Page 72 of Renegade Kings

The guys followed me up, grabbing their weapons where they’d left them and returning them to the stands at the edge of the sands.

Fizzle was practically vibrating, hating that he was having to wait. I wasn’t trying to be a bitch about the whole thing. It was just hard to figure out how to put into words that you’d met a dryad in the forest.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t that hard.

“I met a dryad out in the forest last night,” I blurted out.

The look on Fizzle’s face was amusing, to say the least. For all we knew, the prophecy had been so accurate that he knew every single thing that was about to happen. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, we’d only know in time. But for now there was at least some satisfaction in knowing that we weren’t the only ones in the dark, about some things anyway.

Of course, Fizzle had to go and ruin my very brief moment of satisfaction.

“It’s happening then. They’re gathering.” He spread his wings and flew to one of the nearest fence posts enclosing the ring we’d been sitting in.

He’d always hated being talked to when he was on the ground.

“What’s happening?” Maddox asked carefully, stepping closer to where Fizzle was now perched.

I could see the flash of annoyance on Maddox’s face. His lion would be pushing him to protect their mate and this situation could easily devolve into a fight. I had a feeling Fizzle wouldn’t answer that question. This was too close to whatever he was keeping close to his chest. The pieces were moving, and he didn’t want us to know the game we were playing, let alone the board we were on.

Fizzle looked at Maddox, and then pointedly turned away from him to ignore him. The way that Maddox held himself back and didn’t launch at him was actually pretty impressive. I’d always known it would be Fizzle’s attitude that got him killed, but today apparently wasn’t that day.

“Do you have any views about what’s happening in the forest? I know you can feel my magic out there. Out of everyone in Nymeria, you’re the most familiar with it after me.” I watched him closely as I asked because I was starting to think his reactions were the only way I was going to get any answers at this rate.

He locked eyes with me, and I could almost see the cogs moving in his head. “This isn’t fun for me, you know? I don’t take pleasure in hiding these things from you.”

I hadn’t expected that response, and now that I was suddenly seeing things from his point of view; I felt bad. Not once had I thought about how this was for him.

“I’m sorry, Fizzle. I should have thought about that, but I couldn’t see past my own frustrations.”

He sighed, gliding from the fence post to my shoulder and perching himself there. “I know. I know you can do this, and I will help you however much I can. And I will greatly enjoy torturing your mates until they have some kind of usable magic.”

“Yeah, bring it, little man,” Ryder quipped.

Fizzle’s claws dug into my shoulder as he slowly turned to look at where the three of them had gathered, checking out the other weapons available.

Oh, they had no idea of the world of pain they were about to enter into.

Chapter 26

Ryder

“Ithink I sprained my brain,” I gasped as I stumbled to the side to miss the bubble of water that Dean threw at me.

It wasn’t exactly going to hurt, but there was only so much humiliation I could take for one day.

Dean strolled into our suite of rooms last night like nothing had happened. Then crawled into bed with Alyssa and the rest of us without barely saying a word. That would have been one of the weirdest thoughts I’d ever had before, but now all of us not cuddling up together just felt wrong.

Either way, the fucker had apparently grasped how to draw some of his magic to the surface and here I was, struggling to do anything. I didn’t even know what I could do, and I was feeling like the weakest link in our pack.

Maddox and Dean had both felt their animals way before I did. Hell, Maddox even shifted before he was supposed to. I felt weak. Useless. Just like always.

I shook my head and walked to the edge of the training field, feeling done for the day. Even when the ball of water hit me in the back of my head, I didn’t feel like laughing it off like I always did.

“Can you stop showing off for a second?” I snapped, spinning around, teeth bared in Dean’s direction.

His wolf didn’t like that. I saw how Dean visibly had to hold him back from taking over.

I didn’t even feel bad about it. I might always act the clown when tensions got high, and we needed the break, but that didn’t mean I wanted them to kick me while I was down. Maybe for once someone could think about my feelings.