Page 57 of Their Chosen

I couldn't hold back a smirk at the polite mention of Lennox's hissy fit. Unlike Callum's stoic facade that rarely gave anything away, my face showed every emotion I felt.

He nodded, not bothering to use words, and ambled over, his bulky frame moving fluidly for someone with so much muscle. When he joined us, his eyes found mine, measuring me. He didn't even look away as Arryn said, “Great. I'm going to step over here to get the weapons ready for later, but I'll be close enough if either of you get injured.”

I broke Callum's and my stare down, glancing at Arryn in alarm. “Why would we get injured?”

“Callum has an affinity to fire magic, which is one of the most dangerous and hardest elements to control. Thankfully, I'm a healer, as I'm sure you remember.” His eyes heated with a different fire, and I blushed at the reminder of his hands on my inner thighs, healing my wounds from the horseback ride.

“Yep! I definitely remember,” I exclaimed, rushing over my slight awkwardness at being turned on by that and in front of another guy who soaked my panties for a different reason. Although, at the moment, I was kind of turned off because of his sexist disgust.

Arryn chuckled as he left me with the pig of today, neither of us speaking as we faced each other. That's right prick, I can be just as stubborn as you, I thought, unwilling to back down.

I studied his wide shoulders, tree trunk arms, and thighs that were as big as my waist, wondering how he managed to fit through the door frames. He was slightly shorter than Arryn but taller than Baer and Lennox. While Lennox was slender with a very lean muscle tone, Baer was stockier and about the same height, while Arryn and Callum were the largest. Arryn being about four inches taller than Lennox and Baer. Callum was a beast of a man and though not my usual type, I wanted to climb him like a tree.

He had a dark auburn shaggy mane obviously not having trimmed it in a while that touched the collar of his shirt and fell into his eyes from time to time. His eyes, that held mine captivated again, were hazel, greenish brown. The brown seemed to almost flicker like flames, the element he supposedly had. Everything about him screamed dangerous, and I just knew that he would be a much greater challenge physically than Lennox.

I never was much of the type to back down; it had gotten me into a lot of scrapes over the years, to include those I couldn't possibly win, but I was a fighter through and through. Callum let out a growl, which rumbled deeply in his massive chest, the sound instantly turning me on. I refused to be intimidated, though, and held my ground and silence. “Stubborn wench,” Callum muttered angrily under his breath.

Instead of making me angry, I had to hold back a smile at my victory. “I've been called that and worse too many times to count. You'll have to do better than that if you want to offend me,” I told him, placing my hands on my hips in challenge.

He sighed in frustration, shaking his head at me. “That was not my intention, lass. I was simply stating a fact.” He had an almost Irish or Scottish accent, which had always been a weakness of mine, not that I'd ever heard one in person. Now that I had… Whew! It was by far the best, I thought, while mentally fanning myself.

The others had a more Americanized British accent, which also did things to me, but his voice was a gravelly honey sound, if that made any sense. Not sure how I hadn't noticed it before, but if I had to guess, it would probably be that he hadn't spoken much around me.

“Ah,” I said, “so you do know how to speak. I was beginning to wonder.”

“I speak only when necessary. Has anyone ever told you that you are a truly vexing and brash woman?”

I shook my head, wobbling it from side to side indecisively. “Not in so many words, no.” At that, I couldn't keep the grin back.

“Why am I not surprised that you find that to be amusing?” he asked, a mix of frustration and amazement on his usually placid face.

I shrugged in answer, my smile going nowhere. He sighed heavily. “So, from what I have gathered, you had no access to your magic until yesterday? That you have no idea as to what affinities you have?”

“That sounds about right. I'm totally new and clueless to this whole magic and fae thing,” I replied, my hands going into both pockets as I relaxed around him.

“This magic and fae thing, as you call it, is no game. The Court is dangerous, so it's important you focus and train. You have a lot to catch up on in a very short amount of time,” he chastised me like I was some six-year-old child playing at being an adult, and it pissed me off.

“You think I don't know that? That I don't realize how serious this is or that I basically know nothing? I was ripped from my world and everything I know, plopped into these stupid trials, of which I want nothing to do with, and now you're upset because I have the audacity to try to have fun with this whole messed up ordeal?” I snapped back at him, so mad that I wound up poking him in the chest with my index finger toward the end of my mini rant.

He didn't like that at all, his jaw clenching and flexing as he held himself back, but he kept himself still and quiet until I was finished, my anger cooling as quickly as it came. We stood face to face, both at odds again just as I’d thought we were warming toward each other. Maybe this whole consort thing wasn't as perfect as the guys believed it to be. Between Lennox and Callum, I seemed to constantly be making one or both of them upset in one way or another.

Surprising me, Callum closed his eyes and took a deep breath before speaking, “How about we see if you have an affinity to Autumn magics?”

Not quite ready to warm back up to him again, I asked, “So what do you have in mind?” I crossed my arms and cocked a hip as I waited for his instructions.

“Autumn has many different variants that coincide with the season. When you think of Autumn, what comes to mind?” he asked me.

“Ummm...I'm not really sure I've ever thought about it, if I'm honest,” I admitted to him.

“Autumn is often overlooked by many, so I'm not surprised. Autumn is one part in the cycle of life and death. Like a life lived, it represents wisdom gained before death, the harvesting of fruits and crops, celebrations in preparation for the fruitless season of death, animals migrating or reaching maturity and the many changes they undergo to ensure survival. The least of which is fire that represents the color of change and consumes everything in its path, but the nutrients left behind allow for a fruitful spring and rebirth,” he patiently explained, opening my eyes to the beauty of the season.

“When you put it like that, I can see its beauty. So, what magic represents all of that?” I asked, finally interested in learning more and not minding his current demeanor. As long as he kept all that anger to himself, we would be just fine.

“The Autumn Fae can do many things with crops and harvesting, such as speeding up the ripening process. They can control the animals, or if they're powerful enough, they can become one, changing their shape into one or many different animals. They can...”

“Wait!” I interrupted him. “You mean you guys can shift?”

“That's a new way of putting it, but yes. Autumn Fae...”

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