Page 13 of Fae Farewells

“Bite him too,” I whispered. “I want to watch.”

“Bite me with what?” Novak asked loudly.

“This way,” Sarge called, shaking his head at us. “Freya is about as patient as Lo, and by now, she will have felt me this close.”

Wednesday, June 17th

Afternoon

As Sarge and the guys began walking, Vaughn stayed rooted to his spot. His eyes didn’t stray from mine as he breathed deeply, like he was savoring the scent of the familiar wilderness.

“I haven’t felt this powerful in a long time,” he confessed.

“You lose power when you’re away?” My demon alter was weaker on Earth, so that would make sense.

“No. I lost it because I cut it off.” He shook his head, a frown furrowing his brows. “It’s like how you masked your power in the Underworld. I didn’t want to be found, to be known as a royal, so I toned down as much power as I could.”

“So... this entire time you’ve had half your power?”

Vaughn wobbled his hand side-to-side. “More like a fraction.”

“Fuck,” I whispered, unable to stop my grin from forming. “Exactly how powerful are you? How much of yourself have you been hiding?”

“More than I care to admit. I could give you a run for your money right now, but the surge of power will fade once I’ve restored my full strength.”

I nodded, trying to soak that knowledge in while looking past the flurry of excitement from his challenge. I knew my fae was powerful, knew he was hiding away and masking his potential.

But I didn’t realize how much he was covering.

He had been living in the human world for years with an ounce of his usual power instead of the full gallon. And that was mind blowing and exhilarating and…

“I suddenly want to fight you,” I blurted, stalking the slightly amused twitch of his lips.

“I’m not trying to dominate you or pull some alpha shit,” he told me, his narrowed eyes as he stepped backward. “I’m still me. Nothing has changed other than a power upgrade.”

“I know,” I admitted, the predator slipping into place as I tracked him. “But I don’t mean fight you to establish dominance. I mean, fight you to see how strong you are. And then let that continue into naked fighting on the forest floor. At least, before we get to the snow.”

“The snow will make it so much more fun, though,” he purred, the seduction in his voice sending a thrilled shiver down my spine.

I scoffed, trying to cover my body’s reaction with sarcasm. “I highly doubt that.”

“Are you scared, Princess?”

“Don’t get sassy with me. I’m not scared of snow; I’m worried about hypothermia.”

“Liar,” Novak yelled without turning around.

“Nosy,” Vaughn and I both shouted back.

Then my fae leaned in, whispering against the shell of my ear. “I saw that shiver. You aren’t as good at hiding your reactions as you think.”

I rolled my eyes before grabbing his hand, his skin soft as crushed velvet against mine. My intentions had been catching up with the group, but the sensations of our surroundings suddenly overwhelmed me.

It was like someone unmuted the world around us. The flora smelled sugary sweet, and the flowers… They formed a technicolor rainbow, so vivid I wanted to shield my eyes until my sensitive sight could adjust.

The loose dirt stirred beneath our feet, the fresh scent of damp earth and decaying leaves everything I loved about spring in the southern states, but so much more. It was as if we had just missed the rain storm but were rewarded with the blooms coming to life before us.

A massive tree grew from the ground at a diagonal angle, the trunk twisted and the bark damaged from some insane impact. It crossed over the footpath, but the arch was tall enough to allow passage. I could have stood on Briggs’ shoulders as we went under it and still not touched the roof it created.