His Fairy Share

by Meghan Maslow

  Family. Oh, Goddesses. Our parents. Our brother.

  Even though Twig couldn’t read my thoughts, he seemed to understand. “Zak already knows about your family.”

  Zak squeezed my hand but wouldn’t meet my eyes.

  “Twig told you?”

  “No. But Le Torneau’s guards killed them.” Zak said it with no inflection.

  I tried to sit up but couldn’t quite manage it. “How do you—”

  “She told me.” Zak’s face went rigid as stone, but his grip became crushing. “She . . . enjoyed telling me things. And do you know why she did it?”

  “Tell me.” I braced myself.

  “Le Torneau went there to buy CHB powder. Rather suspicious, wouldn’t you say?” Zak looked at Twig, before dropping his gaze to the floor.

  “They wouldn’t sell it?” My family was nothing if not entrepreneurial. Still, it made a tiny part of my heart light with warmth that they’d refuse to do something to hurt my mate. Or me.

  “They wanted more dyparis.”

  Aaand warmth extinguished. Of course they did. I couldn’t speak without cursing, so I stayed quiet.

  “Quinn?” Zak’s chin trembled. “Why were they so awful?”

  “I . . . I don’t know, kiddo.”

  He nodded, like I’d handed him the answer to life’s deepest question. “When they refused to sell without more coin, Le Torneau killed them. I-I got the impression from the High Rei that she wasn’t happy with Le Torneau. I prayed she’d kill her.” He lifted his chin daring me to call him out.

  As if I would. The need for revenge sung in my veins. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath. Zak didn’t need my anger right now.

  “I’m sorry,” I managed. “I should have—”

  “Are you a seer now? Because last I checked, you’re only human.” He sucked in a harsh breath, his panicked gaze going to Twig. “I-I didn’t mean it like that.”

  I keened like a wounded animal. I couldn’t hold it back.

  Twig bumped Zak aside and handed a snoring Cookie to him. He then scooped me into his arms before settling himself behind me on the bunk. I curled into him.

  Zak looked between us, his eyes wide and pained. “I’m sorry!”

  Twig waved him off. “It’s okay, kid. But why don’t you see if Pie has time to teach you more pirate slang? Also, let Captain Yardley know that Quinn’s awake.”

  “Good idea. Quinn, I’ll . . . I’ll catch you later.” His voice came out unsure and tiny.

  I simply nodded, going limp in Twig’s hold, a deep ache radiating outward from where our bond used to be anchored.

  Once Zak fled the cabin, I closed my eyes. I wanted to go back to sleep, so I wouldn’t feel the ragged hole where both my well of magic and my connection to my familiar had been. Not knowing how Twig felt hurt. Knowing I was no longer a wizard hurt. Everything just hurt.

  When Twig remained silent, I forced my lids open, my cheek pressed against his chest. “Are you going to yell at me for walking into a trap?” I couldn’t handle Twig being angry with me, but I needed to know.

  He sighed, wrapped me tight in his embrace. “No, Quinn. I’m not mad. I want to be, but I know you. I know why you did what you did. I would have made the same choice in your place. I’m sorry it took so long to get back. I didn’t know you needed me. That blasted orc didn’t show up with your message until just after I’d cast my vote.”

  “Not your fault, dragon. Besides, you saved me.”

  “Not soon enough. Damn my father.” Smoke swirled from his nose.

  “What happened?”

  “He invoked some obscure bullshit rule so the vote got pushed back forty-eight hours. Said he did it so I’d have time to familiarize myself with the legislation. As if I didn’t write it.”

  “Did it pass?”

  “Yeah, it did. No more indentured servants in Lighthelm.” Twig squeezed me tight.

  I should be ecstatic. I’d wanted this legislation even more than Twig. At the moment, I just felt empty.

  He ran a hand over my damaged side. Cookie could heal wounds, but I’d cauterized mine, so in a sense I’d already healed it. Badly. I felt around the outline of a jagged scar. Not as big as I thought, but not tiny either.

  “Ugly, huh?” I didn’t want to look.

