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My breathing was picking up, my panic swelling and my shaking getting worse, so I shoved the rest of the lilano in my mouth. Standing swiftly, I shifted forms and grabbed Teris in my talons again, launching into the air.
I was even more unsteady than the first time I’d taken to the sky with the sabertooth in my grip, but there was no way around that other than rest. And I was way too shaken up to rest.
The sun was risingwhen I finally reached the Stronghold.
The shaking had gotten worse as the night progressed. As I approached, I saw a few klynnas in the skies and perched in a few strong trees, but ignored them, because no one had been panicking.
A few fae yelled warnings when I soared toward the ground—they could probably see my unconscious mate, and the way I was trembling.
I ignored their called words while I landed as gently as possible, shifting forms and stumbling to my knees immediately.
Devv, the unseelie hellhound guard I’d had to lie to in order to slip away undetected, was snarling at me as he stormed toward me.
I ignored him, pressing my fingers to Teris’s throat again.
Devv started to reach for me—to pull me to my feet, I’d imagine, but his hands halted an inch from my skin, as his nostrils flared.
“We’re mated,” I whispered to him.
The words were so damn shaky I could barely understand them.
The fae made strangled sounds, but I didn’t add anything else.
“What happened to him?” another male fae growled at me. Seelie, I’d guess, if they were worried about Teris.
“There was a dragon in the sky. Not one of ours,” I managed to get out.
I needed food.
And water.
And sleep.
But all I could convince myself to do was kneel there with my fingers on my mate’s throat, feeling the beat of his heart as it reassured me that he was alive.
“We’ve seen them. The goddess dropped the barrier keeping them out of our land,” the fae said, his anger vanished as he kneeled next to me. When I looked sideways at him, I realized he was Ervo, and his mate, Mare, was off to his side a little bit. While he was looking at Teris, she was looking at me. I looked away quickly, when I noticed that. “Where was he injured?”
“Nowhere. He bit it, and its blood poisoned him. He told me the mud and blood would fight the poison for him—that it would heal him slowly.”
The fae scoffed. “He lied.”
Fear made my stomach clench, and my heart stumble. “What?”
The fae was already standing, calling out, “Find Nev. We need an urrtolo.”
“What’s an urrtolo?” I demanded, rising to my feet and stepping toward Ervo. My knees buckled, though, and I went crashing down.
A thin, warm arm wrapped around my back, catching me and pulling me back to my feet before I hit the ground. “How long has it been since you ate?” Mare asked me, her voice soft.
“I had a lilano last night.” My words wobbled more than I wanted them to.
“And before that?”
“Too long,” I whispered.
“When did you last sleep?”
“I don’t know,” I said, though I did know.
