Page 33 of Kiss of Fire

“I saved you.”

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say…”

“I fuckingsavedyour arse. That jotnar was going to smash your stupid head in.”

“Okay. Fine. You saved me. I am grateful for that too. Happy?”

They glared at each other.

It wasn’t exactly a thank you. But she knew it had taken a lot to admit he owed his life to her. With a conscious effort, she unclenched her fists.

“That was a rubbish apology but I’ll take it. What did you do with the jotnar?”

“I flew the beast through the Gate. It was still asleep.”

“Bet that was fun. It absolutely reeked.”

A smile tugged at Shade’s mouth.

“It did. Exceedingly.”

There was a long pause. Then they both spoke at once.

“About what happened …”

“When we woke up…”

They stopped, awkwardly. Raya was glad it was dark and he couldn’t see her blushing. He cleared his throat.

“The fault was mine. I was dreaming and I may have… Ididoverstep the mark. I apologise.”

Two apologies in one conversation. That had to be a record.

“Fine. Let’s just forget it.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

They stood in silence for a while and watched the lights.

“So what now?” she asked.

“I do not know. I thought the confrontation with the beast might awaken your power, but so far neither fear nor anger seems to have worked.”

Raya hesitated, then spoke in a rush.

“Something happened when I was dragging you. I’m not sure if I was imagining it but…” she trailed off as his eyes suddenly blazed down at her.

“What? What happened?”

“My hands. I think they were on fire. I was cold and desperate and suddenly there were flames. I’m not sure though. I was so tired I might have been hallucinating.”

Shade looked at her thoughtfully.

She said she had been desperate. It was certainly possible that desperation had kickstarted her fae powers, but why would that work when other triggers hadn’t?

What was different?

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