Page 80 of Fire of the Fox

Bassel laughed, ruffling my hair with his large hand.

A sweet aroma began to fill the air. I inhaled its sugary scent, and my mouth instantly watered. It was the sweet mixture of baking cinnamon rolls and brewing coffee.

Bassel smelled it, too, because he looked at Marlow and asked, “Who’s cooking?”

Marlow crossed his eyes, which I was starting to realize he did often when speaking. “Rune.”

Bassel scoffed. “Yeah right! Rune never cooks.”

At that exact moment, Rune came down the short hallway from the kitchen. My breath caught when I saw him. He must not have been awake long because he was shirtless, giving us a delicious view of his toned stomach, chest, and arms. He was still in his Fae form like the night before, and I was beginning to gather that perhaps they all slept in that form. Those incredible, golden eyes found mine, and he walked toward me, carrying a tray that held a plate of cinnamon rolls, two cups of coffee, and a glass of water.

Rune bared his canines at Bassel and growled.

Bassel, in turn, held up his hands in surrender and said, “Calm down there, Fox. I’ll move.”

Bassel relocated to the couch. Rune, looking appeased, carefully lowered the tray onto my lap, after making sure the weight wasn’t too much for my bruises. A mound of cinnamon rolls stared up at me from the plate. My stomach growled at their delicious smell, which paired nicely with the coffee. Rune had done this for me? I was overwhelmed by the thought he’d put into this. Little things like this made it hard not to fall in love with him.

I thanked him as he sat beside me. He looked at his two friends, then gestured toward the kitchen. “There’s more in there if you’re hungry.”

Marlow immediately jumped up after hearing the news that breakfast awaited him.

Bassel sat there for another moment, grinning knowingly at Rune. “What? Aren’t you gonna bring it on a tray for all of us?”

Rune returned the look with a snarky smile of his own. Suddenly, the end of Bassel’s tail caught fire. Bassel’s eyes widened in alarm, and he roared as he jumped up in a panic. Before he could make any move to put out the fire, Rune had already extinguished it. He laughed as Bassel turned to glare at him.

Tension rolled off Bassel, which made Rune chuckle. A fight was sure to ensue, so I was more than grateful when Akira came into the room. He was in his Fae form like everyone else, and his black eyes darted back and forth between Rune and Bassel.

“What’s wrong with you two so early in the morning?” Akira asked.

Bassel pointed a finger at Rune. “He set my tail on fire!”

Rune took one of the cinnamon rolls off the stack on the tray. He bit into it and chewed slowly. “I didn’t burn you. I chose to keep it as an unheated flame. You should thank me, not yell at me, silly liger. I hope you learned your lesson. Don’t tease me.”

Akira sighed and approached Bassel. “You do know better than to tease him.”

Bassel rolled his eyes. “How could I resist when the big bad fox actually made breakfast for Bria and even brought it out to her?”

Rune studied his cinnamon roll as he flicked his hand at Bassel. Bassel let out another cry as his tail caught fire once more.

Akira gasped and turned around, flapping his wings at the flame to put it out. Unfortunately, the wind only made it grow larger. Rune laughed at his friends’ efforts and shrieks as they fought urgently to put out the fire. Bassel held onto his long tail, beating it against the couch in an attempt to extinguish the flame. After having his laugh, Rune gave another wave of his hand, putting out the fire.

Bassel panted as he glared at Rune. He took a step toward him, but Akira grabbed onto his arm. He pulled Bassel away and said, “That’s enough playtime. Let’s go to the kitchen, Liger. Yoshi, yoshi.”

Bassel begrudgingly followed.

Akira looked over his shoulder at me and winked. “Glad to see you’re still all beat up, Bria.”

Momentarily confused by such an odd statement, I quirked a brow at him. Being glad about my injuries didn’t make much sense, but then it dawned on me—if I had healed, that would’ve meant I was Water Fae.

Finding my voice, I met Akira’s gaze. “Thanks. Me too.”

He laughed and turned back around, heading toward the kitchen with Bassel.

I was glad my bruises served some sort of purpose. It showed Akira and the others I was human, unlike Dallas and Dax.

My chest tightened, and I swallowed hard.

Dallas.

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