“I have an idea,” I whisper, and Arin jerks his face to look at me, nearly tripping.

“Aria—”

“Hey, my ideas are great!” I say, kinda peeved at the doubt and hesitation in his voice.

“Your first thought after finding out there was another world was to go to the other world and find out what was happening.”

I huff and puff a little, trying to get enough air to refute that… and then close my mouth. It’s annoying that he’s so in shape he’s not at all out of breathe… and that he made a good point I can’t refute.

“Ya know how they’re trying to box us?”

“Us?” Arin asks, glancing behind us.

I give him an innocent grin, trying not to laugh at the accusation on his face. “Yeah, they’re behind us too. But I have a plan.”

“Are you going to get us all killed?”

“Hey, that hurts!”

His grin softens his teasing. “Do it, Mau Tigress. I trust you.”

His trust makes my heart soar… even as I realize I didn’t need it.

I’ve come through Sixth and back, through fires no one else will ever know, and now when I look at a regular fire… I smile.

There’s nothing I can face greater than what I’ve already come through. Not only that, I have come through it and grown stronger. With each task, with each trial, with each heart-rending moment in time… I have grown.

I’m not the little, terrified girl who watched her father leave the house.

I’m not the young lady who patrolled the streets and yanked the chains of criminals with my wolf until they bowed.

I am a woman who knows where her worth lay, what her purpose is, and that she is given everything she needs to accomplish it.

And there’s a power in that which should make all my enemies flee.

My skin begins to glow, my heart picking up speed, not in fear, but excitement. I know what I’m doing. I know why I’m here. And it’s time to kick some La’Maciago arse.

Be with me, My King? Help us?

Always, my dear child. You are ready. The pride in his voice makes me smile, and my soul sings as I connect with threads all around, inviting them to me, inviting them to connect. Some shy from me, but many of those at my back and many curious creatures of the forest heed my cry.

“We fight! Join us,” I say simply, sending the feel of the abominations to the animals of the ground and the creatures of land and sky.

People behind me gasp, jointing with my thread in a moment of blissful harmony, and then I break off, and feel my legs falter beneath me.

Someone is behind me to scoop me up before I fall, and I glance up to see a tic in Silver’s jaw. I smile, leaning my head against his chest and hearing the rapid beat of his heart. “Thanks,” I whisper, sucking in deep lungfuls of air and trying to stop feeling the cold seep into my soul. It’s better, but heck, that was harder than I expected.

He glances down, his eyes cold, but they soften to reveal the fear held within. “Please don’t do that again?” he asks, voice soft.

I lay a hand on his heart, treasuring the feel of his gentle yet powerful hold. “Arin—”

“I know,” he says, looking down with a wry half-smile. “Just… please try. Try to always come back to me. I love you, my one, my heart, my tiger. Please, don’t leave me.”

The bare hurt in his voice strikes me to the core and I know part of this is because I forced him to leave me to Darshius’ daughter. “I promise,” I whisper. “So long as you promise the same.”

His lips quirk in that smirk I love that reveals a dimple. “I’m not the one always getting kidnapped and nearly killed.”

I open my mouth to refute it… but then close it. “True,” I admit, ducking my head.

Then I feel what’s ahead. “Let me down, we’re almost there.”

He holds up a hand and all stop. He sets me on me feet, keeping an arm around my shoulders as I regain my balance. We can see the light up ahead, hear the gut-wrenching sounds of death, mayhem, and terror.

“They’ve reached them. We must drive through and leave a tantalizing morsel for them to come for,” I say.

We spoke of drawing them in to begin with, but they were too far for the other empaths to reach (apparently my vast and powerful Gift is so beyond the other Empaths it left them flabbergasted I could reach the entire city. Yay me.) and when they tried explaining what I needed to do… it was like explaining portals to a commoner who didn’t believe in other worlds. It went way over my head and entered a portal onto another world.

So we were forced to drive them out. But now we’re close. We can draw them in, and although plans A, B, and C are on fire, we have a man dripping with water to put them out.

“Ash!” I say, and he comes forward, his eyes flashing with something I can’t name.

“Drive us a hole through them!” I shout, pointing.

He rubs his hands together, pulling them apart to revel an orb. “With pleasure.”

He pushes the orb forward and it slides through the creatures, tossing them aside as if they were rabbits. He wobbles when he ceases, and the creatures turn back with hisses, even as they are bombarded from the other side.

The mage who sees in the dark steps forward. “Close your eyes!” she yells.

I raise my brows, about to question, then squeak as Silver shoves me into his chest, nearly suffocating me. I struggle until a bright light I can see even through Silver’s chest makes me squeak again, to Silver’s rumbling chuckle. “I’ll take any excuse to hold you, Mau Tigress.”

His rumbling voice in my ear does weird things to my body and makes my brain stutter… when I should be thinking of battle and plans and saving lives!

I never knew Silver could be such a daggum flirt!

“Now’s not the stinkin’ time, you bugger!” I shout.

“Fairies!” Silver says, pointing, still holding me in his arms. I turn to follow the flying orbs trajectory. They fly forward, using the distraction to create a tunnel through the creatures directly to the other side… and the other mages, thank goodness.

“Now is the perfect time, for who knows if there will be a later?” he whispers in my ear, his breath tickling my cheek.

I roll my eyes at his teasing, pushing away. I draw two blades. “Try not to die and you may get a gift.”

He joins me in the forward jog, Robin and Xonier behind me while the two guild leaders are behind Silver.

“What kind of gift?” Silver asks, his voice purring with pleasure.

I send him a coy smile, my cheeks burning at my daring. But this is Silver. I feel… comfortable with him, even in the middle of battle. Perhaps especially in the middle of battle.

“Live and find out,” I say.

He throws his head back and laughs, a sound which draws a broad, uncontrollable grin to my face, and then we enter the ring of creatures not held back by the tunnel the fairies made.