Page 30 of Renegade Queen

“You can talk!” I blurted out, unable to contain it any longer.

It turned to look at me, nearly rotating its head a full 180 degrees before it raised one feathery-looking eyebrow and turned back to Alyssa.

“Please tell me this isn’t what you’ve been spending time with,” it snarked.

Rude!

And yet adorable at the same time. I so wanted to smush it with love, and I was seconds away from making grabby hands and just diving for the grumpy thing.

“Fizzle,” Alyssa warned. “We’re here to find some humans that would have crossed about twelve days ago. You must have seen them if you’ve been here all this time.”

Fizzle fluffed up his feathers and made a strange clicking noise with his beak before he launched himself from Alyssa’s shoulder.

At first, my heart soared. This was it. This was where we’d finally find Damon. I couldn’t even bring myself to accept that he was dead. Not Damon. He wouldn’t go down that easily. He’d know we’d come for him, and he’d hold on. I knew he would.

But then, after taking a lap of the small clearing we were in, Fizzle landed on Tank’s shoulder with a rustle of feathers and then perched himself there with a harumph.

“This one isn’t so bad. It’s like having a personal tree to roost in,” Fizzle snarked, ducking his head under one wing and proceeding to groom himself.

Tank looked seconds away from freaking out and not in an I-want-to-cuddle-the-adorable-owl-cat-on-my-shoulder way I would have been. His eyes widened to comic proportions as he stared at Fizzle in horror.

“Fizzle!” Alyssa snapped. “Stop taunting them. And stop scratching his leather with your claws; he’s not a scratch post.”

Fizzle eyed Tank curiously, like he was sizing him up for scratching potential, before ignoring him entirely and turning back to Alyssa.

“I’d thought you would be able to find some other fae to protect you in the human realm. Why are you associating with these shifters?” he asked.

“Because they’ve come here to find someone. Like I said, literally less than two minutes ago. Losing your mind in your old age, Fizzle? Or are you still as cantankerous as you always were?” Alyssa quipped.

“This creature clearly doesn’t know anything. We should move on to find a more reliable source of information,” Dean cut in, finally sliding his sword back into the scabbard at his hip.

He made it look like he’d been doing it for years, and even I could admit he looked badass right now. It was a shame that none of us knew what we were doing or how to protect ourselves. It made that walking-to-our-death warning seem actually plausible.

“I have lived for centuries, insolent pup! I’ve forgotten more things than you will ever learn. I’ve seen mountains fall and countries form. Nymeria runs through my veins, and I can feel the land’s heartbeat in my soul,” Fizzle snapped, flaring out his wings as all his fur bristled around him, making him look like a powder puff.

Dean stared down the little creature perching on Tank’s shoulder, seemingly unswayed by his speech. From how Alyssa rolled her eyes, I guessed this wasn’t the first time she’d heard it.

“Okay, we’re all getting off on the wrong foot here. We would appreciate any help you can give us, erm, Fizzle. The person we’re looking for is our brother. He was sent here underprepared and on a suicide mission. Please, if you can do anything to help us find him, I would be truly grateful,” Maddox pleaded.

It was sobering to hear.

Of course, we all knew why we were here. We all had the same motives and the same thing on the line—our brother. A man we cared about dearly. Who we’d walk through fire for. But I’d been too busy hiding behind what needed to be done, behind the pretty girl helping us in our time of need, to concentrate on the stakes here.

And it wasn’t because I didn’t care.

I couldn’t bear to live in a world where we’d lost him. And the longer I could bury my head in the sand, the less chance there was that I was about to lose my mind to grief.

My eyes moved between Maddox and Dean, and for a moment, I let the worry close in on my mind. I didn’t know how they’d cope if we lost Damon. I was pretty sure we’d all be on a path of self-destruction that could only end one way. And I wouldn’t survive losing them too.

I couldn’t be the only one left.

Chapter 14

Alyssa

Alyssa

When I was a kid, Fizzle was the only friend I had. And yes, I knew exactly how that sounded. But I didn’t exactly grow up in the suburbs with kids running the streets that I could make friends with.