Her pupils shrank like I’d given her a shot of adrenaline, and the ground rumbled.
She screamed in utter terror and surprised me with a gust of wind, sending me flat on my ass. Exos and River shouted something, but I lifted a hand to stop them.
Just in time, too.
A ring of fire erupted around us as the Halfling shot to her feet. Her chest heaved like a bird trapped in a cage, and she flung her face left and right, trying to gather her bearings. “Fuck, I just woke up, so either this is one of those trick dreams or...”
“Not a dream!” Exos shouted unhelpfully from the other side of the flames.
Sighing, I examined the flames the Halfling had sprung into existence. Powerful, yes, but manageable. Sensing the ignition she’d est
ablished, I snapped my fingers and sent the fires fizzling into ash.
She startled, blinked at me, then took a step back. “Did you just…?”
“Exterminate your little fire frenzy? Yeah, sweetheart.” I grinned. “You’re not the only one who likes to play with fire.”
“We need to get her back to the estate,” Exos growled.
Again, not helpful.
The Halfling seemed stressed by his voice, and energies hummed around her, threatening to explode again. If she called on one of her other elements, I’d be useless.
“Hey,” I said softly, lowering myself to one knee. I knew I could be intimidating at my full height, but I wouldn’t wish any harm to come to this creature. “We’re not here to hurt you, sweetheart.”
“Yeah? Tell that to him.” She pointed at Exos, causing me to fight back a smile.
“I’m not him,” I told her, offering her a conspiratorial glance. “I barely know him, actually. But I can see the lack of appeal.” Dangerous words to say about a Royal Fae, but I’d deal with the consequences later.
She blinked, startled. “What?”
I cocked my head to the side, allowing my lips to tilt in a way I knew charmed most of the female fae at the Academy. “He demanded I help find you. I’m Titus.”
Another blink, this one slower. “Titus?”
“That’s me.”
She swallowed, looking at Exos and River, then took in her surroundings again. “Where the hell am I?”
“The enchanted boundaries,” I informed her, still on my knee, staring up at her. It left me in a far more vulnerable position that seemed to be easing her nerves at least a little.
“I don’t know what that means.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what any of this means.”
Exos hadn’t given me a lot of insight into what she knew, just that she was a powerful Halfling and her name was Claire, but her knowledge of our world seemed to be very little. “They’re the protective borders around the Academy. It’s the only area in the Fae Realm where all the elements are allowed to play together, and we learn how to coexist.” A load of shit, really. It was all a political game to force the different elements to get along, to live in harmony.
“Fae Realm,” she repeated on a breath, her shoulders beginning to shake. “It’s all real.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Exos said, his fingers combing through his ash-blond hair.
The pixie of a woman took a step backward, her gaze snapping to his, then to mine, then to his again. “I-I didn’t mean to… to…”
“Blow me into a wall? Again?” he asked.
Tears gathered in her eyes, her lower lip trembling. “This can’t… I don’t…”
“How did you blow him into a wall?” I asked, genuinely curious. “Can you do it again? Maybe into a tree?”
“Wh-what?” she asked, her big blue eyes refocusing on me.