sat up, crab walking backward across the forest floor.

"Witch person?" The voice spoke again. Only this time, I recognized it as that strange mental interpretation I got when an animal spoke, and not some wavering dream. "Ground is cold. Your magic smells strange. The pixie is bleeding on my nest."

I shook my head as I tried to put my wits back together. Yukio. Oh, goddess! There had been some sort of explosion. And he grabbed me and took me… somewhere. I'd felt the magic as he yanked me out of reality. I hadn't even known he could do that.

"Where is he?" I asked, my voice cracking. "Yukio? Where are you?" I got to my hands and knees, every bit of my body aching like I'd been beaten by an especially enthusiastic tormentor.

No answer came to me. He must be unconscious, as I had been. I hoped that was all it was, and not a severe injury keeping him from speaking up. I sent out my awareness, let it search for a being in need of healing.

"Pixie is here," the voice told me, as something plucked at my sleeve, guiding me to the right, toward where my magic wanted to go. "In my nest. Leaking its blue blood. Get it out, witch person. Get it out! Nasty pixies!"

I huffed as I shuffled that way. Whatever this thing was, it didn't seem like a normal animal to me. There was something other about it. Something that was wrong to my animal-sensing abilities. "What are you?" I muttered as I patted the ground, searching for Yukio.

"I? I am. Bird. Wing. Lizard. Scale. Snake. Tail. Earth. Fae. Wild, wild, wild. You do not belong here, witch person and pixie thing."

That explained everything… and nothing. Some sort of wild fae creature. But I had no clue what it was, or why it was so upset we were here. Well, besides the distress one might feel at finding a bleeding pixie in one's nest. My head throbbed. I wasn't sure if it was from the explosion, or from whatever magic Yuki had performed to get us here, but I wasn't feeling so great myself.

"Here! Here! Get it out of my nest! My burrow. Blocked. Desecrated! Out, out, out."

My searching hand finally found a lumpy form swathed in something puffy. I yanked off my gloves and patted over Yuki's parka until I managed to find bare skin. The side of his neck. His cheek. I hadn't been able to really get a feel for what was wrong from a distance—maybe because of everything that led up to this moment. But at the touch of skin on skin, my magic surged forward, eager to heal him, to return our grumpy, perfect mate to us.

No… no, no, no. I gave myself a mental shake. Yukio was many things to me, but a mate he was not. Goddess knew I had enough of that nonsense to deal with already. And the man was dedicated to pretending he hated me. Even if I saw through his silly defenses, still, I wasn't about to force my affections on him.

And I did not need to be all… sappy omega right now, for fuck's sake! I shoved my thoughts aside and let my healing power flow into the unconscious pixie. He had lacerations… dozens of cuts and scrapes. Some were minor, but a few had cut deep and bled profusely. He was bruised. His wings were bent in several places, one of the bigger branches had snapped and the artery there was bleeding. One of his arms was broken, and I distinctly recalled him wrapping himself around me and crushing me to him right before I lost consciousness. It was entirely possible that we had landed on that arm when we arrived here… wherever here was.

But the biggest issue right now was the alarming degree of magical drain I sensed. Yukio wasn't unconscious because of his injuries. He had used up every bit of magic in his body. There was only the faintest of flickers in his aura, and at my touch the cold magic surged out, like a scared child emerging from hiding to leap into my arms. I fed all I could into that icy spark, urging it to grow. To take what it needed.

Eventually, his aura revived enough for Yukio to wake. He groaned again, still in pain from the smaller physical injuries that I hadn't bothered to fix yet. My focus was on the deeper cuts and the loss of magic that had almost killed him.

He shuffled around, sitting up, but I kept my hand glued to his cold cheek. He was still so depleted. And I wasn't sure if I had enough power in me to fully restore that magic.

A cold hand gripped my wrist and pried me away. "Stop," Yukio commanded, but his haughty tone was ruined by the way his voice shook. "Enough. It's enough. You'll drain yourself dry next thing we know. Silly witch."

