Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

ORION

" W ell, I'm back," Erna declared during a break from her humming.

"Miko! Answer me!"

No response.

"I think you're healed enough."

Erna's booming tone cut through my pleading.

Healed?

She sang some unrecognizable words interspaced with some familiar ones such as flowers, snowy owls hooting in the night, love.

Unlike before, the melody didn't act as lullaby.

Phew.

My heart raced like never before. Miko needed me. Okay, so he was more than capable, but that didn't dilute my instincts to help my mate. To protect him as he always protected me.

"Miko?"

Still nothing.

I sent him a billion beams of positivity. Hearing his voice gave me a much-needed boost. We'd reunite soon, get him replicated. Wendy wasn't a queen bee in my pocket for no reason.

Erna's face appeared above me.

Stars!

"Time to break this ice." She raised a fist, driving it into the stuff around me three times. On the third punch, the ice cracked open, the numbness fading away.

"There you go," Erna said cheerfully.

I sat up on a raised dais, still dressed in my dirty clothes but free of pain, my arm no longer broken. I lifted my jumper, checking my side to find it healed, my skin flushed a rosy pink.

"Feeling well?" she inquired, her yellow eyes hungry.

I nodded as a cold shiver licked up my spine.

"Excellent news." She walked away, humming again.

I watched her stride across a large cavern toward a table made of bones.

And the bone theme didn't end with the table. Complete skeletons were mounted on the mud walls, random pieces embedded in the ceiling as morbid decorations.

I wanted to vomit.

Erna rearranged a pile of stones on the table, then looked up at me. "You can bathe and eat and relax. There is no need to fear."

Easier said than done when she stood at seven feet tall, covered in freshly cleaned white fur, built from serious muscle. She was a much bigger creature than I first realized.

Flaming torches burned in sconces at various points in the cavern, their light dancing in the hollow eye sockets of skulls. There were also two arched doorways, one of them an exit.

Hopefully.

"What is your name?" she asked, picking up a strange blue stone.

"Orion."

"Orion what?"

"Bloom."

She put the stone down, offering me a smile. "A pretty name for a pretty man."

My chest constricted. "I… I… Thanks."

"No need to be nervous." This time, she picked up a white stone. "Aren't they pretty?"

Stars. Did I really have to engage? Which of those arched doorways led outside?

"They're lovely," I answered.

Both potential exits were dark maws giving nothing away.

"I'm glad you think so. I want to give you one as a present. But it must match the golden glitter in your eyes."

"There's no need to give me anything. You've already done so much with this… What was that ice?"

"Healing ice from a special place only yetis can find. It cures most wounds. It renews the skin. And it is a dearly held secret."

I wondered if King Damien knew anything about the ice. If this ever got out, fae would descend on this forest again, just like in the days of the replicating bees. Demanding too much, taking too much, ruining everything.

"I can't thank you enough," I said. "And your secret is safe with me."

Erna picked up a bottle-green rock. "This one. I think it suits you."

"I—"

"You don't have to keep my secrets, Orion. You're not leaving here to share them."

Ah. Here came the crap storm. "What do?—"

She marched over, her eyes narrowing into angry slits. I slid back across the dais, panicked heat flushing up my neck.

The yeti paused, cocking her big head, her expression softening. "What is it?"

"I don't…" Stars. What if I said the wrong thing? I wasn't sure what was going on here and didn't want to poke her fury.

She came closer, holding the stone out to me. "What do you think?"

"It's nice."

"Only nice?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know what to say."

She lowered her hand, shooting me a big grin. "Silly me. I should be clearer."

I just about managed to swallow.

"You will be my husband."

My belly backflipped. "Excuse me?"

"This is an engagement gift." She held the stone out to me again.

My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

"Surprise!" she bellowed, giving me a face full of oaty breath.

This wasn't happening. This had to be a nightmare, my body still unconscious out in the woods.

"When did we get engaged?" I responded, my voice dry as sand.

"When I saved your life."

"Miko?" I called out to my mate in desperation. " Are you there?"

No answer. And what could he do from another realm? I had to save myself.

