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I truly don’t know what I would do without Izan. He ensures my time away from Fire Court runs smoothly, and I never have to worry if he has total control over situations that arise.
“I’ll be fine!” Adeena throws her hands up, scoffing as she watches the silent conversation happening between me and Izan.
Shaking my head, I loudly chuckle at her frustration as I step through the portal. She knows I can’t help it. Her safety is my number one priority whether she likes it or not. I can learn to give her some space, but I won’t risk her safety in the process.
I filled our bed chambers with my butterfly spies while she ate breakfast this morning. She’ll be surprised to find them sometime later today. They’re her only way of communicating with me quickly if something were to happen while I’m gone. I don’t foresee anything going wrong, but I secretly hope she sends me visions of her nude body. She surprised me when I was away on a trip last month, and I couldn’t get back to Fire Court fast enough. She teased me the entire time I was gone, sending visions of her perky breasts while she played with herself.
My cock hardens as violent winds whip past me inside the portal. As a human, Adeena struggled to keep her balance inside my portals, but now, as a fae, she’s graceful as she walks through the hurricane winds.
Alaric’s face comes into view as I step out of the portal, and my cock instantly goes soft while my face flattens.
“What’s that look for?” Alaric asks as he clutches his hand over his heart as though I’ve hurt his feelings.
I roll my eyes, not wanting to tell him that I had a hard cock the entire way here. “I was hoping Ellia would be standing here with a pan of cinnamon rolls, but here you are,” I lie.
There’s an amused twinkle in his eyes, and it’s easy to see he’s feeling much better than when I left him two and a half days ago. He appears to be mostly healed, and his walk is strong as he crosses the yard. On a typical day, Alaric is stir-crazy, and I can’t imagine how much it bothered him to be stuck here while I was in Fire Court.
“It’s nice to see you too,” he grins as I close the portal, opening my pocket portal beside our supply cart.
Razvan appears in the doorway to the house, and the widest smile spreads across his face as he sees me. “Dreyden!” he shouts as he bolts out the door, sprinting toward me. “You’re back!”
His young man-boy body slams into me as he embraces me in the biggest hug. His arms wrap around me tightly as he lets out a content sigh. I fold my arms around him, hugging him back as I say, “Hey, buddy. How have you been while I’ve been gone?”
I’m not one for hugs, but Razvan holds a special place in my heart. I’ve watched him continue to be a light in the darkness as Tartarus deteriorates, and I couldn’t be more proud of him. He assists without being asked, and he’s always begging to do more.
Razvan steps back, glancing toward the supplies Alaric is unloading into our cart. “I’ve been okay. There was a sphynx in the woods yesterday and we had to stay in the house all day long. Did you bring any herb mixes? Mother wants to make meat sauce to store on the shelves.”
My eyes land on Alaric as he confirms Razvan’s words with a grim look on his face. I turn to Razvan, smiling as I answer him, “There should be a few different kinds in the spice bag. Take it to your mother, then bring the bag back to the supply cart once she’s done with it.”
“I’ll be fast!” Razvan beams as he snatches the bag from the pocket portal, running inside the house as quickly as his legs will carry him.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I walk toward Alaric. “A sphynx? You’re sure?”
He exhales an excessively long and stressed sigh. “Yes.” He heaves another bag into the supply cart, and the wheels groan under the weight. “It was spotted walking along the edge of the forest about half a mile down the road. Looked like it was hunting.”
Dread fills me as I imagine the damage a sphynx could do to the few remaining people of this village. Sphynxes are the result of dark magic gone wrong thousands of years ago. They’d been banished to the Wychwood Forest, and we haven’t heard of any leaving the forest… until now.
“Did it attack?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “No. Not that I’ve heard of, but I don’t like how closely it’s hunting around the village. It’ll move in once it realizes how easy of a meal we’ve become.”
He’s not wrong. A sphynx could hunt and kill every remaining person in this village in less than a week. “After our supply drop, I’m going to the woods to track it.”
“I’ll go with you,” he says without missing a beat.
“No, you won’t. You’ll stay here with your wife and children. It’s too dangerous out there and I will have a hard time protecting you against a sphynx. I can’t risk it.”
“I’m no good if I’m stuck at home,” he argues.
My voice turns cold as I straighten my back. “You’re no good dead, Alaric. You have a family here that needs you. Tartarus needs you. You’re too valuable to put in harm's way if it’s not necessary, and it’s not.”
He looks like he’s going to argue, then he stops himself. “Do you think you can take it on by yourself?”
I unload the last two bags into the supply cart, then close my pocket portal. “I don’t see another option.”
* * *
I’ve been huntingthis sphynx for three damn days, and I’m finally closing in.
