I gasped and screamed my head off as I was being lifted in midair as the winged tiger ascended higher and higher.
Oh Lord! He wouldn't dare drop me and let me fall to my death, would he?
I felt the arm tighten around me, and then I was being roughly pulled up.
Puff! I was dumped on a lap, my face buried in the massiveness of a hard chest. A muscular arm tightened around me as the warmth of the man's body enveloped me, along with a wonderful woody, refreshing scent.
I held on to the man tightly as we flew across the sky, and soon we descended toward a hill in the distance.
Like Felix's winged lion, this winged tiger landed gently and lightly. Once on the ground, the master got down from the beast. Then he guided me onto the ground as well.
Standing in front of the man, my heart racing, I dreaded the moment I had to look at his face. Is he a friend or is he a foe? God, I didn't know, and I didn't want to find out.
But find out I must, and I forced my gaze to his face.
The moment my eye caught his, I sighed in relief.
He wore a mask not unlike Felix's or Caleb's, which to me was a good sign. I didn't know why it was a good sign, but I felt it in my gut that it was.
The man in front of me wore a mask that covered the upper half of his face and showed only his emerald-green eyes, Roman nose, sensual lips, and strong jawline.
This close to him, and with the military contact lenses on, I noted for the first time that the unique mask had tiny, intricate signs and symbols, along with gold-colored script written in a language I had never seen before.
Shifting my gaze away from the man and feeling suddenly self-conscious, I moistened my lips. Then with trembling voice, I asked weakly, "Are... are you Felix's friend?"
The man cocked his head to one side as his emerald-green eyes scrutinized me intensely. "So... you must be Alfie."
He knows my name! That must mean that he was a friend of Felix's, right? Was he from the camp, too? But I had never seen him before.
I nodded my head furiously. "Yes, I'm Alfie." Then I asked again, "And you're Felix's friend?"
He gave a slight nod of his blond head. "Hm."
I sighed in relief, and because I couldn't help myself, tears started brewing in my eyes.
He must have noticed because he cupped my face gently and wiped my tears with his thumbs.
He said, "It looks like you've been through a lot, haven't you, love?"
Love? Did he just call me love? Come to think of it, Felix had called me darling. I was right, then. The people in this realm used endearing words in the strangest way.
I licked my lower lip. Instantly, I felt his gaze lingering hot on my flesh there. Feeling suddenly nervous, I tried to draw his attention away from my lips by asking, "What about Aria and Brenna? Have they been rescued yet? Are they saved?"
He finally shifted his gaze to look me in the eyes and said, "We're working on that right now."
"We have to rescue them quickly," I said urgently, my fingers tight and gripping his garment as if begging him. "They're in danger. That prince, he looks dangerous, and... What if he ordered his men to kill everyone?"
"Prince?" he asked, his eyes narrowed dangerously.
I nodded my head. "One of his men referred to him as Your Highness. I assume he's a prince or of royal blood of some sort."
"I see," he said. Suddenly, he changed the topic. "Alfie, before we return, I need to cast a spell on you."
I cocked my head to one side, confused. "Cast a spell on me? Why? What for?"
He said, "Aria told me about you and your pure qi."
I nodded in understanding. "Yes? But it's very weak. It's almost nonexistent."
"Regardless if it's weak or strong, the fact remains that you still have pure qi in you. Do you understand that it's imperative you must be protected?" he asked.
I slowly nodded my head. "I do know that my pure qi attracts those with dark qi and that they can attack me."
He smiled, and his emerald-green eyes glinted wickedly, along with that one-sided smile of his that I found rather fascinating.
"Yes, that's right. Do you understand that there are many of us in this realm who have dark qi?"
I started shaking my head, but because of the intense look in his eyes, I decided to nod instead.
I said weakly, "Yes, I understand."
Many. He said that there were many of them who had dark qi in this realm. Could that mean that I was likely in more danger than I had previously realized?