"Hello, Otis," I whispered. "Did you miss your annoying girlfriend?"
His red eyes returned to lock upon mine, and then we were kissing desperately while his hands greedily roamed along my body. He couldn't speak until our lungs begged for a break, our break in the kiss leaving us breathless before he whispered, "I swear to fucking God, you scared me."
"You don't get scared often," I teased before hugging him. "Sorry. Everything...kinda happened far too fast."
He noticed the tremble in my voice, and his possessive arms held me tighter.
"We'll talk about it when you're ready to share. Don't you dare hesitate, all right?"
I nodded into his shoulder, hugging him even tighter to show just how much those words meant to me.
"I missed you," he finally whispered.
"Feels good to be around you guys again."
We pulled back to share a look of longing, and I noticed how his eyes drifted to my neck.
"Thirsty?"
"Not now," he whispered, but leaned in to brush his lips against that very spot on my neck that he'd bitten last time. I shivered at the touch, fighting not to moan. "Later when you're rested, and we figure out what's going on."
"So is it my turn?"
My movement was fast, stopping Adonis's pesky nails from attempting to cut the strap of my bra that was showing from the back of my dress. I slowly looked behind me, giving him a judgmental look while he appeared extremely impressed.
"Sweet mother of all things, our Cassandra is as fast as a vampire!" He looked so proud as I lowered my gaze to his nails once more.
"Before we kiss and you try again to rip my magically made lingerie that has done nothing wrong to deserve being destroyed by these pesky nails, you gotta tell me what possessed you to get neon pink nails," I questioned.
"I was depressed and missed you, which doesn't help when it comes to song writing, so I decided to go to the nail salon to get my nails redone and the lady said neon pink would cheer me up."
"Did it?"
"Nope." His smirk was priceless as he hugged me from behind and kissed me deeply. "But I feel a little better now that our princess is back in our possession."
"I feel honored to be an object of interest," I purred against his lips before he closed the gap to captivate me in the pleasurable soft movements of his catering lips.
"Welcome back, Cass," he whispered. "I missed you, too."
"Missed you even more than Otis," I teased and felt the scowling force of Otis's eyes, which made me giggle before I looked over to see my assumption was accurate.
"Uh, the fae pixie is crying," Tristan commented.
"My princess is missing!" Marigold cried.
Can't she sense me?
"Your lovers took secret precautions to cloak our presence. Good idea, but it's best we begin to move. Approaching enemies, though they're nothing to worry about unless you want to rage in a battle and ignite reinforcements."
Don't want that.
"Quil said people are approaching," I announced.
"Who's Quil?" Adonis and Otis questioned in unison, the response making me grin.
I missed their unified responses.
"Quil-Zu is my dragon," I announced and pulled out of Adonis's embrace. Grabbing his and Otis's hands, the three of us walked out of the bushes, which caught Marigold's attention.
"Princess Cassandra!" She beamed and rushed over to slap herself against my cheek, hugging me like I'd vanished for days.
"And this is Marigold Cyldrirth."
"Cyldrirth?!" all four of them gasped at the surname.
Marigold unlatched herself from me and bowed. "My name is Marigold! I'm Princess Cassandra's fae pixie guide. You heard correctly! She's the Princess of Cyldrirth!"
"I guess you guys know my family history better than I do,” I announced.
Tristan was going to speak but his eyes suddenly darkened and darted to the left. "We have approaching company."
"Uh oh." Marigold flew over to rest on my shoulder, her tiny hands reaching out to grasp my ears as she whispered, "Princess Cassandra. We shouldn't fight. You're not in the proper condition to battle."
Right. I guess it would be smart to sleep for a bit before testing the waters.
"A little deceit can go a long way," Quil suggested. "You do enjoy the common game of Hide and Seek."
Good point.
"Dominick. Tristan. Come over here." I kept my voice low as I summoned the two. They both nodded and gathered at my spot, while Adonis and Otis remained by my side protectively.
I didn't feel the slightest bit of danger, even though the mass of individuals seemed to number at least twenty, if I was going to estimate based on energy signals.
Without a second thought, the thrumming magic that was begging for some sort of release finally found its moment of glory as it surged to my fingertips.
The trees shivered as a strong gust of wind passed by us and lifted various leaves upward.
"What's with the wind?" a foreign voice snapped.
"It's common when we near the edge of the island. Why can't we just report back that the prisoner is dead?"
"I can't believe we're putting out the effort for a measly human. There's no way she survived Level Four. Her bones are surely slathered all over the entrance."
"As if anyone is going down there to prove the obvious."
My magic continued to work through the plan I was swiftly pursuing, the leaves beginning to rain down before us, growing bigger while the branches along the trees spread further out.
Vines poked from the earthy ground, soaring to intertwine with the leaves and branches. By the time the group of guards came out from the shadows, we were fully covered by the wall of vines, leaves, and branches that sprouted tiny bits of purple flowers, glinting slightly in the moonlight.
Arms hooked around my waist, my body relaxing against the familiar and comforting hold of Dominick.
"Smart," he muttered quietly into my ear. His praise made my heart flutter in joy, and we continued to watch the guards look around in wonder.
"Oh fuck. Don't go near those flowers!" a guard ordered, causing the rest of them to freeze in place at his command.
"Why?" one of them questioned, trying to get closer.
"Idiot! They're poisonous!" The one that revealed their dangerous function quickly caught the guard before he could get any closer. "One more step and they’ll spew out a purple mist that can travel miles. One whiff and you're a dead man walking. Don't know about you but I ain't dying over trying to get a raise."
"This is ridiculous. Let's head back already. She's clearly dead."
"Well, they can't complain that we didn't try. Further down only leads to a dead-end, and further east is the end of the river, which we already checked. Let's head back and report."
"Thank God!"
"Finally."
"What a waste of time. Could have been home ages ago."
They began to turn around, and I caught onto their continued conversation.
"I can't believe Omarion threw the poor prisoner onto Level Four."