I wanted to keep going. The healer in me could sense how sore he still was, and how his magic struggled to flow through him, still sluggish and far too depleted. But he was right. I was feeling light-headed. And my own body ached. Grudgingly, I pulled back on my healing abilities, forcing the flow of magic between us to stop. Forcing myself to let the place where his skin touched mine be simply a touch, rather than a conduit for healing.

"Yuki," I said, embarrassed by how my own voice shook as well. I tried to say more, but nothing came out.

He sighed heavily. "I know, witch. I know. You can't help yourself."

" Get. It. Out!" The demand reminded me of our disgruntled companion, just as whatever it was apparently started tugging at Yukio's coat, by the feel of it. "Out, out, out! Nasty pixie. Syndicate scum. Civilization sucker. Out!"

Yukio hissed and jerked about. Then he stood, his fuzzy shadow looming over me for a moment before he took my hand again and tugged me up and away from the strange wild fae creature. "Fucking basilisk," he muttered.

I stiffened in surprise. "Basilisk? As in… the mythical creature that can poison people or turn them to stone!"

He tugged me further away as the thing behind us continued to rant to itself about how much it hated pixies and how witches should not be here. "Not really," he said over the noise. "It's a lesser wild fae. Something like a crane, a snake, and a lizard had a baby… they're more annoying than dangerous." He huffed and dropped my hand, and I sensed him moving around beside me. "And now I have feathers stuck everywhere . Damned things." He finally relented with a sigh and deigned to explain to me. "They nest in burrows that are half above ground, half below. I somehow managed to land on top of its entrance. It must have a nest under that fucking boulder that smashed my ribs when I rolled into it."

I sighed. "Let me heal you. I know I can't fix the magical drain—at least not any more than I already have. But I can fix the rest of your cuts and bruises. And check your ribs again if they are paining you."

But he batted away my outstretched hand. "I'm fine. Stop your fussing, witch."

I knew I would get nowhere arguing with the stubborn male, so I changed the subject. "Where are we? Are we still inside the pocket world? Are there fae living in there?"

He made an exasperated sound. "No. While I suppose it might be possible for one of the wild fae from the preserve to sneak into the pocket world now and then, we're not that lucky. Listen. What do you hear?"

I did as instructed, and instantly registered the cacophony of life around me. Birdsong. Squirrels chasing each other and chattering in a nearby tree. Something further away that sounded like a coyote yipping and singing into the bright air. A song of freedom and joy.

"We're back in the forest," I realized. "The one in the fae preserve." We were separated from the others, which was concerning, to say the least, especially when we knew we had walked into a trap. But at least we weren't currently in danger. I thought.

Yukio's voice was grim. "Of course we are. But don't go sounding all relieved. Fairy-stepping like that is something I try to do only when absolutely necessary. You saw the magical drain. I'm sure you feel the aftereffects of moving through realms. It hurts like a bitch. But I also have very little control over where I pop out at. I aimed for where we came in. The fact that I got us to the preserve at all was a miracle. But this…"

He took a deep breath, then let out a slow exhale. "From what I can sense, we're too deep into their territory."

I frowned. "What? What does that mean? They're fae, right? Technically they're your people. Can't we ask for assistance? Maybe get them to direct us back to where we need to be? Back to the original portal?"

He chuckled, and the sound was so dark it raised the hair on the back of my neck. "Oh, dear, sweet, sheltered witch. You think being fae means I'm welcome in this place?" I didn't have to be able to see his face to hear the sneer in his voice. "Quite the opposite. The fae on the preserve have been forced here, shoved out of their natural homes to this corner where the humans and the syndicate assholes allow them to live. They've been hunted, died from habitat destruction, and they've been shunned by the high fae of the syndicate—the ones who can pass for human. You heard that basilisk. Even though you don't speak fae, the basilisk is more animal than humanoid. You had to have understood him." He sighed. "This forest knows me and my kind as the enemy. As traitor to our kind. Sellout to the syndicate. That's what makes it so ironic that the emperor has hidden away his pocket world on the outskirts of the preserve. No one would think to look for him here, in the home of the enemies he has made and the people he has destroyed."

