Reba crashed into them like a shooting star. The momentum of his descent knocked them all to the ground, something hard striking Austin’s temple and leaving him groaning. His neck felt wet.
Something gurgled in the still air. Someone choking.
Austin rolled onto his back, letting gravity tip his chin sidewards. He couldn’t make out more than shapes. Someone was on the ground. Someone was on top—Reba, Austin could hear his great wings. The gurgling came from the figure on the ground.
The air flurried. Reba’s wings flapped erratically, as if he were trying to take flight.
“You didn’t mean me, right?” Reba ground out, teeth gritted. “When you said, ‘Go away,’ you didn’t mean me?”
“I didn’t,” Austin murmured.
The beating of Reba’s wings stopped with a gasp. “I thought I’d tear my own heart out trying to disobey! Even the clouds are afraid to come back. I had to fly above, and then, when my wings got too tired, I had no choice but to fall here! Are you hurt?”
“Lassie?”
“Waiting a mile down the beach. She can’t come back. I doubt she’ll come near unless you tell her. She’s okay. The water kind of held us? It brought us right back to shore after we got swept out.” Reba knelt next to him, fingers carefully examining Austin’s neck. “It’s not too deep, and he missed your gills.” Reba sat Austin up, bracing him against his chest. “Is that better?”
It became immediately easier to breathe. Crumbled buildings surrounded them as dark shadows in a darker night. “I ruined his estate.”
“He’ll build you a better one.”
“I know.” And Tristan would probably say something annoying like,It’s yours to ruin, too. “But I don’t like that I destroyed his things. It’s not a nice thing for a partner to do.”
Reba’s head snapped up, and his protective stance around Austin curled further inwards, only to suddenly relax. “Sir.” His wings opened, and warm hands cupped Austin’s cheeks, guiding his head gently back. Tristan’s warmth and scent washed over him, and Austin relaxed with a sigh.
“It’s not deep,” Reba said quietly. “But he’s exhausted. Maybe a concussion?”
“From ordering the world around,” Austin explained. “And the rock in his pocket is hurting my head.”
“I don’t have a rock?” Reba said, puzzled.
“Desor.”
Footsteps rushed by, and someone rooted through fabric. Blue light pooled around them, lighting up Tristan and Reba, Desor lying dead nearby, and Inx rooting through his pockets. Eli skidded into the ruined courtyard just as Inx pulled the choker, inlaid with the cursed stone Sam had gifted him, from Desor’s pocket. It muttered in the air, and instinctively, Austin tipped his face away from it.
Inx brandished it for them all to see.
Eli drew in a sharp breath. “I didn’t give it to them. I didn’t. Ididn’t.” Wide and desperate eyes fixed on Austin. “I didn’t betray you.”
“And how did he come to possess this?” Inx asked in the tone he’d used when addressing Oran in the past, before his removal. The restrained exasperation he usually directed at Eli was replaced by a stern exterior.
“I hid it.” Tears spilled down Eli’s cheeks. “Someone must have seen me. I’m sorry.”
Inx unfurled to his full height, looking every part the warrior. Austin thought perhaps he could see it now. Inx’s age, the wealth of experience, and the hardness that came with it.
Eli’s heel caught on a piece of debris, and shale cracked. Betrayal. He’d been guilty of it before. And yet…
“Hide it somewhere better this time,” Austin said.
Eli’s head snapped toward him. The tears stopped. Inx cast Austin a long look, but whatever opinions he had on the matter, he kept to himself, offering Eli the poisonous stone.
“Oran had been lingering,” Inx said. “I suppose it’s possible he saw where this ended up.”
“I’ll be more careful,” Eli promised as he took the choker.
Austin nudged Reba’s wing, folded close around him. “You can help.”
Reba nodded.
