Page 52 of Fire of the Fox

Rune hung his head, and his eyes slipped closed as his shoulders slumped with his next words. “She was the only prisoner. Her husband of two centuries was killed during the Dove Fae village raid. Mei had been pregnant at the time. She was supposed to have a daughter, but due to all she’d endured when the captain held her, she miscarried. The grief was too much for her without her husband and child. She ended her own life.”

My stomach churned. What a nightmarish and heartbreaking tale. Only it wasn’t a tale for Rune. It was real life. It was a real occurrence he’d lived and witnessed, a real friend he’d lost. That fact made my next inhale hard to take.

So much pain. So many innocent lives lost. So much devastation.

Those wounds clearly ran deep for Rune, and even though his story was hard to listen to, it really helped me to understand him a little more. He had painful memories and a dark past. He had a good group of friends now and seemed to be in a better place, but that didn’t change all he’d gone through to get to this point. No wonder he sometimes got frustrated, easily angered, and overprotective. It was from years of seeing people he cared about killed and abused by Water Fae.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. His golden eyes drifted to mine, and when they did, I saw the misery. I saw the burden, rage, and suffering that he always kept locked away. He was letting me see this side of him, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. But it also made my stomach sour. I wanted to wipe away that pain. I wanted to hold him close and reassure him that everything was going to be okay. He didn’t have to hurt anymore. He didn’t have to go through it alone anymore.

“I’m so sorry, Rune. I can’t imagine all you’ve been through. I know it’s not much, but if you ever need to just talk, I’m here to listen.”

In an instant, the mask he always wore was back in place, and all the long ago memories were tucked away. Any trace of vulnerability was gone.

The corners of his mouth lifted a fraction. “Thank you. Enough talking now. We have some fighting to get back to.”

I glanced over at the discarded focus mitts and gloves. My heart fell with a different kind of dread as I sighed. “Yippee.”

After two weeks of classes followed by working out at the gym and then sparring, I was completely beat. My entire body felt like it had been shoved in a grinder and beaten to death. The flaring pain and muscle soreness was finally tolerable, but it still sucked when I started working out new muscles.

That being said, the time with Rune was interesting to say the least. We were both learning each other’s quirks and personalities more and more each day. He loved to tease me every chance he got, and I worked to one-up him with as many retorts as I could. He got under my skin, and I got under his, but I also liked to think both of us were secretly enjoying the other’s company.

When we weren’t doing weights or throwing punches and kicks, we were spread out on the mats, side by side, just talking, although it wasn’t ever as heavy as when Rune told me about his first experience with battle. Instead, it was random stuff.

We talked about how shell macaroni was a thousand times better than the noodle version. We also argued over which bending ability was best from Avatar: The Last Airbender. He, of course, said fire, and I was a hard supporter of water benders, though we both agreed it would be cool to be the Avatar.

While we worked out and trained, I still found myself second-guessing my ability to get better or to keep going. Every single time, Rune stayed patient with me. He pushed and encouraged me, always expressing that he believed in me.

Today was the first day in over two weeks that I hadn’t seen Rune to train. He thought I deserved a break since it was Saturday, plus I needed to do some major butt-whooping on my homework. It was odd not seeing him. I had grown so used to his company.

Seeking some solitude from the hustle and bustle of campus, I spread out a blanket by the creek bed behind the campus property. It was the perfect place to get some work done, and a large part of me hoped I’d run into my fox again. My backpack sat next to me, spilling its contents out over the blanket, and I had my Art History textbook pulled into my lap as I stole glances around the trees for him.

Biting down on a carrot from the snacks I’d brought, I mumbled, “Trying to kick Rune’s ass is way more fun than this.”

Jotting down a note from the text, I froze. An eerie feeling crept over me, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood. It was the sort of feeling you get when you know someone’s watching you. Peeking up without trying to make obvious movements, I scanned the trees surrounding me. Shadows lingered in certain spots, and I held my breath, waiting for signs of lurking life. To my right, the shadows along the tree line seemed thicker and foreboding. My eyes were glued to the darkness between them, and for a split second, I could’ve sworn I saw movement mixed into the blackness.

A twig snapped to my left. Whipping my head around, my heart leapt into my throat as I prepared for some sort of attack. When my eyes met his, I instantly felt silly. Standing a small distance away was the Silver Fox, and he watched me with those friendly gold eyes.

Letting out the breath I’d been holding, I willed my heart to calm down. “Oh, it must’ve been you I felt. Hi again.”

The fox took a small step backward as if he were scared of me.

Frowning, I held my hand out. “Wait! Please don’t go. You’re Fae, aren’t you?”

The fox watched me, and slowly, he dipped his head in a nod. My emotions skyrocketed as he washed away any lingering doubt.

“I thought so. I’m actually—” I paused.

Rune said this fox, whoever he was, would be at his birthday party. I’d already confided in him about things that wouldn’t line up with our story, so I wasn’t completely sure how to go about interacting with him. With no way of knowing what this fox knew about the situation, I decided to play it safe and go along with the ruse. I could answer the hard questions about my behavior from before later.

“I’m Rune’s girlfriend.”

Guilt pricked at me. I didn’t like lying to him, but I had no choice. I had a job to do, and a trip to Italy that relied on me doing it well, so even though lying to the fox didn’t feel right, it was a necessary pain.

I turned to set aside my textbook and veggies, and when I faced him again, I nearly jumped out of my skin. The fox had made his way over to me and was sitting directly by my side now. “You startled me. You moved so quietly.”

He stared up at me, tilting his head slightly.

Raising an eyebrow, I bit the corner of my lip. “You know, you could transform into your human form. Then we could actually talk, and you could tell me your name since Rune won’t.”

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