Page 34 of Fire of the Fox

I inclined my head at Bassel and asked, “What’s your ability?”

He shrugged. “It’s nothing fancy. I can’t control some element or anything like that. My specialty as a Liger Fae is enhanced strength and athleticism. I have superior fighting skills, I can jump higher than most, and my claws can cut clean through pretty much anything.”

Marlow glanced at Bassel’s hand, which still rested on his shoulder. He carefully grabbed one of Bassel’s fingers and lowered it. “Yes, so why don’t you keep them away from me?”

Akira chuckled and met my eyes again. “As you can see, even though we’re a bit scary looking at first, we actually don’t mean any harm. Not all Land Fae are bad. Granted, there are some who are evil, but then again, there are humans who are evil, too. We don’t want you to be afraid of us, and we’re sorry we sprung it on you like this. It was our mistake for jumping to conclusions.”

“It’s okay. You all don’t seem as frightening as I originally thought. Don’t get me wrong, you’re still pretty terrifying. Just not as much. What exactly gave you the impression that I was Fae to begin with?”

His jaw was rigid, and his eyes hard as he explained, “Every Fae has an aura about them that basically acts like a light. The more powerful the Fae, the brighter the aura around them. You have one of those magical auras. Most Fae conceal their auras for security ever since the war between Land and Water Fae. I assumed maybe you were newly introduced to your powers or that you were so confident in your abilities that you didn’t need to hide your aura.”

That bit of information was a lot to digest. There was absolutely no reason I should have any sort of magic around me. I was human through and through. There was nothing special about me, at least not in that regard. So why did they sense that from me?

“I’m human, so why would I have an aura?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Rune said.

His amber eyes swept over me like he was looking for an answer or something that would explain the aura around me.

Part of me hoped he’d find something because I was wondering the same thing myself.

Akira fidgeted and asked, “So since you’re not too scared of us, would you still consider hanging with us and being Rune’s fake girlfriend?”

Rune stepped forward then, shaking his head. “I said no. We can’t take her anymore. I won’t take her anymore.”

I ignored him and asked, “Is there more to that whole story, too?”

Akira shrugged. “His mom is a very powerful Fox Fae. She wants Rune to marry and breed with another Silver Fox to keep the purity of their bloodline. That being said, our dear ladies’ man over there would never marry, especially not someone of his mother’s choosing. Even more than that, he doesn’t want to start popping out babies with any woman. Bringing a Fox Fae as his present girlfriend would show his mom that he’s thinking about a future with someone, but it’s someone of his choosing.”

I glanced at Rune then, but he refused to meet my eyes. He turned to stare out the window again.

“But I’m not a Fox Fae,” I said.

“Exactly,” Rune suddenly snapped, looking back at me. His black ear twitched again. “So, I won’t use you anymore. You’re off the hook. Lucky you.”

“Actually,” Akira said, rising to his feet. He clapped his hands excitedly. “We happen to have a good friend nearby who is the queen of magical transformations. She could totally turn you into a Fox Fae! At least appearance-wise.”

Bassel smirked as he looked at me from head to toe. “I could totally picture you like that. I bet you’d look sexy as hell.”

Rune shot an icy glare at Bassel and let out a low growl.

We all looked at him as Bassel chuckled and said, “What? Afraid I’m trying to steal what’s yours, Fox?”

What’s Rune’s? Did he mean me? I was not Rune’s by any means. Firstly, I wasn’t an object to be owned by anyone or anything. Secondly, he was among the least likely people that I’d ever actually be with now that I knew him.

Irritated by the exchange, I crossed my arms and looked away from Rune, mumbling, “I would much rather be Bassel’s fake girlfriend than yours.”

Rune glared as he stalked across the room, heading right for me. He leaned down close as he trailed his claw down my cheek and said, “Well, too bad. You’re my girlfriend, so get over it.”

I met his glare head on, forgetting my fear of him. Like the guys said, they would take care of me. I got in his face and spat, “So what? Now you want to go along with the plan all because you’re an over-reactive, jealous dickhead? Hell no! I have no idea what I’d be getting into if I went with you to your family’s house. Screw you.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I wanted to eat them. I suddenly remembered why I needed to do this. If I didn’t go along with the plan and see this through, I wouldn’t be able to study abroad. My dream would be crushed alongside my chance to work under the greatest painter of my time. The idea of not being able to do those things when they’d felt so close made my insides burn in wretched agony. I needed to do this, regardless of how unpleasant Rune was or how intimidating I found all of this new info.

Akira got down on his knees and made a puppy dog face. “Please come! It would be so boring without you there! All of us will be there with you, so nothing will happen!”

I took a moment to look between them before shaking my head. “This is all too much to take in right now. I mean, I just learned that everything I thought was reality, isn’t, and what wasn’t reality, is. I need time, and I need to think about what I want to do.”

I knew what I wanted. I wanted my future, the one I’d craved since I first picked up a paintbrush. It was just a matter of coming to grips with this new reality and understanding how to navigate it safely.

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