“You're a fucking child,” Dal grumbled. “You're my consort; of course, I'm worried about your wing. Now, shift, damn you.”
“You're so bossy.” I shifted back into my man body and grinned at him. Then I winced. “Ow, what the fuck?” I looked at my broken arm in shock.
“You've harmonized,” Dal said smugly. “The injuries sustained in hawk form have translated to your Sidhe form.”
“Yay, just in time to get my arm broken,” I huffed. Then I recalled the way I'd been able to see Gremara's cold footprints. My eyesight had improved; I should have realized then that I'd harmonized.
“You'll heal,” Dal said, then he shifted too. “We'll get you a doctor to speed up the process.”
“Just get me out of this fucking icebox,” I muttered and headed toward the archway.
“We'd best head the way the Farungal were going.” Dal grabbed my uninjured shoulder and turned me around. “We don't know how bad it will be up there.”
“Oh, right,” I mumbled as I cradled my arm to my chest. “Hey, what's that?”
Dalsharan followed my gaze to the side of the cavern where something gleamed. The cavern was lit by a strip of lights that ran down the center of the ceiling, leaving the rest of the vast space in shadows. But something had caught the light—something metallic—and now that I was focused on the darkness, I saw strange shapes lurking there. The Hawk Lord stepped away from me, his expression going stern. He slapped a hand on one of those odd shapes and a series of lights came on. The other Hawks gasped.
Farin stepped up beside me in hawk form. I didn't know it was him until he said, “Creskal flowers. You just found the Queen's greenhouses, Valorian.”
Dalsharan held out a hand and the flowers caught fire. The other Hawks spread out and searched the rest of the cavern. Soon, more lights came on and more fires started. When every last blossom had been turned to ash, Dal returned to me.
“Nicely spotted, Corporal. Now we can go,” the Hawk Lord said. “Shift back. Your hawk will handle the cold better.”
“Shift. Shift back,” I muttered, but I shifted.
Dal lifted a brow at me chidingly before he shifted too. Then he led us out of the cavern and through the escape tunnels, away from Farungal corpses and the remains of their corpse flowers.
Chapter Forty-Five
The escape tunnels led into the forest beyond the fortress. It wasn't that far from the battlefield, but I couldn't fly. Dal wouldn't leave me, especially not in a monster-ridden forest, and the Hawks wouldn't leave either of us. So, we walked quietly and carefully through the woods. By the time we got back, the battle was over, the Farungal were dead, and the fires had been put out. The stronghold was smoking but looked safe enough. In fact, just as we came walking up on our bird legs, a group of chained Sidhe were led out of the fortress. Brendallen, his guard, and his officers.
Dalsharan launched into the air, flying through the small space that separated him from Brendallen, then swooped down to land before the ex-warlord. I cursed and scrambled forward, dragging my wing behind me. Dalsharan grabbed Brendallen and tossed him through the air.
“Dal, he's chained!” I shouted as I reached him.
“Get up!” Dalsharan snarled at Brendallen. “Get up and face me, you fucking bastard!”
Brendallen got to his feet, lifted his head, and shook back his dark hair with a twisted smirk. “Where's the honor of the great Hawk Lord now?” he sneered. “Are you going to beat me to death while I'm bound? That would make you no better than me.” He grinned broadly.
“He's just trying to goad you,” I said urgently. “We'll take him back to Varalorre and his king can punish him.
“I vowed that we'd kill him, Ravyn,” the Hawk Lord growled, keeping his stare on our enemy.
“Yeah, well, I can't help at the moment.” I nodded toward my broken wing.
“That's why I'm going to kill him for both of us.” He brushed his feathered head along mine, then swung it back to face Brendallen. “Someone release him.”
Faeries murmured around us, gathering closer.
“Hawk Lord, this man's a criminal. You don't have to fight him,” the Lion Lord said. “It's beneath you.”
“I don't care if it's beneath me, Hadrian,” Dalsharan said. “He abused my consort, and he will pay with his life.”
Not because he had betrayed his entire race, or stole soul stones, or set the Hawk Lord up to be captured. Nope, Dal was pissed because Brendallen had hurt me. I have to admit that made my little birdy heart go pitter-patter. But I didn't want to risk Dalsharan on a fight when the battle was won.
“He'll get his own,” I said. “I'm satisfied with that.”
“I am not!” Dalsharan roared.
Everyone went quiet except for Brendallen, who started to laugh.
“So angry,” Brendallen said. “Always so angry.”
“Release him,” Dalsharan ordered again.
“Give me the keys.” The Lion Lord held out his hand expectantly. He was back to his Sidhe form and dressed in a war robe like most of the Sidhe there. Hadrian took the keys from a human soldier and went to Brendallen. “If you fight with dishonor, I will tear your throat out.”
Brendallen just held his wrists out and grinned.
Hadrian released the ex-Coyote Lord and stepped back. A tight circle of fae and humans had formed, but they moved out, giving Dal and Brendallen room to fight. Canines and Felines growled, Avians made short screeches, Trolls and Red Caps clenched their fists, and Leanan-Sidhe smiled maliciously at Brendallen. If he won, he'd be torn apart. It would be smarter for him to kneel and beg for mercy than to face Dal. But Brendallen had been a warlord and he was a vicious motherfucker. I knew he'd fight to his last breath just to see Dalsharan go down with him.
I went up to Dal and whispered, “Don't do this. Let's just take him back to Varalorre and go home.”
“Ravyn,” Dalsharan said softly, his golden, hawk eye focusing on mine, “have some faith in me.”
I sighed, nodded, and stepped back.
“Shift!” Dalsharan shouted at Brendallen.
Brendallen grinned maliciously and that smile turned into a coyote leer as he shifted so smoothly, it was almost beautiful. He was massive in that form—a great, hulking beast with fangs as long as my forearms. Brendallen gnashed his fangs and tossed his furred head before setting his menacing stare on the Hawk Lord. Dal shrieked and shot into the air.