I didn't reply. I didn't know what to say. I hadn't expected any of this. But sadly, it made so, so much sense. There was no better way to rule over people than to make them feel divided and alone. To make them feel as if the whole world was against them and keep them fearful and resentful of everyone around them. It was how The Mother ran the cult I was raised in. It worked well.

"And setting all that aside," Yukio continued, his voice less bitter, but infinitely more tired. "Do you have any idea how big the fae preserve is?"

I shook my head.

"Ruya, this place is massive. Miles across. And that's just taking into account its presence in this one physical reality. Wild fae can warp time and space and perception… they can stretch and contract things, create pockets of alternate reality much like mini versions of the sorcerers' pocket worlds. There are reasons for the fairy tales the humans tell—of being kidnapped, of falling asleep and waking up hundreds of years later to a changed world. We could wander lost here the rest of our lives and never find our way back home. We're trapped here for as long as they like."

And it's all my fault , his tone said . He didn't have to speak the words aloud for me to know he blamed himself for our current predicament.

"You saved our lives," I said firmly, lifting my chin and glaring in what I thought was his direction. I was not going to let him wallow in self-pity or take responsibility for failings that didn't exist. "You've done nothing wrong, Yukio. You risked your own life to get us both out of there. You're the only reason we aren't either dead or captives of the syndicate. Thank you."

He huffed. "Fine. Whatever. But it's still snowing, and we're stuck in the middle of a fae hellscape."

I swallowed down the fear that wanted to rise up inside me. And my worry over the others. They were strong. They were capable. And they had Robin leading them. I fully believed she could talk, charm, or murder her way out of any situation. "What do you suggest?" I asked evenly.

Yukio moved about for a moment, then returned to put my discarded gloves back on my hands. His motions were rough and no-nonsense. But I noticed he wasn't content to simply hand me the gloves.

Yukio wasn't a beta. He fed us all because he stress baked, not because he had some innate need to care for us, the way the betas did. And he wasn't an alpha, to fuss over someone because he felt it was his duty . No, this gamma before me was simply fussing over me in his own gruff way because no matter how it seemed sometimes, he really did care.

"Now," he bit out. "We pick a direction and walk until we're too cold to keep going. Then we hope I have enough magic left to do something about heat and we both have enough energy left to scrape together some sort of shelter. It's that or stand here waiting for the elements or our unwilling hosts to kill us."

I wiggled my fingers to get my gloves settled comfortably, then reached for him. "Lead on, oh wise and benevolent winter sprite."

He made sure my aim was off, stepping away so I gripped empty air. "Never call me a sprite again. I am not some disgusting fictional character in a human fairytale."

I just smirked, using humor to drown out the panic and worry inside me. "Are you sure? I have it on very good authority that you sparkle sometimes, my sweet little pixie."

He growled. "I will leave you here as a present to my distant kin."

Grinning, I held out both hands and made grabby hands. "No, you won't. You like me too much to abandon me. And besides, Robin and the others would murder you if you left me behind."

He sighed as if it killed him to admit that I was right. Then his hand found mine, and he pulled my arm through his. "I suppose this will go faster if I don't have to wait for you to bumble your way through the woods."

"Very true," I said with a sense of levity that I didn't quite feel, but that we both needed.

"I can't be sure it's correct," he told me, his voice free of teasing and snark for the moment. "But I'll use what little magic I have to feel for the edges of this place and at least lead us out of the preserve, if not back to where the original portal to the pocket world is."

I patted his arm. "I trust you to do the best you can. And Yukio?"

"Hmm?"

"If it doesn't work… if you can't find a way out—you'll still have done your best, okay? This is not all on you."

He snorted at me in reply, obviously not agreeing. Or just embarrassed by my insistence on coddling him. "Walk, witch," he said, setting off and tugging me along with him.

I leaned into the faint connection between us, letting my aura brush against his cool fae magic, taking strength from the fact that no matter what happened, at least I wasn't alone. Neither of us were alone.