Erna gestured to the skeletons with her arms. "These are the bones of those who came before you. Undying ones, your kind of fae come looking for honeyed dreams but finding nothing. No queen bee. Only the cold. I offered warmth and marriage and love. But they always left me, my passion too much for them."

Meaning what? She'd boinked them to death?

"But you seem different, Orion. Much stronger than the others."

I realized she hadn't asked me what I was doing in her neck of the woods.

"We will be so happy." Something frightening glinted in her eyes, her smile a triumphant smirk.

Balling my hands into fists, I kept my anger at a simmer.

Her smirk intensified. "How lucky you are to have found love."

And how delusional you are, I retaliated on the inside.

I took a deep breath, fighting to stay calm. We weren't playing this ridiculous game. No one got to tell me about the inner workings of my heart.

"Sorry, but I'm already in a relationship," I said. "And gay."

She cocked her head again. "You are?"

"Yes." I threw more honesty at her. "I'm the mate of a werewolf alpha. I love him so much."

I wanted to add, He's all muscle and sex appeal, with a sprinkle of grumpiness, and can make me cum as if he holds a thousand certificates in pleasuring a fae . But I thought better of it.

She snorted, her nostrils flaring. "If you love him so much, why are you here with me?"

"Some bad things happened." Did I continue being honest and tell her about Wendy?

Erm… no.

Erna shrugged. "Fate put you here with me."

"What? No?—"

"I need a husband."

"My mate might be my husband one day." Wow, that set my pulse to flutter.

Would I really consider marriage?

Worry about it later! I scolded myself.

The yeti laughed. "Is that what you think? We'll see." She returned to the table, slamming the green stone down.

Some of the bones fractured, a small chunk of the table breaking free.

Crap.

"We will see." She picked up a gold stone.

Wait. No. Not a stone.

In a panic, I checked my pockets for Wendy. She wasn't in either of them.

"Looking for this?" Her cruel smirk curdled my guts, sickening malevolence swimming in those pee-yellow eyes.

Wendy sat in her big palm.

"No…" I breathed, moving to the edge of the dais.

"Yes!" Erna roared. "Yes! Yes! Yes! You will marry me and take me to bed, or I will throw the bee queen into the ravine." She pointed behind me. "Maybe you'll go with her."

Oh. She knew who Wendy really was.

Wonderful.

Rather than bow to her sickening desire, I slid off the dais under a burst of adrenaline and rage.

She snorted. "What are you doing?"

I approached her, fists so tight my fingers might snap. "I'm sick of being kidnapped."

To my surprise, the yeti took a step back. "Don't you move, fae."

"Why? Are you afraid? You should be." I paused. "I mean it when I say I'm grateful for your help. I truly am. But it ends there."

She did not look happy. "I don't think so, Orion." She drew out my name, pouring menace into it.

I kept my spine straight, my own menace practically shimmering around me. "Think what you want. I'll be walking out of here bound to my mate, not to you."

Erna took another cautious step back despite her terrifying demeanor. "You are mine."

"No." Wow. I never knew my voice could go that low or that loud.

She snarled in response. "What?—"

"I have work to do. I can't be wasting my time on this crap. Find yourself another husband. Maybe one you won't break in the marital bed."

I walked on thin ice here, but screw her. Just because I looked like a pushover, it didn't mean I was. Whenever I caught my reflection, I saw the taint of the apocalypse in my eyes. My edges were harder, my capacity to survive unyielding.

I'd survived zombie hordes, taught myself to fight, and kept on going even when I missed home so much I wanted to hide in some miserable corner and wish the horrors away.

But I stayed strong. I clung to hope, found new friends, and the love of my life.

I'm a survivor.

No desperate yeti would be getting the better of me.

"Marry me or the queen dies," Erna countered.

Not likely. She'd already been tossed into the River Thames and lived to beep another day.

I really missed her beeps. She belonged with me, not in that big hand. I fixated on her tiny golden body, ready to reclaim her by any means necessary.

"You have no choice here," Erna added. "I'm willing to forgive all of this if you say you'll love me." She dipped her head. "Why don't I deserve love? What did I do to be denied happiness?"

