Page 89 of Fire of the Fox

No wonder Dallas and Dax hadn’t figured out that Rune was Land Fae before Friday night. He’d concealed his aura to avoid being caught.

Coming back to the conversation at hand, I shook my head and said, “Well, yes. I’m friends with Fae. Although, I’m on the fence about Water Fae at the moment, and considering you’re one, it kinda paints a bad picture of them for me.”

He sighed and leaned back against the wall on the other side of the room. He raised his hand in front of him, and I tried to keep my composure as a trail of water flew from the sink behind me toward his outstretched hand. I stood there in shock, watching the water come together into a single ball. It twirled in the air in front of him like my very own water show.

“I used to have a happy little family. A mom who gave way too many hugs, a dad who chased away everything bad in the world, and a little sister who looked at me like I was her hero. They were all taken from me. My entire world, my reason for breathing, was stolen in a war that wasn’t even ours to fight.”

Swallowing hard, I asked, “The fight between Land and Water Fae?”

His watery eyes found mine, and he nodded, wiping at a tear. “Yeah. We wanted no part in that fight, but I guess citizens don’t really get a say when their leaders decide they want war. During the evacuation of our kingdom, I got separated from my family. There was an ambush, and, being the coward I am, I hid … I hid, not even knowing my family was out there being slaughtered.”

He hung his head low, sobbing into his hands. No words could comfort him, and I wasn’t sure if it was my place to try. I stayed quiet, letting him get his emotions out. Something told me he’d never said this tale aloud before.

Finally, when he could speak through his tears, he continued, “I’ve been alone ever since. A century alone, wandering, lost, hating myself for not dying with them. When I met Allen, I just wanted a place to belong to again, a family to belong to. My need for that blinded me from seeing what he and his friends were actually like. By the time I realized they were up to no good, I was already in deep. I didn’t want to lose them, too. I was terrified of being alone again, waiting all by myself for the day our Water Fae Prince finally came out of hiding to take us all home.”

Meeting my eyes, he said, “I’m not asking for your forgiveness because I know I don’t deserve that. I stood by and watched, doing nothing to help. These are my mistakes, and I have to carry them with me forever. I just wanted you to know why and that I’m really sorry. I tried telling Allen that mugging you wasn’t right many times. He chose to ignore me, and the threat of being homeless again was too hard for me to ignore. That doesn’t change what I did, but I’ve regretted it ever since. I have a lot to regret since I can’t seem to stop making mistakes.”

Frowning, I turned and placed my hands on either side of the sink. Water was still pouring out of the spout, so I turned it off and stared at the drops on the drain. It was surprisingly hard to listen to Blake’s story and not sympathize with him. Earlier, I was convinced he deserved to feel that much pain. Now, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

I couldn’t picture living for as long as he had without having something or someone to hold onto. What would that be like? Had Rune or Dallas ever felt that way? I hated to think that any of my friends had been that lonely. Their happiness meant everything to me, and to picture them in that much agony made a sliver of pain slice open in my chest.

I turned to look at Blake again. His eyes were glued to the ball of water that he’d been playing with while talking. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who took comfort in water. It spun above his hand as I probed, “You said the Water Fae Prince was in hiding. Is that why all Water Fae are, too? You guys are waiting for the Prince to come back?”

He nodded before making the water burst into hundreds of droplets. They floated all around us in a beautiful, sparkling dance. “Eighteen years ago, he was hidden away. It’s when the war came to a sort of standstill.”

I nodded. “Right. Land Fae killed your King and Queen, who hid their only son to keep him safe from the Land Fae. Or at least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

He gave a small laugh before replacing the drops of water back into the sink where they went down the drain. “Did your Water Fae friends tell you all of that?”

I gave a small laugh of my own and ran a nervous hand through my hair. “Not exactly. My, uh, Land Fae friends did.”

His face fell, and he stared at me with distraught eyes. “W-what? Land Fae? You’re friends with Land Fae?”

I nodded. “I’m friends with Water and Land Fae. Everything is still pretty new to me, but I have a basic idea of the history between the two of you.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Is Rune a Land Fae?”

I looked into his eyes and saw a hatred building up in them. If I said Rune was Land Fae, would he try to hunt Rune down to confront him? He said he wanted no part in the fight, but after losing his family, I wondered if that was still the case. Loss could change people. It made you desperate, which Blake seemed to understand firsthand.

I couldn’t picture Rune losing if they ended up fighting, but still, I answered, “No. He’s human like me.”

He nodded and looked away from me. His cheeks grew rosy as he glanced at me and asked, “So-so is he actually your boyfriend? I know I’ve called him that, but is he really?”

I quirked a confused brow at him, not sure what that really had to do with anything. I shrugged. “He is.”

Sorta.

Not really.

His lips turned down. He stared at the floor and shoved his hand into his pockets. He wouldn’t meet my eyes as he asked, “Are you guys serious?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. I parted my lips, trying to figure out what to say. His behavior and questions were throwing me for a loop. This side of Blake was so different from what I’d seen before. He seemed timid, almost shy.

First, he had wanted to talk with me, then he healed me, knowing that doing so would reveal what he was to me. He had no way of knowing for sure that I knew about Water Fae and such, so why would he do that? I had a feeling I knew why he was being so strange with me, as well as why he was so curious about my relationship with Rune.

“Blake,” I said, taking a tentative step toward him.

He looked up at me, his cheeks still rosy.

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