Page 97 of Fire of the Fox

Crossing my arms, I refused to return his grin. “Well, it wasn’t funny. Why’d you need to leave to go get a stupid toy anyway?”

He held out the toy, and I was reluctant to take it. “We’re going to use it to train. You’ll need a weapon like a dagger to fight a Fae, but I’m obviously not going to give you a real one to attack me with yet.”

Smirking, I grabbed the dagger and jabbed it into his hard pec as he flinched from shock. “That’s probably a good idea since I’m still mad at you.”

We stood and got in the center of the blue mats.

“Fae aren’t indestructible,” Rune started. “We heal fast, so that makes us harder to kill, but it doesn’t make us invincible. You have to deliver wounds that kill us faster than we can heal.”

“So, like a shot for a major artery?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “You can do that, but it won’t be enough. We can heal something like that if left to do so. You’d need to go for an artery and then deal a final blow. Severing the head; stab and twist to the heart. Something along those lines.”

I swallowed hard, trying not to vomit. “Stab and twist to the heart sounds easier. Let’s go with that.”

He stepped closer and put a gentle hand on my arm. “We don’t have to do this, Bria.”

“We really do, Rune.” I met his concerned gaze. “I’d rather have the knowledge and not need it than to need it and not have it.”

Taking a deep breath, he backed away a few steps. Standing up straighter and getting in his defensive stance, he smirked. “All right then. Try to kill me, Bria.”

“Wow! So you actually knocked him down?” Avana laughed.

Pride lifted my head high. “Yup. Knocked him flat on his butt and managed to get my knife over his heart and twist. Just took, you know, about a dozen tries.”

Akira laughed, blowing on his wet, black nails. “I always knew you’d knock him off his feet.”

Akira, Avana, and I sat on Akira’s bed after a very long day. We were finally doing our mani-pedis together, and we had Mulan, aka the best Disney movie ever, playing in the background.

“God, I’m so glad to have you both here,” Akira sighed while admiring his nails. “The other guys suck at painting my nails. It was driving me crazy.”

“Should we go paint theirs?” Avana asked, waggling her eyebrows. “We can show them how it’s done.”

“Absolutely not,” Bassel yelled, coming to stand in the open doorway. “The last time I let Akira paint my nails, that shit lasted for a week. And, since it was white, it looked like I’d just had too much fun with Wite-Out.”

We laughed, and Bassel gestured back down the hall. “The pizza is here if you wanna grab some.”

After grabbing our greasy, cheesy pizza, we settled back in Akira’s room. The three of us sat around the floor, belting out the lyrics to “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” in the worst pitch ever. It was a dangerous sound to the rest of the people in the house, but it was a sweet symphony to my ears. I needed this moment where things made sense and life wasn’t full of strange creatures from a magical world. Tonight, it was just me with my two friends.

Time was ticking down until the day we left for Rune’s hometown. We’d be leaving in four days now, and while I knew I was prepared for it, I was still hella nervous. Nervous to be in a house full of Fae who disliked humans. Nervous to meet Rune’s family. Nervous to finally meet my fox face-to-face. Nervous for our deal to end.

When we got back from the trip, Rune would give me the five grand I needed for Italy. The deal would be over. I’d get to go on my dream trip to study with my idol, and he’d be free of an unwanted marriage and fatherhood. And while that was all I’d wanted at the start of this, my resolve to get my money and run was gone. In its place was a need to stay.

I wanted to stay friends with the quirky group of Fae I’d come to cherish.

I wanted to stay with Rune who I’d somehow come to love.

Couldn’t I have both?

Even if the deal was done and over with, couldn’t we still see each other and, dare I say it, be together? And, if that were an option for us, would he wait for me while I studied overseas?

It was all a lot to think about and prepare for, but I knew I could handle it. I was stronger than I’d been two months ago, both mentally and physically. I could face the den of foxes and come out of it okay.

On Thursday, two days before we left, Rune and I found ourselves at the training facility again. We’d managed to squeeze some training in all week.

He’d just deflected one of my hits with the dagger when he randomly said, “You’re going to do great.”

I paused, trying to catch my breath. “What?”

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