“You are right. But I’m glad that someone else did.”
He grinned. “Me, too.”
When the Fae’s energies surged again, they stopped talking and caught up, ready to break apart whatever fight was about to happen. But there was no fight, only agitated Fae moving faster as they sniffed the air and detected something. Isabella went on alert, too, fangs coming out and eyes glowing red, while Edmund climbed the nearest tree and scanned the area. He found movement to his far right and advanced towards it, the Fae and Isabella not far behind. When they broke through a rough patch of trees and tall grass, they were met with a line of shifters that he didn’t recognize except for Billy and Angelo, who were standing slightly ahead of them. He tried to break through the line but paused when he saw that their faces held nothing but fascination and pride. When Billy spotted them, he tugged Isabella closer and made space for Edmund to pass through.
“Check this out,” he said.
Edmund inserted himself into the space and stumbled out beside Angelo, eyes immediately landing on what they were watching. Like them, he stilled in stupefaction, then could only stare as Fae floated off the ground and struggled in whatever invisible chains were binding them. It extended to their mouths, not allowing them to scream…and in the center of the crazy sight was none other than Archie, fingers tapping the air and looking like he was playing the piano.
“Archie?”
He turned at the sound of his name, glazed orbs clearing slowly until recognition flickered. He lit up when he spotted the shifters, grew cautious when he checked out the Fae, and finally broke into a toothed smile when his gaze landed on Edmund. Edmund knelt on the ground with arms outstretched. Seconds later, a small, warm body was willingly melting into him, and he wrapped himself around the kid with no intention of letting go anytime soon.
“Gather them,” Angelo ordered. “Don’t let them get away. Suppress.”
To Edmund’s surprise, the Fae took heed and went into action, too, but with the intention of racing against each other. Edmund rolled his eyes, then patted Archie down. “You lost your tooth.”
“I did,” Archie agreed, scrunching his nose. “It’s their fault.”
“What did they do?”
“They made fun of me, and I punched them with my powers. It worked, so I kept punching them until they were weak enough for me to fly.”
“That teaches them to make fun of your missing tooth again,” Edmund praised.
“And for making fun of mama.” The boy harrumphed. “No one gets to make fun of my mama.”
Edmund silently agreed and embraced him some more, then eased back when Billy wanted his turn and asked Archie all kinds of questions. Voices disrupted the charged, silent air.
“These Fae are rogues!” the violet-haired Fae cried out. “We met them before.”
“They tried to attack us before,” Meriam added, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “They are not associated with anyone.”
Which meant that Duncan had been lying. Billy’s eyes met his, a grim frown appearing. Worry seeped in as Edmund clutched his phone before he jumped when it vibrated.
“Hello?”
“She needs help. Someone hurry.”
A chill ran down Edmund’s spine before he was barking out the message. There was more commotion and shifters were moving in haste, but he didn’t stop to look and moved even faster, relying on his honed senses to carry him to where he needed. He was in the food shop’s vicinity in no time, glimpsing the blind Fae first before he locked in on the still figure on the ground. With a roar, he was flying the rest of the way and only stopped when he had her in his arms.
“My love, please wake up. My love, please don’t die on me. I don’t think I can live without you. Don’t leave me like this. Don’t leave Archie like this. Please come back to us—”
“I’m awake,” a voice interrupted his begging, stunning him with its clarity. He looked down just as Alexa opened her eyes and smiled, and he could have kissed her then and there with how intensely the relief surged through her. But he noted the weariness in her tone. “I’m not leaving anybody.”
“My love,” he whispered, “My love…”
“And I am in severe pain from all the cracked bones. I think.” She winced. With horror, he stilled as his fingers eased back, careful not to move her.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Her face went white as a sheet, but she breathed through it. “Archie?”
“Safe and sound.”
“Good. That’s good.” Gray eyes searched his and became peaceful. “I love you, Edmund.”
“I love you, too.”