Page 30 of The Ruthless Fae King
Piper cleared her throat behind us. I turned and she was staring at Lucien’s lead guard. “I’d like to accompany,” she said.
The guard looked to Lucien, who nodded once.
Piper protected my modesty like it was the last piece of chocolate cake. And the piece now had Lucien’s name on it. The very thought caused a blush to climb up my cheeks and distracted me from the task at hand. By the time my thoughts were back with the smoke, we’d reached the fire.
“Oh Hades!” I cursed when I saw a single old fae who looked about seventy winters aged. He had a bucket and was scooping it into the horse trough and trying to put out the fire that lapped up the side of his house. I could see now he’d had a burn pit off to the side, trying to burn some trash, and it had gotten out of hand.
Without thinking, I jumped off the horse and landed hard on the balls of my feet. A stinging sensation rang up the backs of my heels but I ignored it.
Throwing my arms out, I pulled the air from the fire, causing the flames to half in size. Lucien was right behind me, pulling clouds from the sky over our little area and then the temperature dropped.
It was at this moment that the man realized he was not alone. He turned to look at us and Piper ran to him. “Is anyone in the house?” she asked frantically.
The man stared at us in shock. “No, my wife went to town. My trash burn pit got out of control.”
“Keep him warm!” Lucien snapped, and then white fluff dumped from the sky. Lucien couldn’t make it rain like a Spring fae could, but he could extract the rain from the clouds and freeze it. Piper grasped the old man’s shoulders and pulled him away from the flurry as I stepped closer to Lucien. Using my power, I guided the large chunks of falling snow onto the flames. They cracked and snapped as they hit the hot fire, but the amount Lucien was dumping was overwhelming the blaze. Together we worked without saying a word and put out the fire on the side of the man’s house. Afterward, I glanced over at Lucien and he was watching me keenly.
“You and I work well together,” I murmured, and his entire face lifted into a devastatingly handsome smile.
“We do,” he agreed.
I couldn’t help but match his grin. Being around this man made me happy. I never would have thought that a few days ago.
“I’m going to go inside and blow any smoke out,” I told him.
He nodded. “I’ll come.”
I knew it was for protection, which was sweet, but it should have been clear to him now that I could take care of myself.
Stepping inside, I coughed when I was met with a large plume of thick smoke. Sucking the wind through the cracked open window at the kitchen, I blew all the smoke out the front door in a matter of minutes. When we were done, Lucien and I stepped inside to assess the damage.
The wall was miraculously still standing, with only the inside corner of the dining room burnt and open to the outside.
“With light repairs, he and his wife can remain here,” I said.
Lucien was looking at some pictures on the wall. “I’ll see to it that Duke Barrett provides the necessary help for him.”
I stepped over to him, reaching out to touch one of the pictures. In one stood the old man and who I assumed to be his wife, but they looked thirty years younger. She was holding a small purple flower and he held a shovel. They were both grinning as they stood in an open field.
“They look happy,” I observed.
Lucien inclined his head to me. “Love will do that to people.”
“Reminds me of my parents.” I smiled. “My father is obsessed with my mother. It’s adorable and sickening.”
Lucien laughed. “They sound lucky to me.”
“What was your parents’ marriage like?” I wondered aloud. I knew that when his mother died, his father, who was king at the time, had rightfully taken it hard. He abdicated and no one had seen or heard from him since. Lucien had been the public head of the Thorne household since then.
A shadow crossed over his face, his eyes growing stormy. “We should head outside and make sure the old man is okay.”
He stepped away from me and I deflated a little. Lucien had so many touchy topics, I felt like I was constantly dancing around them. Still, he was opening up to me little by little, so I wasn’t going to push him.
Two things were off the conversation table, the cause of the Great Freeze and his parents.
I stepped outside, following after Lucien, and took in the scene before me.
“Bless you, King Thorne.” The man was weeping as he clung to Lucien’s arm.