Did she want a list? Firstly, by forcing guys into marriage. Secondly, by shagging them to death. Not great conduct in the search for romance.

I went for a different tactic in a last-ditch attempt to avoid violence.

"What about a fellow yeti?" I wondered, eyes still on Wendy.

She grunted, closing her hand around my virtual pet. "Useless. Ugly. I want a fae husband." Slowly, she lifted her head, no sadness on her mean face. "I want you. I will have you."

A dark veil fell over me. How dare she say these things? How dare she go through life forcing fae to be with her? She was scum, pure and simple. The lowest of the low. In need of extermination.

"Give me the queen," I demanded, livid at her audacity.

She tightened her fist around Wendy. "I'll crush her before your pretty eyes."

I checked the cavern for weapons. The only useful objects in my eyeline were the bones, possibly the torches. I'd have to be quick and decisive for my next move.

"Give in to me, fae. We will be so?—"

I silenced Erna with a firm, "Enough!"

The yeti threw her head back, releasing a blood-curdling roar.

I steeled myself against her display of rage, throwing extra fuel on mine.

Her head snapped back, her eyes blazing with hate. "If I can't have you as my husband, I'll take you as my food." Her laugh thundered at me, so loud it shook the bone table. "Soon I'll be picking you from my teeth."

She charged.

I rushed to meet her, releasing a roar of my own.

The yeti swung her big fist at me. I spun out of its trajectory at the last minute, feeling the rush of air close to my face.

She bellowed an inaudible word, then charged again. I ducked a second punch, diving into a roll. I bumped into the bone table, grabbing for one.

"If you won't love me, you'll fill my stomach!"

I only just dodged her kick. She struck the table, the entire thing exploding under her wicked strength. Bones flew everywhere, bouncing off the walls, a few shards landing at my feet.

Now imagine my skinny body taking that kick. Stars, she'd be peeling pieces of me from the ceiling for weeks.

I had to be careful.

She paused, her nostrils flaring. "Look what you did to my table."

"Me?"

Erna noticed the bone shard in my hand. "I saved your life, Orion. Is this how you treat someone who shows you kindness?"

Okay, maybe we could resolve this peacefully. "And I'm really grateful you did. But I can't repay you by becoming your husband. Is there some other way?"

She shook her head, indignation coming off her in prickly waves.

"Then all I can offer is my eternal thanks." I stopped myself saying I'd be forever in her debt. Making deals with anyone was risky business, especially creatures I hadn't interacted with before.

"That's not enough," she replied. "You have shamed me. The time for love is over. You will simply be another skeleton on my wall." She sighed. "I thought I'd caught a falling star." She sang that last part.

I flinched under the attack of melody, a soupy sensation oozing into my mind.

She noticed, grinning so wide every tooth was on show. "What a wonderful idea."

Erna spread her arms and began to sing, harmonious energy pushing me gently to my knees. I dropped the bone shard, struggling to fight her off.

"Why didn't I think of this before you broke my table?" she sang.

My guts knotted and I grit my teeth. She would not take me. There were blood magi who'd threatened me with assault on the Woolwich Ferry, and this was no different. She was no different—the lowest sort of vermin.

"Love will be all you know," Erna carried on. "Even when I break you."

You. Will. Not. Touch. Me.

She sauntered forward, her big feet crunching the bones scattered across the floor. The melody continued to engulf me, trying to pin me to the floor. But not completely. My anger pushed back while demanding I never give up.

I had to fight her, to break her hold. No one was coming to rescue me.

I can do this.

The yeti sang some line about rings and lace skirts. I ignored her, sweat pouring down my face as I battled her song. I closed my eyes and drew on every resource I possessed.

Thump, thump.

Thump, thump.

I felt myself smile hearing the gorgeous sound of Miko's heart with mine.

Erna was almost upon me.

Thump, thump.

Thump, thump.

I sensed something bad happening to my mate. Seriously bad. In an instant, Erna's relevance dropped. My attention snared on Miko, my rage becoming worry, manifesting across my skin as a burning itch.

"Miko?"

Something pink…

Oh, stars. What was going on?

"Miko?"