  “Nothing about you is ugly, sweetheart. Nothing.” Twig’s voice rang with sincerity.

  I bit my lip so I wouldn’t contradict him. The scar would bother me a lot more than it would him anyway. I shuddered, trying to contain all the emotions that threatened to spill over.

  Twig banged his head against the bunk’s headboard. “I hate not being able to feel you. It’s . . . unnatural.”

  “She didn’t only destroy our bond.”

  “Your magic?” Twig’s body tensed beneath mine.

  I nodded. Not able to say the words aloud.

  “We’ll just have to re-bond. There has to be a way—”

  I placed a finger over his lips to stop his hopeful words, tears spilling over my cheeks. “There’s not. I saw it disintegrate. Hallewell destroyed the anchor point. I’m not magical anymore. Not able to bond you as my familiar.”

  He kissed my finger, his own eyes suspiciously wet. “I don’t care if you’re magical or not. You know that, right, wizard?”

  I flinched. “I’m not a wizard, Twig. Just a man.”

  “It’s enough.”

  “Not for me, it’s not.”

  His brows knit together in a frown. “What’s that supposed to mean? Even without your magic, you’re still my mate. Still amazing.”

  I scoffed. “Hardly.”

  A growl rose in his chest.

  Dear, loyal Twig. Who deserved more than I could be.

  “Don’t. I know you’re hurting.” He took a deep breath. “You need to rest. We’ll talk more about this later.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Those were the last words I spoke for a long while.

  The days ticked past, but I hardly noticed. Cookie did a good job healing my physical wounds. After one more session with her, I hardly hurt. If only she could mend the jagged edges deep inside.

  Instead of prodding at the wound like an infected tooth, I stared out a porthole watching the vast Holyfail Seas, hour after hour. Zak visited. Twig barely left my side. And I vaguely recalled Beckett coming to poke around inside my head. She repeated what I already knew. No more magic.

  I don’t remember eating or bathing or even sleeping.

  . . . Here, eat this . . .

  . . . Sweetheart, can you hear me? . . .

  . . . Quinn, there’s a seagull with a note for you . . .

  . . . Twig, why won’t he stop humming? . . .

  . . . Rest now, baby . . .

  You’d think I’d have dreams or nightmares or something. Not just . . . emptiness. I’d wake in the bunk periodically not knowing how I got there, and for a moment, I’d be okay. Then I’d remember and return to my spot by the window.

  “I’m not sure how Hallewell did it.” Beckett’s angry footfalls echoed in the cabin.

  I kept my back to her.

  “It should have taken seven witches to sever such a bond. So how did she do it? I wish I’d been closer. I could have felt her strength then.”

  “When she severed our bond, I swear she absorbed Quinn’s magic as it dispersed,” Twig whispered.

  Why so hushed? Did we need to be quiet? I tried to rouse myself but simply couldn’t.

  “That’s not possible,” Beckett answered. “There’s not a single spell I’m aware of that could do something like that.”

  “You also said it’s impossible for a single witch to sever the familiar bond, yet she managed.”

  “She . . . wore . . . a ring.” My voice sounded rusty, unused. When had I last spoken? I remembered the ring. That should be important, right? My bracer had reacted, so it must be ancient magic. An artifact that magnified her power maybe?

  “Sweetheart.” Twig knelt in front of me, placed a gentle palm aga
inst my cheek. “Hi.”

  Why did he treat me like glass? Like I’d break? Too late. So I said nothing. What was there to say?

  31

  At some point, we made landfall. Twig and Zak helped the crew unload supplies, though Twig stopped to carry me off the ship and place me under the shade of a palm tree. He’d picked me up like I couldn’t walk. Had my legs stopped working, too?

  Stepping onto land felt like waking from a particularly long dream. Why were we here? What day was it? I blinked at the blazing sun overhead, unsure what to make of things. Pie and Trash Panda stayed with me after Twig left.

  The white sand warmed my skin, a gentle breeze gusting from the east carried the scent of salt and seashells and almost masked the smells of civilization. I wore an unadorned, gauzy tunic, and a pair of rather scratchy cropped pants. No boots. I didn’t remember getting dressed. I didn’t remember much of those last days. I placed a hand to my brow and scanned the island. Keelhaul Key?

