Page 58 of Wings of Snow
“Her wings are an affinity,” Norivun bit out. “If Drachu’s draining her, her body can’t sustain it. Fuck! She’s shutting down.”
“We need a healer!” Haxil said frantically.
Norivun’s grip tightened around me more as everything inside me began shrinking, shrinking, shrinking...
And then...blackness.
* * *
A cool clothslid across my forehead, and a pounding aura filled the air around me.
“My oh my, she was quite depleted. Dangerously so, and in a way that was entirely unnatural,” a female said. “But have no fear. I gave her a hefty dose of the potion we often use to treat fae lands withdrawal. I have a feeling that given enough time, she’ll recover.”
Awareness of my surroundings grew. Someone was holding my hand. A male from the feel of it. Rough callouses rubbed against my palm. Entwining his fingers around me, he grunted. “Fae lands withdrawals?”
Norivun. That’s who’s holding my hand.
“It’s something we can see in powerful adult fae who travel to Earth for the first time.”
Earth?
“But she doesn’t have withdrawals,” Norivun replied. “She’s not in thatotherrealm. That bastard Drachu depleted her magic and almost killed her in the process. All of which occurred inthisrealm.”
The womantsked. “It may not have been actual withdrawals, Prince Norivun, but the effects on the body are similar enough that the potion we use to treat such withdrawals should work in a case like this. It reverses the course of magically induced effects.”
Another grumbling sound came from him before a terse, “Very well. You have my thanks, and I’m in your debt.”
The female laughed softly. “Nonsense. I came at the request of Major Fieldstone. I’m merely doing my job. No debts are needed, Prince Norivun.”
My eyes fluttered open to see the female on one side of me and my mate on the other.
Norivun’s aura swelled like a tidal wave around him, constantly pounding and crashing, only to rise again. The second he realized my eyes were open, he leaned over me as his fear strummed along the bond. “Ilara?”
“Hi,” I croaked.
The prince gathered me close, pulling me into an embrace.
I hugged him in return even though my arms felt weak.
His four guards stood behind him, and another male I didn’t recognize—a Nolus fairy with bright-orange hair—stood on my other side with his hands clasped behind his back.
The orange-haired male beamed. “Ah, look who’s decided to join us!” He grinned, awarding me a clear view of his sharp teeth, before he angled his body to Norivun, who didn’t seem to have any intention of letting me go. The light caught on a dagger tucked into the male’s belt, and it shone like a mirror. “I told you Cora would know what to do. Much obliged indeed, dear Cora.”
The female stood and dipped her head. “She’ll continue to recover, but it’s best you carry one of these at all times.” She slipped a small vial into Norivun’s hand. “Administer it immediately if such an event occurs again.”
The female eyed me, her expression sympathetic, and with a start I realized she wasn’t fae. Rounded ears stuck out from her head, clear as day since her hair was swept back. A long robe covered her frame, so I couldn’t see the rest of her, but everything else about her looked like me. Except for the ears.
My surprise increased when she turned to the orange-haired Nolus. “This is a most curious case indeed. I heard once that the Lochen fae can be tricky, but we know so little of them, and I’ve never seen such magic before.” The female then turned to Norivun, who finally relaxed his grip enough for me to lay back on the table. “Did you know you’re the first Solis fairy I’ve ever met? It’s been a most enlightening morning.”
“Indeed. For all of us,” the orange-haired fairy agreed.
The female smiled. “I’ll diligently catalogue what she suffered from, Major Fieldstone, so the SF is aware that this potion is effective in cases such as hers.”
“The SF?” I croaked. “What’s the SF?”
“That would be the Supernatural Forces, my dear,” the orange-haired fairy, Major Fieldstone, replied. “They’re an organization on Earth.”
There was that strange, foreign word again. “Earth?”