“So is your cheek,” Tink retorted and the cook realized that he was feeling a considerable itch. He reached up to give his cheek a little rub as Tink put a hand over his remaining ear and rubbed vigorously. That ear fell off, too, shriveling up just like the first one.
Tink cried out in alarm as purple spots appeared on his arms and legs. He spun in place, swatting at them and complaining, but his voice rose high, then was silenced. The cook found a garter snake in front of himself, and no sign of Tink. It was particularly large garter snake and seemed to be as startled as the cook. It darted across the heath and disappeared, leaving the cook looking for his assistant.
“Tink!” he shouted, rubbing his cheek all the while. “Get your lazy self back here! There’s work to be d—” He finished his sentence with a strange croak and found himself crouched on all fours on the ground. He surveyed himself, amazed to find that he’d become a leopard frog, albeit one with purple spots that gleamed silver before they turned dark.
A swan snapped at him, that beak brushing against his back. He realized he could easily become lunch. The cook hopped away as quickly as he could, unable to explain his situation.
Much less change himself back.
Twelve
The story in Hadrian’s book was incredible to Rania, like a fairy tale—but one that had happened to her. Although she’d never heard any of it, it felt familiar in a way she couldn’t explain. It had the resonance of truth.
Just like the firestorm.
Just like Hadrian’s trust of his fellow Pyr. He was never alone, even though he’d been orphaned, because he was surrounded by a team of fellow shifters who would even sacrifice themselves for his survival. She felt turned upside-down and inside-out, all of her preconceptions challenged, and yet, she felt alive for the first time ever.
The firestorm had brought her an awakening and a second chance, an opportunity to make amends for what she’d done in the past and to shape a better future. Rania didn’t want to let that slip away.
She’d never sought out her brothers. She’d never met them or been curious about them at all, and it had felt right to bring Hadrian to meet them. She liked the idea of having a family, just as he had his cousin, Alasdair. She’d flung them through space on impulse, but it was a whim that felt right.
She loved how Hadrian accepted her dares and met her challenges. She loved that he never took her for granted and seemed to welcome adventure. That daredevil glint in his eyes made her heart skip and she hoped she had the opportunity to prompt it over and over again.
She eyed the ring on his hand, the one that she’d had all her life, the one that the story claimed was her father’s gift to her mother. She liked the look of it on Hadrian’s hand, which was why she hadn’t asked for it back. It looked right to her there.
Had that been her father in her home in Iceland?
Were there more swan shifters? The book said that her father had been the last of his kind, before her conception. Did he have other children? Did she have siblings who were shifters?
If there were, they’d be on Maeve’s list of shifters to eliminate. Rania realized the Dark Queen didn’t intend that she’d survive, either, unless she continued to serve as an assassin. She’d been betrayed and deceived by the only one she trusted, because that had been the plan. The realization made her angry and she recognized that she’d never felt such passion before. There was joy and there was anger, there was desire, and she wanted to experience all the feelings on the spectrum.
With Hadrian.
There had only been three of her brothers in the cage in Fae. As soon as she had the idea of finding out more from the rest, she’d known it was the right answer. Asking them about Hadrian felt instinctively right, too. Even if she didn’t know her brothers, maybe they had her best interests at heart, too. Maybe they had ideas about family that were similar to Hadrian’s. They’d stuck together all these years, after all.
They might also have some knowledge of Maeve’s plan to share.
Rania couldn’t help but notice how the swans divided her from Hadrian, their postures protective and defensive. They had to know who she was and, even though she was a stranger to them, the blood bond was strong enough that they’d protect her. That was encouraging.
She shifted shape as Hadrian watched with such obvious admiration that she felt warm to her toes. To her relief, once in her swan form, Edred’s hissing made sense to her. The others gathered closer, still keeping a barrier between her and Hadrian, and she wanted to laugh that they were all talking at once. They were excited to see her! They welcomed her. Her heart glowed with what she hadn’t even realized she’d been missing.
Edred was the most emphatic and Rania listened to him closely when he told her about the capture of their brothers. Rania felt like she was in the midst of a large and noisy family, and a surprisingly affectionate one. Her brothers admitted how they’d been worried about her since they’d been cursed.
“We tried to watch over you,” Edred said. “Our annual migration takes us to Iceland for the summers and we have circled your home.”
Rania was astonished. She knew that there were swans that arrived each spring near her home, though the locals commented that they didn’t nest like the other migrating swans did.
Of course not: they had no mates.
“You stopped in the yard a few years ago,” she said, remembering the incident. “I didn’t know it was you.”
“No,” Edred said sadly. “We saw that, which was why we left.”
Rania felt that she had failed them, and vowed silently to do better.
Edred then explained that four of the brothers had been captured by Fae warriors armed with shining weapons, but Rania knew there had only been three in the cage in Fae.
They discussed this but each was adamant and the conclusion was inevitable: one brother was missing.
Edred admitted that their youngest brother, Trymman, had been injured in the Fae attack. No one wanted to mention the possibility of his death but Rania knew they were all thinking about it. One of the brothers noted that Trymman had a tendency to wander away but had always shown up again.
Then Edred asked about the strange light of the firestorm. Rania explained and her brothers walked around the Pyr, looking him up and down. They were surprisingly regal and not a little judgmental.
Hadrian met her gaze and raised his brows. “Do I pass?” he asked, obviously understanding what was happening and so confident in the result that Rania was amused. She flapped a wing at him and he laughed, a wonderful rich sound that lifted her heart.
“It should be an exchange,” Edred said. “In a union, it’s better if each party benefits.”
“Invading Fae will be dangerous,” Cnut, the second oldest brother agreed. “If you each give, you should each get.”
“Being partners will improve your chances of success, too,” Edred continued.
“You think I should satisfy this firestorm, in exchange for his help in freeing our brothers.”
Edred and the other swans bowed their heads in agreement. “It’s only fair, and if you’re his destined mate as he claims, then it’s right, too.” He tilted his head. “What do you think?”
“I think I could love him,” Rania admitted, only knowing it was true as she said it. “He’s strong and kind, and his heart is noble. I like him and I trust him.” She swallowed at the power of her realization. “I want to make the world a safer place for both of us and our respective kinds.”