As a water fae, I had been an outsider from the day I was born. In the bigger cities, like Talamh, there were fae who wielded other elements, but in a small village like Fenwood, they didn’t exist. Everyone I’d grown up with was an earth fae, including my mother. I was the only water fae in the entire village, and I’d inherited that talent from a father who’d died before I was even born.
“I just don’t like you going off to join the military at a time like this,” Mavlyn said as we picked our way along the path. “King Aolis has been recruiting like crazy, which can only mean that the threat of the shadow creatures is growing. How are you going to defend yourself against those things if they put you on the front lines?”
“I don’t know, but that’s what the training is for,” I pointed out. “Dune tells me that the army’s been working on special weapons to kill them more effectively.”
But Mavlyn was right. The shadow creatures, which had been creeping out of the Deadlands to the west and slowly invading the rest of Ediria, were a real problem. No one knew exactly where they had come from, but they were born of shadow magic, which was a deadly type of magic that infected and corrupted everything it came into contact with. Normal plants and animals morphed into cruel, murderous creatures that stalked our lands and terrorized our people, and if they bit you, you would be infected with shadow magic too.
I’d seen the effects of that firsthand, once, from a traveler who was attacked on the road, and there was no cure. Even my mother, one of the most talented healers in all of Domhain, had been able to do nothing for him. She’d been forced to put him out of his misery before he’d turned into a monster himself. We’d burned the body as far away from the village as possible, and had buried the ashes to ensure that he didn’t infect anyone else.
“Dune is an idiot,” Mavlyn declared as the trees thinned and her backyard came into view. “And speaking of Dune, don’t think I don’t realize that part of the reason you’re doing this is so you can chase after him like a lovesick puppy.”
My face flamed. “That isnottrue—”
“Did someone mention my name?”
Mavlyn and I stopped dead as Dune Terran walked around the side of her house and into the backyard. My breath caught at the sight of him—tall and broad-shouldered and brimming with confidence, he swaggered toward us as if he owned the very land beneath his feet. The dying light set off his golden-brown skin to perfection, and brought out the highlights in his gilded chestnut hair.
I knew from experience just how soft his hair was. I’d let those strands slip through my fingers many times when we’d stolen kisses in dark corners and alleyways. Felt his hard body against mine as he’d trailed those kisses down my neck and whispered filthy things in my ear.
As the headman’s second son, he was one of the most eligible bachelors in the village. He could have any female he wanted, and there were many.
And yet, he had chosenme.
“I don’t remember inviting you onto my property.” Mavlyn curled her lip at Dune as he approached. The arrogant smile on his face faded a little as a wall of grass exploded three feet into the air, blocking his approach. “What are you doing here?”
“I was looking for Adara.” His hazel eyes found mine, and they glinted knowingly, as if he’d been aware of what I was thinking. A dimple formed in his left cheek as his lips curved up. “We have a date tonight.”
“Oh.” I blushed, my hands flying to my hair. The lavender-blue strands probably looked like a rat’s nest after this afternoon’s training session, and I was sure I smelled like sweat and dirt and other more unpleasant things. “I was going to wash up first.”
“What have you two been doing?” Dune raised an eyebrow, likely noting the grass stains on my clothing. “Gardening? Never mind, I don’t want to know.” He snatched up my hand and pressed a kiss to it before Mavlyn or I could say anything. “Just come with me. My father needs me for the rest of the evening, and I’ve got to be up early for the tryouts tomorrow, but I want to spend some time with you first. That is, if you’re not too busy.”
Mavlyn raised her eyebrows from behind Dune, but I ignored her. He didn’t know that I was going to take part in the tryouts, or that Mavlyn had been helping me train for them—I wanted it to be a surprise.
“I’m not too busy,” I said, my heart beating faster. The fact that Dune wanted to spend time with me when he had so many other things he could be doing made my heart soar. Sure, the stolen moments we had together were always in dark, secluded places, but I knew that was because his father wouldn’t approve of his son courting a water fae.
But once we passed the military tryouts together, we wouldn’t have to worry about his father, or what any of the other villagers thought. We could be together openly. Of course, that was providing that we got assigned to the same division, but—
“Good, then come on. I’ve got something special to show you.”
He tugged at my hand, and I hesitated, looking back at Mavlyn. The annoyance on her face said it all—she didn’t approve. Mavlyn and Dune had never gotten along, bickering and fighting since they were children, but I’d always had a huge crush on him.
He was handsome, popular, charismatic, and every female in the village wanted him…but he wasn’t with any of those females right now.
He was withme.
“I’d love to,” I said, turning away from Mavlyn. Maybe she couldn’t be happy for me, but that didn’t mean I had to put up with her judgment. I grasped Dune’s hand tighter and let him lead me away from Mavlyn. For once in my life, happiness was in my grasp, and I was going to chase it no matter what anyone thought.
Even my best friend.
2
Adara
“Are you ready?”
I grinned at the sound of Dune’s teasing voice in my ear. He’d taken me into a different part of the forest than where Mavlyn and I had trained, closer to his house, then put a blindfold on me. It had taken everything in me not to giggle like a little girl as he’d steered me down the path with his hands on my shoulders, but I couldn’t help it. I felt as giddy as a water nymph walking on land for the first time.
Dune and I had always had a rocky relationship. When we were young teenagers, we would fight constantly, him bullying and teasing me, while I volleyed back the insults just as hard. The spark of chemistry between us had always pulled us together, and we both reveled in the conflict, but because of his status in the village and mine, we were enemies.