  Trees laden with coconuts and other fruits dotted the island, their big leafy canopies providing patches of shade on an otherwise scorching day. Thatched huts clustered together in an orderly arrangement that must be the main settlement. More sizable than I would have suspected.

  Pie had just perched on my thigh when Trash Panda gave him a mighty shove. Pie squawked and went tumbling into the sand. Trash Panda snickered, then took his place on my lap, curling up.

  “When we be at sea,” Pie spit out a mouthful of sand, “ye best guard yer back ye mangy bilge rat! Off the plank with ye.”

  TP lifted her head, stuck out her tongue, then turned her back to him.

  “I’ll feed ye to the crew, I will. Get out the hempen halter—”

  “Enough Pie.” I patted my shoulder.

  He grudgingly hopped onto it and settled, still muttering curses under his breath.

  The docks were well built, but simple. More than a dozen sloops and frigates were moored in separate berths, and I could see several smaller boats scattered farther down the wharf. Even as I watched, a frigate appeared on the horizon as if out of thin air. Huh, a mirage spell must surround the island. Made sense.

  Besides the pirates unloading supplies, only a few kids hung around the ships bringing citrus fruit and other tasty treats to the sailors. For a price. A girl of about five or six walked toward me, holding up a woven tray with slices of coconut and winter mango. I hadn’t had either since I’d left the Hominus. I shook my head, patted my pouch. No dyparis. She smiled and came over.

  “That there big dragon fella told me to bring ye some food. He’s already paid me wages.” She lowered the tray next to me in the sand.

  “Thank you.” I smiled, and it felt strange. Like I hadn’t done that in a long, long time.

  “Yer quite welcome. We don’t often get visitors like ye.” She ran a toe through the sand before giving me a gap-toothed grin and then returning to the docks.

  I munched on the fruit, savoring its juices, remembering when I visited home and my grandmother would sneak me an extra helping. A simpler time. Pie and TP perked up when I offered them some of it. We finished all the food, and I laid back against the palm trunk, and let the breeze wash over me. My skin still felt too tight, and if I closed my eyes, my wound pulsed with a dull ache. Would I ever not feel it?

  After a while, Beckett broke away from her duties. She approached cautiously, like she didn’t know how I’d react. Had I been violent? I didn’t think so, but the last days blurred together in a pale haze.

  “Quinn?”

  “Yeah. I’m . . . here.”

  Beckett sighed, her whole body going lax, before she plopped down on the sand next to me and Trash Panda scampered up to her neck. “You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that. To say anything at all. We’ve all been so worried.”

  “I’m sorry.” I leaned against her shoulder. “I didn’t mean to upset anyone.”

  “Twig will be so relieved. You gave us a scare, but he’s been almost inconsolable when he couldn’t get you to respond.”

  I rubbed my temples. Why couldn’t I remember. “I didn’t?”

  “I should get him. He’ll want to see that you’re back.”

  I gripped her arm. “Not yet, please. I-I need to speak to you privately first.” When her eyes narrowed, I added, “Please, I’m tired. I should lie down.”

  Beckett hopped up and tugged me to my feet. She linked her arm through mine and guided me around numerous lodgings to a flimsy-looking hut. “Unfortunately, we’re a work in progress.” Beckett waved me inside. “I’m putting you in what we use as the medical quarters. It’s not fancy, but it’s large and will accommodate you, Twig, and Zak.”

  “I appreciate your doing this, Beckett.”

  “I wish I could do more.”

  “I know.” I sighed. I had to accept my nonmagical status. I’d lived most of my life without being able to access or even feel magic, so it should be the norm. But having magic lit a place in my soul I hadn’t realized existed. And now darkness returned.

  Not feeling Twig’s presence in my mind also left a deep-seated loneliness. I knew he still loved me. But it wasn’t the same. I couldn’t feel him, know where he stood in relation to me, or talk to him without words anymore.

  Rationally, I knew I mourned that connection and my change of life circumstances. Who wouldn’t?

