Page 33 of Fire of the Fox

Akira stood in front of me with his hands on his hips. “She’s not a pathetic human. She’s your girlfriend for the next two months, so you’d better start playing nice.”

My eyes went wide. I was about to argue against him and explain that I wasn’t going to do it anymore, but Rune beat me to it.

“That plan is off now. I can’t take a human to my house. She isn’t Land Fae. Everyone will know she’s human. Plus, I don’t want to spend any more time with her now that I know the truth.”

I tapped Akira’s arm. He looked at me, his dark bangs falling into his solid black eyes.

I swallowed hard and whispered, “I don’t want to go anymore, either. This is all a bit much for me, and plus, if his family is anything like him …” I glanced at Rune again.

He narrowed his eyes at me.

Looking back at Akira, I finished, “… I really don’t want to go.”

Akira threw his hands in my direction and yelled at Rune, “Look what you’ve done. You’ve scared her. Now she’s going to think that Land Fae are scary, evil creatures. She won’t trust any of us anymore, and it’s all your fault. Apologize!”

The cool temperature from the glass of water settled my nerves while they bickered. Passing a look around the group, I asked, “Can you explain what you guys are again? Maybe a bit slower this time?”

Akira sat down on his knees in front of me as he said, “Of course. Sorry about that. So, we’re all Land Fae, which are magical beings from the land. There are Fae for almost everything, but the two largest classes are Land Fae and Water Fae, which are made up of animals, plants, and, of course, water. That being said, Land Fae and Water Fae don’t get along, to put it nicely, so unless you have specific questions about Water Fae, I’d rather not talk about them. Is that okay?”

I nodded. I needed to focus on one thing at a time. Land Fae. I needed to know about what was right in front of me.

“Great! So, Animal Fae make up the majority of Land Fae. You, of course, already know what kind of animals we are. Raven, Liger, Fox, and Salamander.”

“Northern Two-Lined Salamander,” Marlow threw in quietly.

Akira shot him a quick look before turning back to me with forced patience. “Northern Two-Lined Salamander. Right.” He cleared his throat. “We aren’t really something you would’ve heard too much about. Not exactly. There are certain countries and cultures with myths and legends about our kind. They have different names for us and are mistaken about certain aspects of who we are, but it’s still interesting to see humans try to figure us out.”

A small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth, and I tried not to let on how lost I was. Good Lord, was anything going to be normal after all of this? Probably not. I was most likely going to end up in that psych ward I’d envisioned.

“I know this is pretty hard to believe, but it’s all true,” Akira started. “We each have special abilities, some of which you’ve seen. As you can probably guess, the ability of Fox Fae, along with any Fae belonging to the canine family, is fire. They can control everything about it, including what they want it to actually burn, hence the reason our house is not ablaze right now.” Akira glanced at Rune with an accusatory look.

I couldn’t help but toss a pointed look at Rune, too.

Akira turned back to me and continued, “My ability as a Raven is the creation and manipulation of wind. I attempted to knock Rune down as punishment for being a dick, but as you saw, he deflected it easily. Fox Fae are among the strongest of our kind, especially in regard to will and intelligence.”

“They’re also full of themselves because their skill goes straight to their egos,” Bassel mumbled.

Rune’s glare shot daggers at his friend. “I heard that.”

Bassel laughed and flipped him off.

Rune sneered at Bassel, exposing his fangs.

Marlow giggled and clapped as he said, “I love it when you two fight. Show me more of your fangs!”

Akira shook his head as he mumbled, “Salamander Fae, along with other smaller amphibians, are extremely weird. They don’t interact with humans at all, which is one of the reasons they’re so bizarre. Sometimes you have to ignore Marlow. He can be a creep without meaning to be.”

Marlow leaned forward eagerly, rubbing his finger over the gold patches on his arms. They shimmered beneath his touch as he asked, “Would you like to see what I can do?”

I didn’t have time to respond. He raised his finger, and at the same moment, the water in my glass rose into the air and spun above me. Mesmerized, my eyes were glued to the shimmering liquid. It danced in the air, rising high and dipping low, whisking around in a circle. I could’ve watched the way it moved all day, but he sadly lowered the water back down into my glass.

My eyes widened in wonder. “That was amazing, Marlow!”

His eyes sparkled. “You think so? It isn’t much. Sadly, Northern Two-Lined Salamander Fae can’t manipulate a lot of water because we’re from the land. Water Fae are Fae who are literally water or live within water. I can maybe control the amount of water that would fill a bathtub, but that’s pretty much it. That’s one of my personal reasons for hating Water Fae. They can control huge bodies of water. It isn’t fair!”

Marlow crossed his arms over his chest as he began to pout.

Bassel stood up and approached Marlow to pat him on the back. He gave him an understanding nod. “I know, buddy. It sucks. But we all hate them, so it’s okay.”

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