“Sorry, it just sounds amusing as hell. Can you do it again?” I didn’t really want her to, but I did want to distract her. “Not many fae can take on someone as famous as Exos, so you’ve intrigued me.”
“Exos?” she repeated, her brow furrowing.
“Dude, you didn’t even tell her your name?” I asked, shocked and dismayed. “No wonder she kicked your ass.”
“I brought you here to help, kid. Not to be a pain in my ass.”
“Kid?” I repeated, raising my brows. “I’m twenty-two, Your Highness.”
He gave me a look that said he couldn’t care less. “Fine. Man.”
“Better,” I agreed, shifting my attention back to the girl who was observing us with a furrowed brow. Much better than the terrified-little-mouse expression. “Seriously, can you blow him into a tree for me? All I can do is light him on fire, and he’ll just extinguish the flames.” Not exactly true. I could burn him if I tried hard enough.
“Fire,” she whispered, her expression pained.
“Yes,” I said slowly, confused. “I’m a Fire Fae.”
“She’s thinking about the bar.” Exos folded his arms. “Which I already told her wasn’t her fault.”
She crumpled to the ground, her knees giving out beneath her, tears tracking down her face. “A bar?” I asked, inching toward her. “What about it?”
“R-rick,” she breathed, her palm covering her heart.
“Her friend,” Exos translated. “He… He didn’t make it.”
The woman let loose an agonized scream, flames singeing the air and igniting my soul. I caught the embers before they could cause any damage, blanketing her in my essence and forcing her fiery abilities to behave as she broke down before my eyes.
“What the hell?” River asked, taking the words right out of my mouth. “What friend? What bar?”
Exos blew out a breath. “Short version: Her powers exploded in the Human Realm. She burned down a building—with her friend inside.”
And he couldn’t have told us that before we found her?
“Fuck,” I breathed, rubbing my hand down my face. “Fuck.”
Claire
I couldn’t see.
Couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t think.
Rick’s dark eyes flashed before me, his sexy-as-sin grin, his ridiculously spiky hair. I cradled my chest, the burn radiating throughout my body intense. I wanted to scream. To cry. To run. But my limbs refused to move, some invisible weight holding me captive in my cocoon of flowers.
Oh God, I’m covered in… in pollen!
None of this made any sense. The surroundings. The colors. The endless forest. The too-orange sun illuminating the field. The male crouching a few feet away…
His dark green eyes reminded me of the trees framing his muscular form.
I shuddered, curling in on myself, wishing that this would all just go away. That my world would return to normal. That this was all just a drunken nightmare.
Maybe I died in the fire?
I startled at the thought. Was this heaven? That would explain the magic, the odd scents, my bizarre connection to the elements.
“Claire,” the one closest to me murmured, his voice deep and soothing and sending a shiver down my spine.