  Give it time, he’d urged. Or at least I think he had. I scrubbed at my eyes. The last days were so foggy.

  We didn’t have time. He’d broken the Cairnsdaught Accord in spectacular fashion. Burned it to the ground. Literally. And taken out several witches and guards in the process. He’d have to answer to the Elder High Council and probably to the High Clans of the Draakonian. No excuse for breaking the accord. Auric Starfig might not even be able to protect him now. And procedures in the Draakonian Realm were less litigious, more final. He’d be forced to fight a full-sized dragon. A fight to the death.

  Unless . . .

  Unless I shielded him. I could do that much. I’d say I commanded him to break the accord as his wizard. As much as I tried not to use our wizard-familiar bond that way, in truth, I could command him when I really needed to. He hated it. So did I. But it might put the blame where it belonged. On my poor choices.

  “Pie, would you mind telling Twig, I’m getting settled?” No reason for Pie to warn Twig what I had planned.

  Pie eyed me suspiciously, before flying off in search of my dragon.

  I waited until I was sure he was out of hearing range.

  “There is one thing you could do, Beckett.” Yes, it could work. Had to work. “I’d like to sign on to your crew.”

  She choked. “Excuse me?”

  “I’d like to join your crew, if you’ll have me. I don’t have much experience, but I’m a quick study and—”

  “I didn’t know Twig wanted to be a pirate.”

  “I’m not talking about Twig. I’m talking about me.”

  “He’s your mate.” She looked scandalized.

  “He’s also in trouble. I plan to fix things, but I’ll either be jailed—not an option I’m comfortable with—or will be on the run. Since pirates know all about running from the law, I figured it would be a good place for me.”

  “And you think Twig will agree to this?”

  “I’ll handle him. He has too much to live for. He doesn’t deserve to be an outlaw because I screwed up.”

  “You didn’t do anything. Put the blame where it belongs—on the High Rei.” Beckett’s face became pinched. “I still can’t figure out how she severed your bond—”

  “Well, she did.” I waved a dismissive hand, trying to hold it together. This plan made sense. I’d think about what that meant for Twig and me later. Once he was safe. “Look, will you accept my application to join your crew or not? I can look for another ship, if need be, but I’d rather sail with you.”

  “And Zak?”

  I winced. Low blow. Should have known Beckett wouldn’t pull any punches.


  “Once I clear Twig’s name, he can take care of Zak.” I hadn’t mentioned that Zak would turn into a wizard in the near future. His secret to share or not. Twig would do his best to protect Zak, and I’d be willing to bet Auric would help. If for no other reason than self-interest. Zak would now be the only wizard in the last thousand years.

  “I still think you should return to the Elder, Quinn. You might find someone there who—”

  “I don’t intend to ever go back.”

  “This is news to me.” Twig ducked through the hut’s door.

  “Hi.” I swallowed, my heart aching at the sight of him. He wore a flowing tunic open in the front that showed off his powerful torso, his hair tied back in a rakish knot at the back of his neck. He looked every inch the sexy pirate and I felt like my eyes hadn’t feasted on him in years.

  “Hey.” He closed the distance and cupped my face in his hands, resting our foreheads together. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you, too.” I couldn’t hold back the words though I knew I should, because my next words wouldn’t be to his liking. I gripped his wrists and gently removed them from my face. Then I stepped back and again felt so incredibly alone.

  A low growl rose from his chest. “What’s going on, Quinn? You said we’re not going back?”

  “We are. But only so I can clear your name.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh? And how do you plan on doing this miraculous thing?”

  “I’ll say I commanded you to shift and attack.”

  Smoke curled from his nostrils. Beckett quickly excused herself, but I didn’t acknowledge her exit. I knew better than to take my eyes off a pissed off dragon.

  “So, you plan to lie.”

  I shrugged. “You wouldn’t be in this situation if I hadn’t rushed into danger.”

  He exhaled, smoke swirling along the rafters. “I broke the accord the moment I crossed back over and shifted. I couldn’t feel you, and when I tried to reach out, nothing happened. I knew something went wrong. So, I made the decision and shifted.”

  “Because I needed you.”