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“This is going to hurt,” I told him as I positioned my hands at one end of the arrow. A trickle of my blood dripped off my wrist, still leaking from the cut he’d made but already starting to itch, a sign my shifter healing was kicking in. I was relieved to know it still worked the same in this realm.
He closed his eyes, and I saw his sturdy chest expand as he took a deep breath. I didn’t hesitate, gripping the arrow between my fists and wrenching my hands in different directions, breaking the arrow with only a little resistance. The cheagle shrieked in pain, but I powered through, yanking both ends of the arrow out of their respective spots. His shriek intensified before dying out into complete silence. I glanced at his prone form. He’d passed out from the pain, his chest still rising and falling steadily.Poor baby.
I stared at the wound, watching as the skin slowly started to knit itself back together. Now I understood why he’d wanted me to take it out; he healed just like I did. I stood there, not quite sure what to do with myself. I looked around in the blue haze of the landscape, but there was no sign of any other life. Where had this little thing come from? And who had put this arrow in it?
It seemed to have gotten as dark as it was going to, the dual moons still casting enough light to be able to move around, but not a good idea to travel in. The temperature had dropped, and I shivered lightly, missing my usual leather jacket. I eyed the creature, not wanting to leave him out here where he could be seen as easy prey to any passersby.
“You better not wake up and decide I’m the enemy,” I muttered under my breath, gingerly cradling him in my arms and lifting him up. While I could probably take him, I didn’t want to deal with those razor-sharp claws. He wasn’t much bigger than a toddler, but he was dense, my arms dipping with the effort of carrying him. We retreated to my cave, and I gently laid him down in one corner, taking the opposite for myself. It was a tight squeeze, but he radiated a surprising amount of heat, and I found myself huddling closer to him. The wound on his leg was already healed, as was the cut on my hand, the dried crust of blood the only evidence of any injury at all.
I sat propped up with my back against the wall, doing my best to stay awake and stand guard until morning, but exhaustion dragged at me, tugging at the corners of my resolve until I was a lost cause. Between the quiet peacefulness of the world outside and the rhythmic breaths of the cheagle next to me, I faded into blissful oblivion.
ChapterTwo
It was the scream that woke me up.
At least, I thought it was a scream until I opened my eyes and saw the baby cheagle, his little body practically vibrating with bristled energy, high-pitched screeches coming from his maw. The wounded animal I had seen the night before was nowhere to be seen. My body seized in fear as I came face to face with what he was shrieking at.
A gargantuan creature blocked the entrance to our shelter. It stood a few heads taller than the cave mouth but had no trouble pinning me with its crimson stare. I couldn’t see its wings, but the hulking shoulders told me everything I needed to know. This was not an animal to be fucked with. Its body was a mirror image of my unlikely companion, except where his feathers were white and pristine, this one’s were in various hues of blue and green. Long, deadly claws adorned its feet, and I swallowed. Hard. I’ddefinitelydie if grabbed by one of those. Its head dipped down toward me until we were level before it opened its pointed beak, a sharp, menacing squawk bursting out.
This was mommy cheagle, and she wasmad.
I scrambled backward, my back thudding against the wall as I tried not to shit my pants in fear. Baby cheagle moved to stand in front of me, again screeching at its mother. Defending me, I realized. My heart would have warmed if I wasn’t a few feet away from my imminent death.
Mommy cheagle huffed as she angled her head downward, locking eyes with me.
‘My kin tells me you helped him.’A gasp escaped me as she spoke into my mind. Her voice was surprisingly soft for how menacing she looked, yet strong and mature. There was a heaviness to her words, and it was almost too much for my mind to withstand, a dull ache setting in as I tried to adjust. It was nothing like when we had talked to each other in animal form back at the Clover pack. This was something different, something ancient. She waited for me to respond, but I just gaped my mouth open like a fish, struggling under the weight of her presence. ‘You are not smart,’she observed, her disdain blatant.
I cleared my throat, snapping my jaw shut and giving my head a quick shake.Get your shit together.“I didn’t do much; just pulled the arrow out of his leg.” The gratitude at my voice not wavering was immense. Defending my intelligence to this creature didn’t seem like a smart move.
‘He lives because of your actions. And for that, I owe you a debt.’Sunlight glinted off her feathers, casting a crystalline glow throughout the cave. Her gaze was sincere, her head bowed, and the edges of my fear faded, replaced with a blanket of awe at the magnificent creature.‘That was an arrow forged by iron, which is toxic and deadly to most Faerie kind. But if you ever lay a hand on another pagu, I will hook my talon in your throat and eviscerate you.’The terror flooded back, and I nodded in understanding. Pagu, not cheagle. No touchy. Got it.
‘Come. Stop cowering on the ground.’I scooted out and up as she backed away from the entrance, still careful to keep a watchful eye in case I needed to run. It seemed like we had some weird sort of truce, but she’d also just threatened my life, and I couldn’t be too careful. Now, on my feet, I could see she was easily a few feet taller than me. Her wings were pulled into her back, her chest jutting forward proudly as she stood, eyeing my meager stature.
‘I would have thought a princess would be more . . . impressive.”I tensed at her words, eyes wide.
“You know who I am?”
The beast snorted, light whisps of smoke escaping her.‘There are only three Fae that I know of with hair like that.’I frowned at her, my hands coming up to smooth my golden tresses down. It’d been a while since I’d seen a brush, but I didn’t think it was that bad. Then I thought back to what I’ve seen. Cas and Queen Tantaii, and their hair that mirrored my own.
“We are the only ones that have blonde hair?”
The pagu’s eyes narrowed as she scanned me up and down critically. Judgment and anger lurked in their depth. I didn’t know how, but she knew what I had done. She knew I’d forgotten.‘When you live as long as we do, knowledge is the universe’s greatest gift. To squander that is a death sentence.’
“I had a good reason.” My response was defensive, but when being accused by a mythical flying creature, it was bound to happen. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” I cringed as soon as I said it. Not only would upsetting this creature likely get me killed, butIdidn’t even know what I was talking about. I was still trying to wrap my head around how my past self could have made such a decision. Probably the same way I always made decisions: withoutthinking first.
She snorted, shuffling restlessly where she stood.‘Why are you here?’
“Well . . . It all started when I was kidnapped by a rude ass cu—”
‘I do not care, halfling. Why are you sleeping on this beach? This is pagu territory. I would normally skin any trespassers who dared to enter and feed their flesh to my children.’
My breathing wavered, but I steeled myself, doing my best to remind myself that if she wanted to kill me, she would have by now.Just keep telling yourself that.“I’m looking for my companion. We were separated when he opened a portal for me to this realm, but he was attacked before he could follow me through.”
I looked out toward the sea, the sun sitting low on the horizon as it rose, casting a brilliant golden pathway across the water’s surface. Its shimmer, combined with the red of the water, made it look like a thousand tiny flames dancing, painting the sea in an impressive display of fiery hues that stretched on forever.
“I was hoping he’d show up by morning.” My words were soft, resigned to what had probably happened. Oliver hadn’t made it, and now I was stuck here alone. Panic started to seep in, weaving its way around my fragile walls like a serpent coiling to strike.
‘I will help you, and the debt will be paid.’I thought about refusing, still not entirely sure this animal didn’t still want to kill me. But what other choice did I have? I needed to find Oliver. I needed food, water, and shelter. I needed her help.
