Through the Ether (Force of Nature Book 5) - Amber Lynn Natusch Page 0,54

railing. I turned to face our army, taking a moment to meet each one of their stares, as I’d seen Merc and Knox do many times before. To instill confidence in those I led. To be the leader they needed me to be.

Then I turned my attention to the infinite swirling darkness below and jumped.

As I fell, I looked back to see the others trailing in my wake like a cluster of asteroids falling from space. I felt the strange resistance of the veil as I passed into the Ether, and I scrambled to try to get my feet beneath me. I failed miserably, my flailing limbs unable to right myself, but it didn’t matter. Before I crashed into the hard-packed ground, something plucked me from the air. Instead of a bone-jarring landing, two strong arms pulled me into a bone-breaking hug.

Not a huge improvement.

“Grizz!” I screamed, hugging him back just as hard. “I missed you so much!” The pain of his absence roared to life again, and it was all I could not to break down right there. And given the way he wouldn’t let me go, I couldn’t help but think that he felt the same.

But now wasn’t the time for that.

“Okay, big guy,” I wheezed as he crushed me to him. “I need air.”

The man-bear huffed as the others began to appear—each one managing to land upright in a way I never could—but he clearly had no intention of letting me go anytime soon. His ward had been taken from him, and the stress that had caused was apparent in the way he sheltered me; in the way his cheek pressed to the top of my head. In the way he growled at Merc and Knox as they came over to check on me.

Grizz was in no mood to share, apparently—at least until he saw Kat drop down. He pulled her into our hug, smooshing us all together, much to her delight.

“I missed you, too, you furry bastard.”

While my guardian held me, more wolves, witches, enforcers, and warlocks dropped into the Ether; reinforcements for the battle to come. With each one’s arrival, my sense of confidence grew. Maybe we could pull off this ridiculous plan.

Maybe we could rid the world of the fey royals yet.

Bea’s voice drew my attention, and I turned to see her run to her brother, arms open wide. He caught her in a hug and held her like a man reunited with someone he’d treasured and lost—because that was exactly what he was. The coven queen stood nearby, an unreadable expression on her face as she watched her children: one beloved, one estranged. Then Bea pulled away from Kingston to greet her mother in a far more restrained manner, bowing slightly to her leader.

The coven queen caught her chin lightly and raised her face. “We have missed you,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. Then she pulled her close and hugged her, just as her son had done. I smiled at the sight until an errant and panicked thought ripped through my mind.

I turned back to the man-bear. “Grizz! Is Liam here?” He pinned me in place with a curious stare, one that showed he most definitely had no idea what I was talking about. My heart sank immediately.

Then a voice from nowhere nearly made it stop.

“I see my leverage was well chosen,” Etherian said, his voice taking the newcomers by surprise. I watched them search the area for its owner, to no avail.

Ignoring his dig, I got down to business. “Should we figure out how we’re going to do this once everyone has arrived?”

“I see you succeeded in scavenging an army.” There was something hidden just beneath his tone that set me on edge. A warning? A thinly-veiled eruption waiting to blow? “Tell me something, Piper…where is the body you promised me?” My eyes darted to Reinhardt, who shook his head once. “We had a deal, you see. I have kept up my side of the bargain. I expect that you’ve done the same.”

“That was the plan,” I said, doing all I could to sound as confident as Merc and Knox did when negotiating, “but a problem arose as we worked out the logistics.”

“A problem?” he asked as his voice circled me like an angry predator.

“We can’t use your body,” I said, bracing myself for his anger.

“And we need power that we do not have,” Merc said as he stepped to my side. “There is no way to get it until