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He shielded his eyes from the sun’s rays, and it hit his skin like crystals dancing against his snow-white skin.
“Come to me,” I said, lifting my arms as he smiled down at me, so radiant I felt blindsided.
Rei had been trapped indoors for too long. He relished the sunlight, delighted, rapidly sliding down his rainbow braid in my direction with a grin.
CHAPTER FIVE
REI
Ihad to admit, despite my reservations, Ziran was a mighty adventurer indeed. He took the weight of my collapsing body, at the literal end of my rope, without so much as bending his knees.
My alpha held me firm in his strong embrace, tugging on the tied end of my hair to guarantee it held. Then, with a swift slice through the air, he left behind the rope needed to return me to my lair.
My severed rainbow locks rained down, stopping near my ankles. That was okay; as Gotham had been hoarding so much of my hair as of late, he’d probably appreciate making it easier for him to take.
Whispering an enchantment, I watched in amazement as my alpha cast a real invisibility spell, and my hair melted into the gray stone, disguised perfectly.
“In case he patrols early. However, we’re in for a fight if he does anyway. Now come,” Ziran said as he sat me on the ground.
I wiggled my toes in the grass and felt like a kid again. But then I blushed as Ziran dropped down and lifted my foot onto his thigh and then the other, having put his boots on my feet to shield them. They were too large, but that didn’t matter as my alpha walked so I could match his pace. We walked hand in hand through the woods on an evening stroll like a couple rather than a pair of escapees, his boots warm if not snug on my feet.
I watched in awe as my surroundings had changed dramatically in the quarter century since my imprisonment. The sparsely populated lands now teemed with life, with various meticulously maintained gardens stretching out for as far as the eyes could see.
Strangely enough, everything in the gardens seemed to be what I ate, a strange flowering root Gotham ground into dust and rolled into doughy baked treats on rare occasions—prism root. The wizard got the meat from the anima in the fields. That was obvious enough. It seemed impossible that Gotham maintained all this land by himself, but it didn’t bother me too much as I heard water rushing through my ears.
“Where are we?” I asked as we rounded a bend, the hills flattening out as we approached what I assumed was Celeste Bay.
Ziran cocked an eyebrow, looking down at me, “You don’t know? You told me Gotham used to allow you to go this far.”
“It’s just… this looks different from Gotham’s lands. Even the bay, the ocean, and the islands beyond it all look so different,” I said.
“My land,” Ziran corrected, and I couldn’t help but shrug.
His or not, he didn’t control it, so I couldn’t take Ziran’s claim to it so seriously.
“Careful,” Ziran said, lifting the hem of my nightgown before it dragged through a muddy patch on the ground where the forest floor met the sands.
“Thank you,” I murmured, clinging to his side. The unfamiliarity of what used to be my childhood walking paths was throwing me off.
“To answer your question, this is simply the wilderness of Tilri, a grand forest called Yurel that stretches across the continent. But you are still in the Realm of the Elohime, which means I rule this land.”
I nodded, and we fell into a comfortable silence until finally, after a long while, we emerged near the bay.
I breathed in deeply as Ziran parted from me, raising his arms to take in the rays of the glorious sun. It had been so many years since I had a chance to feel the warmth of Solara’s blessing, it almost felt foreign.
I felt hot, too, and not just because of the sun. I couldn’t help but blush at the sight of my alpha’s bare, broad, dark brown back and chest. He turned away from me as Ziran stripped to his pants, ankle-deep in the crystal blue water of the mighty Zira Ocean, Soulflare Isles flanking my alpha’s left and right.
The wind tossed his midnight-colored hair, and a massive grin was on his face as Ziran turned back to face me, making the elder fae appear much younger than usual. My heart skipped a beat, and I balled my fists up in my gown. Then I returned to his side as we contented ourselves with splashing each other in the water for a while.
For some reason I couldn’t name, being watched by Ziran was almost more unnerving than being under Gotham’s constant supervision. But not for the same reason. The heat in his gaze was overwhelming.
When we finally finished our play, Ziran urged me to sit by the shore.
Plopping down beside him, I kicked my feet out wide, crossing my arms behind my head as I stretched out head to toe, relaxed.
“So, about Gotham. I’ve tracked his movements and yours, as I said before. But he disappears in a way he shouldn’t when I investigate. So forgive this second lie,” Ziran said with a wince as I sate up to listen closely.
“So, about Gotham. I’ve tracked his movements and yours, as I said before. But he disappears in a way he shouldn’t when I investigate. So forgive this second lie,” Ziran said with a wince as I sate up to listen closely.
