“I was already here by the time you employed it,” he says, reaching out and tapping on the invisible energy field around us. “But, it was impressive, nonetheless.”
I drop my weapons to the sand, putting my arms around Reed’s neck lightly and touching his dark brown hair. It’s dripping wet from the rain. “I should’ve built a wall around you instead,” I whisper, brushing my lips against his jaw and over his cheek to his lips, tasting the salty water on his skin.
“That would’ve been a better strategy,” he agrees, his fingers tracing a path from my waist up my side. “One I would’ve had to outrun.”
“As if you could outrun my magic,” I reply sarcastically, kissing his lips gently.
“As if I could,” he agrees, deepening our kiss.
Tap, tap, tap…Knocks sound on the invisible barrier surrounding us, startling me. I look over to see water dripping from Zephyr’s disapproving face staring down on us. His startling-blue eyes narrow as my cheeks redden.
“It does not appear to be dinner time, yet,” he says, showing us his watch and reminding us that we have more training time left before Reed and I can have some private time together.
“Uh…sorry,” I mutter, pulling energy back to me so that the shield I erected around us melts away to nothingness.
“We are switching partners,” Zephyr says sternly to Reed as I pick up my weapons from the sand. “You go train with Russell,” he orders Reed, while his light brown wings unfold in agitation.
“Naw, Zee, I’ll train with Evie,” Russell says from behind him, his face growing dark.
“That will not work, since I want the two of you to learn how angels fight,” Zephyr argues. “I want you to study what to look for in an angelic opponent. You cannot learn that from Evie.”
“C’mon, Zee,” Russell says, scowling at Zephyr.
“We need to bring Evie up to your level, Russell,” Zephyr explains. “She had no real training in fighting while she was with the Gancanagh.”
“Uh…I trained a little…” I trail off when I see the frown on Zephyr’s face.
“They trained you to fight like a Faerie. We will have to break you of all the bad habits they taught you,” Zephyr replies, sounding superior. He lifts his wicked broad sword and looks down the hilt of it as he points it at me. “You cannot concentrate with your current partner.”
Looking at Reed, he gives me a sensual smile. I lose my train of thought for a second as my mind wanders to the way he kissed me just a few seconds ago. In the next moment, I am jolted out of my revelry by Zephyr again. “Did you hear what I said?” he asks.
“Uh…bad Faerie habits?” I ask, looking as his eyebrows draw together, indicating he probably said something I completely missed.
“Reed,” Zephyr says in a stern tone as water drips from his brown hair.
Reed steps reluctantly forward, putting his arms around me and hugging me to his chest. “We’ll have time alone together tonight, love,” he whispers in my ear, and I nod.
As Reed walks over to Russell, each of them begins sizing the other one up. They haven’t been training together, not really. They barely speak to one another, as the bond between them that had formed when I was a captive of the Gancanagh keeps dissolving by the day. Brownie and Buns have both noticed it. We’ve discussed it a few times when I took my flying lessons with them in the evenings after dinner. It worries me to see them spar now, like this is a real battle over a coveted prize.
“Zee,” I murmur, watching Russell’s sword cut dangerously close to Reed’s neck. “Is this a good idea?”
“Time will tell,” he replies, picking a position on the beach in which to start instructing me on using the broad sword he holds. I’m having a hard time focusing on anything he’s telling me, since my eyes keep drifting to the intense fighting taking place between Russell and Reed.
“That’s not—sshheeeeze,” I inhale between clenched teeth, seeing Russell’s sword cut a thin line in Reed’s cheek. I make a move toward them, but Zephyr grabs my upper arm, holding me back.
“Do not even think about getting in the middle of that fight, Evie,” Zephyr says. “It has been coming for too long now and there needs to be some lines drawn.”
“What lines?” I ask numbly, trying to make him let go of my arm.
“Dark, thick ones with pain and menace,” he replies. “Perhaps you should go now—you do not need to see this.”
“See what? What are you talking about, Zee?” I ask, fear oozing into my tone. I glance over to see Reed’s sword cut a large gash in Russell’s upper arm, causing blood to course from it in rivets with the rain.
“REED!” I shout, feeling Zephyr’s arms go around me to lift me off my feet so that I can’t run to them. Reed ignores me as his features remain blank, not giving away any of what he’s thinking.
In an instant, Russell begins to morph, his bright red wings being replaced by the orange and black stripes of a jungle tiger as he springs toward Reed, his jaws going for Reed’s throat. Reed manages to avoid being bitten by the tiger’s fierce teeth, but he doesn’t avoid the sharp claws that dig into his back, dragging jagged lines of blood into his flesh. A millisecond later, Reed morphs into a panther, pouncing on the tiger as they roll around on the shore.
“THEY CAN’T DO THIS, ZEE!” I plead, trying to make him let me go, but he just shakes his head. Picking me up, he tosses me over his shoulder, hauling me off the beach in a blink of an eye. He runs through the lush foliage of his South Pacific island toward his sprawling plantation house.
Crossing the sweeping veranda and entering the house, Zee says, “Buns.”
In less than a few seconds, Buns enters the foyer. Seeing me dripping wet, slung over Zee’s shoulder, Buns says, “What’s up, sweetie?”
“Buns, tell Zee to put me down! I have to go stop Russell and Reed from killing each other,” I explain frantically, not being able to really see her because Zee is holding me upside down by my feet. I catch a glimpse of her honey blond hair as she turns to Zephyr.
“Oh…Brownie,” Buns calls out. She puts her hands on her hips as she narrows her cornflower-blue eyes. “They couldn’t do this on the DL, Zee?” Brownie appears instantly at Buns’s side, looking at us curiously.
Zee shrugs, “It was coming…he’s really powerful now, Reed knew it would come to this.”
“Reed knew it would come to what?” I ask, paling.
“Reed knew it would be a fight for you sooner or later,” Zephyr replies.
“BUT, THAT’S RIDICULOUS, ZEE!” I shout, not being able to contain my anxiety. “Reed doesn’t have to fight for me!”
“Tell that to Russell. He’s as much an alpha male as Reed and he wants you just as much as Reed does,” Zephyr replies.
I cringe, feeling ill. “Fine, put me down and I’ll go tell him,” I growl.
“No,” Zephyr replies. “You have to stay here. I will go and make sure that they do not really harm each other. I just need to make sure you will not interfere.”
“Why?” I ask, not understanding why I can’t break up the stupidest fight in the history of fights.