Page 68 of Fire of the Fox

Before I could respond, he pried my fingers off his shoulders. I watched in horror as he pushed me backward. I went to grab onto his hands or shirt or anywhere that I could before I fell, but he stepped out of my reach at the last minute.

The edge went out from under me, and I plummeted toward the cold, turbulent water.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I FELL BACKWARD, the security of the railing rushing away from me. Cold wind whipped at my skin as the water rose up to meet me. Panic seized my heart, and I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to block out the inevitable smack of the hard waves crashing against the side of the boat.

Before the crash could come, two hands wrapped around my waist. They jerked me upward, and my eyes shot open. Whipping my head up to see what had ceased my fall, I marveled at the sight of Akira in his Fae form. He held onto me while his large wings beat the air. He flapped them hard, taking us up higher. He looked down at me with his dark eyes, and his hair whipped around in the wind.

Relief flooded me. I had never been happier to see him.

When he made it over the deck of the boat, he hovered a moment before carefully descending. My body shook from both the chill and the adrenaline that coursed through me.

Rune approached us as Akira brought us lower. When I was within reach, Rune grabbed me around the waist. Akira released his hold on me, so Rune lowered me the rest of the way. As soon as my feet touched the ground, my knees gave out. They were like pure jelly, and I couldn’t force myself to stand. Rune wrapped his arms tight around me, holding me to him.

I clutched onto the front of Rune’s shirt with my head buried in his chest. My body wouldn’t stop shaking, and my breathing came out hard and erratic. I wanted to shove him away and scream in his face for what he did, but he was the only thing holding me up at the moment.

“I’m sorry for doing that to you,” Rune said, his voice quiet and gentle. “I know that scared you, but we needed to know if you were Water Fae, yeah? I couldn’t give you any warning for what I was planning, because we wanted to get a genuine reaction from you.”

Akira stepped closer to me and explained, “Fae powers are tied to our emotions, especially when we’re first learning how to control our abilities. If you were Water Fae, the fear of plunging down would have scared you into manipulating the water to cease your fall. You would’ve involuntarily controlled the water to aid you.”

Shaking my head, I fisted Rune’s shirt tighter. “I told you I wasn’t Water Fae. I hope you believe me now.”

“I know,” Rune said gently. His cheek rested on the top of my head, and he rubbed my back, trying to soothe me. “That’s why I secretly had Akira at the ready. To catch you if you were truly human.”

I looked over at Akira, who smiled apologetically. Seeing his completely black eyes didn’t help to settle me, so I buried my face in Rune’s chest again. I focused on the warmth he gave off and the feel of his arms around me. I was still mad at him and a little on edge since he had pushed me off, but his closeness managed to mollify me somehow.

“Akira,” Rune said. “I think you’re good to go now.”

I glanced at Akira as he smiled and nodded.

“You two enjoy your date. I hope you got the answers you wanted, Bria, and please don’t be mad at me. I never would’ve let you hit the water.”

A burst of black feathers shot out around Akira. When they cleared, a raven flew where he had been standing. He hovered there for a moment before flying off in the direction that we had come. That left Rune and me alone once more. He didn’t let go but kept his hold on me and rocked me gently side to side until I finally stopped shaking.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I nodded, not able to find my voice yet, so he leaned back some. Shaking my head, I took a deep, steadying breath. “I understand why you did what you did, but I still wish you’d done it a different way.”

He sighed, his face pinched in what looked like pain. “I know. I’m sorry. The only other way to test you would’ve been to physically hurt you somehow. If you healed quickly, that would’ve meant you were Fae. I didn’t want to go that route, so I went with my Plan B.”

I mentally pictured Rune taking the knife on the table and slicing open my skin to see if it would stitch back together. Swallowing down the nausea, I glanced at my wine glass. “I think I’m gonna go finish that drink now.”

He laughed and followed me back to the table. I sank down into the chair and reached for my glass of wine, taking small sips of the sweet drink. He got out two breadsticks from the basket and offered one to me, which I gladly took. All the adrenaline left me feeling hungry.

“The food should be out soon,” Rune said, watching me with careful amber eyes.

I swallowed the bite I’d just taken and looked around for something to say that was easy. While the test had proven Jonah couldn’t be after me for being Fae, it had also been a jarring moment. My nerves were shot, and I craved a simple topic now, one that didn’t make my heart thunder with anxiety, fear, and worry. I wanted to start a conversation to distract myself from the event that had taken place.

Waving my hand about us, I asked, “How did you get the money for all of this?”

“A lot of Fae end up quite wealthy since we live far longer than humans. In fact, you’ll notice that the wealthiest of people are Fae, not human.”

“Really?” I asked, tearing off another bite of bread. “Like who?”

He winked, a playful smirk tugging at his mouth. “Sorry. I can’t tell you. It’s secret information that only fellow Fae can know.”

I faked a pout. “Stingy.” I took another sip of wine and peeked at him over the glass. “How do you update your legal stuff since you don’t age like humans? You know, IDs, birth certificates, college transcripts, things like that.”

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