Page 12 of Fae's Claimed

The smoke in the air was getting heavier and as footsteps approached, I thought I might have a reprieve. But my hopes were dashed as Jaiden’s friend came into view.

“Let me guess. Another fairy king?”

The redhead smiled broadly, giving me a flirtatious wink. “General Xian. General of the east, overseer of the Court of Fire.”

“Well, isn’t that fancy. So he’s your boss?” Maybe if I could stir up some drama between these two, it would give me a chance to slip away. But, of course, they wouldn’t make it that easy.

“Jaiden is my king,” he said without hesitation. “I serve him happily.”

Well, he wasn’t going to be any help. Sirens sounded in the distance, and I started to cough as the smoke became heavier.Court of Fire...I already figured he’d set the fire. This was some odd sort of confirmation, I supposed.

I started to push myself up and startled as Jaiden took my arm to help.

“You don’t get points for helping me stand when you’re the reason I fell in the first place,” I pointed out.

“You don’t get pity points for falling when you’re the one who ran from me,” he countered.

I grumbled and once I was standing, he didn’t let me go. A good instinct, because I planned to take off at the earliest opportunity.

Once we reached the main street, I could finally see all the damage. A fire truck and a few police cruisers, all with lights blazing, were parked in front of Mr. G’s, and a massive crowd of students and other passersby had gathered to take in the carnage.

Carnage I had caused... “I need to tell them what happened.” I pulled toward the crowd.

Jaiden quickly and easily tugged me in the other direction. “I think they’ll manage just fine without you.”

“I think you’re more worried about yourself,” I muttered.

“Yes. I don’t hide that. In fact, despite my many flaws, you’ll discover that I’m very honest about myself and my intentions. I don’t ‘beat around the bush,’ as you mortals say.”

Mortals?Yep. Wasn’t even going to try to unpack that one. “That’s only a good trait if your intentions aren’t evil.”

He barked out a laugh. “You really were an inspired choice. I did well.”

“Now you’re taking credit for me being awesome. You really are a piece of work.”

“I don’t know what that means, but your tone implies it isn’t a compliment.”

“Smart, too. Be still my beating heart.”

Xian snickered but didn’t say anything. So he might be loyal to Jaiden but he wasn’t wholly subservient to him. Maybe he could help me eventually?

We took a few seemingly random turns until we reached a more residential part of campus.

“Do we actually have a plan?” I asked once my feet started to ache. Although the pumps I wore weren’t very tall, they weren’t made for walking long distances, that was for sure.

“We do,” said Jaiden confidently, not giving me anything else.

“Does this plan involve calling an Uber?”

“A what?”

“A car. If I walk any farther, my feet are going to turn into one big, giant blister.”

At that, Jaiden came to an abrupt halt. “You’re in pain? Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

I looked around me, half expecting cameras to pop out any moment and announce this had all been some elaborate prank. “I saw you kill a man in mere seconds and my leg is still bleeding from your little magic trick. Excuse me for assuming you wouldn’t care about my lack of endurance.”

Jaiden’s mouth tightened, and he glanced over my shoulder at Xian. He didn’t say anything, but there seemed to be some sort of silent communication that happened because a moment later, Xian passed us and walked up the path to the house we stood in front of.

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