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The pixie zipped through the commotion below, face lighting up at the sight of Rick. Yu heaved the bag in his hands higher, then paused to turn back to the wrestling giants below. When Wilson pushed his head out again, Yu pulled open the bag—and out came a glittery explosion of powder that hit the giant right in the face.
“Rescue you,” Yu announced proudly just as Wilson toppled to the ground. Now it wasn’t just Lily’s shouts they heard but others as a stampede of stomping feet climbed the stairs.
“It’s open.”
The two men whipped their heads to gape at the portal shimmering before Emerald, essentially located over the long drop. The roof shook again, harder than ever as Lily was pushed aside and more giant hands came out to capture them.
“Jump,” Rick said.
“You first,” Emerald returned.
“Me first!” Yu exclaimed, already flying into the portal and winking out of sight.
Green eyes widened, noticing the pixie for the first time. She broke into a grin. He took her hand.
“Jump together?”
Emerald nodded once. Rick smirked.
They leaped together as the tower collapsed behind them.
Chapter 7
The land was smoother than expected, like she was bouncing against a feather or a puffy cloud. Emerald didn’t trust it immediately, standing up and surveying the area in case it was a trap. Yu did the same, hovering over her shoulder, bag in hand.
“What’s in there?”
“Powder. Asked friends. Bored there.”
Her mouth dropped open, but she didn’t relax yet. Rick got to his feet more slowly, a sense of satisfaction on his expression. Those magenta eyes, however, were sharper than they had ever been on the previous island, which made her nervous.
“Is this not your home?”
“It’s my home,” he confirmed. “Not my territory, though, so we have to keep moving.”
She didn’t argue with him, knowing better than to stir trouble in a place she knew nothing about. Her mind raced through the books she read again, but meeting Rick had rendered those inaccurate and she had no idea what to expect. Beside her, Yu trailed after the Fae, too, quiet as ever, and black eyes curiously flitting about. When the pixie spotted a bunch of glowing flowers, he flew toward it.
“No,” Rick called out, blocking Yu before the pixie could reach it. Rick wagged his finger but tried to smile. “Dangerous. Don’t pick flowers or anything in the forest here, Yu. I’ll give you flowers myself when we reach my home.”
He was nervous, too, she realized, his smile not as open as it had been before. It was strained, an extension to the rest of his body that seemed braced for an attack. Was he expecting the killer to pop up out of nowhere? Wordlessly, she tugged at the energy inside her, relieved when she could feel it still sliding and shifting. They kept going, their trek uninterrupted until they got out of the forest and Rick stopped in his tracks.
“We’re here.”
Here was a winding path, with more glowing flowers scattered on both sides. Upon closer inspection, it dawned that the path was made of gemstones and something else, calling to her feet to keep moving. She still didn’t trust it, but she took a tentative step, then another. Rick’s hand wrapped around her wrist, halting her.
“Wait for it.”
She looked at where he was looking, the fog swirling on the horizon. The pink sky was gorgeous, taking her attention for a second. Then it was no longer pink, a translucent quality coating the whole sky…then, eliminating the fog inch by inch until she saw it.
Frost coated the grounds, turning it a blanket of white. The castle standing on it was not coated in that frost, mostly because it was already made of ice itself. She ogled the tall, glinting structure, imposingly thin and smoothly sculpted to perfection. Even from her spot, she knew it was impenetrable and riddled with magic.
The Winter Court. It had to be the Winter Court.
“Whatever happened to you belonging to a weaker court?” she asked, unable to keep the accusing tone from her voice.
Rick gave her a puzzled look. “I never said that. I said my court was ugly and shitty sometimes.”
He was right, of course, because other than that, all he said was that his court was helpless. It was she who had filled in the blanks in her mind, automatically assuming he wasn’t part of one of the major courts. He regarded her reaction.
