Page 76 of Fire of the Fox

“What do you mean?” My head was starting to hurt, and not just from the physical pain.

Akira rubbed my gauzed hand gently. “He’ll explain. Anyway, I think you were right to stand up for Dax. Sure, he’s absolute trash, but he didn’t need to die. Just a nice ass-beating.”

I raised my brows. I hadn’t expected a Land Fae to take a Water Fae’s side. “Even though he’s Water Fae?”

He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I think it’s a bad idea to generalize anyone, including Water Fae. To say all are bad and deserve to die is ignorant and spiteful. You’ll find I’m not big on the whole Land versus Water Fae feud. I don’t say anything around the others because they’ve been through a lot with the fighting. I can understand the guys’ sides, even if I don’t agree with it.”

Curious, I asked, “Why aren’t you against Water Fae like they are? You know, besides the whole generalizing is bad thing?”

His dark eyes lost some of their usual spark, and the edges of his mouth fell. He picked at nonexistent lint on his jeans. “Like the others, I lost someone important to me because of the feud. Only, the person I lost wasn’t Land Fae. He was Water Fae. We were forced to choose sides when the war began, and we both ignorantly sided with our own kind.” He gave a sad laugh, shaking his head. “I regret that every day.”

Coming back from the torture of a long-ago memory, he smiled again and patted my knee. He got to his feet and went to the door. “I’ll go get you pain medication.”

I wanted to ask who this someone was and if Akira was okay, but I knew better. Akira would tell me if and when he was ready.

“Okay. Thanks, Akira.”

His exit left me alone. I hated that this feud took so much from everyone I cared about. Rune’s father; Akira’s special someone. What was the point of it anymore? Did they even know at this point?

Too tired to think about heavy stuff, I looked around Rune’s room. My eyes traced the walls but paused on one thing in particular, something that hadn’t been here before. Gasping, my heart stopped. Across from the bed, hanging on the wall, was the painting I’d done of the fox and me. He’d hung it up in the middle of his room.

An absurd amount of joy took root in my chest. Rune loved the painting so much that he’d actually hung it up. It made me proud and happy to know he adored the picture. Even after the two months were over, a part of me hoped he’d keep the painting hung up. Even if we were no longer in touch, that painting would keep us connected in some small way.

Because let’s face it, there was a chance that once this was all said and done, we’d end up going our separate ways. I mean, would he really be willing to give up his cherished lifestyle of freedom to pursue whatever was happening between us? And would he want to when I left for Italy? Those were questions I didn’t have answers to right now, but I hoped to soon.

My eyes began to drift closed as the weight of everything hit me all over again. Before I could fall asleep, the sound of the doorknob turning made my eyes flicker open. I expected to see Akira coming in with the medicine, but instead, it was Rune.

He closed the bedroom door behind him and leaned against the frame, holding a glass of water. We watched each other in silence for a minute, and the fury still simmered in his eyes despite his return to human form. When he pushed away from the door, a muscle ticked in his jaw as he attempted to rein in those feelings. He didn’t say a word as he held out the glass of water, and he opened his other hand to offer the two pills.

My eyes found his again, and I tried to push myself up in bed. I winced and bit my lip at the aching protest in my arms and abdomen.

Rune, seeing my distress, set the glass of water on the nightstand and helped me sit up with gentle hands. His touch was so different from the heat in his eyes. He seemed so furious on the inside, but I knew it wasn’t directed at me. I think that was the only reason he was able to keep his composure.

Once I was sitting, I took a moment to get my breathing under control. The pain made me nauseated again, but the feeling subsided after I sat there for a moment. Rune held out the two pills and water again. I accepted the pain relievers with a mumbled thank you. When I was done swallowing the pills, Rune took the glass from me to set it back on the nightstand.

When his eyes found mine again in the dimly lit room, I couldn’t help but feel self-conscious. Because of the horrible way I must look, I suddenly didn’t want to meet his eyes out of fear that I’d see pity there. My eye was no doubt swollen and purple, and I imagined my cheek must be, too, from where Jonah punched me. My face throbbed as if his fist were still connected with my skin.

The bed sank down as he sat on the edge next to me. I glanced up at him, but he wasn’t looking at my face. His brow was furrowed, his mouth drawn in a tight line, as he stared down at my stomach. My breath fluttered as he pulled the comforter back from my lap. He grabbed the hem of my shirt and began to lift it up.

“What are you doing?” I asked in a breathless string of words as I gripped his wrists.

“Please,” he whispered. His eyes squeezed shut as his frown deepened. “Please let me see how bad it is.”

“Why? What good will knowing do, Rune?”

I didn’t know what kind of marks painted my skin, but if they looked anything like how they felt, it wasn’t going to be pretty. I didn’t want those images in his mind.

“Because I’ll know how much pain to return to Jonah.” His golden eyes were charged with loathing as they met mine. “I will return what he did to you tenfold and then some. Please, show me how he hurt you.”

I swallowed hard and finally relented. Releasing his hands, I held my breath as he slowly pulled up the shirt. When my stomach was exposed, he froze. My eyes were glued to his face, but he was focused solely on my abdomen. His face fell. I glanced down. Large purple bruises covered my stomach and ribs in an ugly pattern. The pain behind each mark was impossible to ignore.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?” Rune asked carefully.

“I’m sure,” I insisted. “I don’t want to deal with all the questions or prodding and poking. Akira has me covered.”

Rune sighed and mumbled, “So damn stubborn.”

Rune reached for me then, and I instinctively closed my eyes as if that would protect me from the hurt his touch would invoke. No pain came, though. The tips of his fingers danced across the skin of my stomach in feather light touches. It was warm and soothing, and the sensation stilled the air moving in my lungs. It amazed me that someone’s touch could be so gentle.

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