Page 41 of The Iron Fae
"Calm down," Rowan tries to push his brother's hands off of him. Kai remains unmovable. "It's just a joke."
"It's. Not. Funny." Each syllable is firm.
"You're just saying this because the Wishing Spirit bit you and transferred some of its rage to you." Rowan brings his fists down, hitting Kai's elbows hard enough his brother drops him. He points his finger into his chest. "Don't you try and look all big and bad to me. Give yourself another hour and you'll have withdrawals so bad I could blow you over like a piece of lint."
Muscles chord in Kai's jaw, a large vein bulging in his neck. He pulls his brother closer, finally letting their noses brush. I'd crack a joke about brotherly love if it wasn’t for the way both their ears were turning red and I could feel the anger coming off of them in waves.
"Would you like to test your theory?" Kai finally manages.
Rowan arches back and laughs. "We're going to do this right now? Over a joke? Over her?"
Her.
I stand up, talking softer to Kai. "Just put him down."
"Listen to yourCupcake, Kai." Rowan teases.
Kai takes his time lowering his brother and letting go of the front of his shirt. Rowan watches with a daring smile and flattens down the wrinkles their spat has created.
"That's better," Rowan continues.
"Yeah, Kai, I can fight my own battles." I give Kai's bicep just the smallest squeeze before I whirl on his brother. I focus every ounce of frustration, fear, and outright anger at how life was handed to me and I channel it into my fist. My knuckles make contact with the sharp angle of Rowan's jaw.
Pain instantly blooms in my hand. Rowan grabs his cheek and takes a confused step back as I bite my lip and turn back to Kai. The blonde-haired prince is watching me with his brows lifted up to his hairline. Tears of surprise are welling along my eyelids and I shove my hand between my thighs as if their thickness could cuddle the pain away. Why does punching someone hurt so bad? It's supposed to hurt him not me!
"Damn, Briar!" Rowan scrubs at his face. "Why the hell would you do that?"
"To teach you a lesson," I groan.
A large grin finally breaks Kai's lips and he leans forward grabbing both of my shoulders. "You are bloody brilliant, Cupcake. Though, perhaps, with your human fragility we shouldn’t go around punching Fae with Iron in their bones." Kai looks back up to Rowan. "You're lucky it wasn't my fist. It'd do you well to go find yourself some place to rest away from us. And next time don't try to talk her into giving you sexual favors for items that are a necessity. Or rather, you just don't ask for sexual favors."
Rowan rolls his eyes but ultimately listens. His boots kick at the ground as he works his way around us and heads for the back of the cave. He pulls an apple from his backpack and tosses it in the air a few times already moving on from the situation and no longer caring about the hit that didn't even leave a red mark on his face.
Kai shakes his head. "Let me see your hand."
I clench my teeth as I pull my hand from between my legs. In offering, I hold it up between us. My knuckles are a dark red and I'm reminded of my weakened state every time I bend my fingers for him.
"Well, you'll probably have a nice bruise but other than that, no broken bones." Kai presses a gentle kiss to my knuckles. It stings when his lips brush my skin.
A sigh of relief is all I can respond with. The gesture of his kiss so sweet it reminds of something Lincoln would have done. They were brought up by the same people. Rowan must be the odd man out when it comes to their upbringing because his incessant flirting and lack of respect for other people’s boundaries is really setting the tone for a less than pleasant friendship.
"So... we're going to sleep here?" I press my back to the cave wall and slide down to sitting, the hilt of the dagger digs into my side.
"Yes."
I flick my attention up to his face. "I want you to say 'Yeah', just one time for me."
"That's an odd request." He tilts his head to the side. The pink of his tongue slips out over his bottom lip before he tries. "Yeah."
It's much more attractive with his accent, I think. It must be my accent that makes it sound so uneducated.
"Yeah," he tries again this time grasping at my accent. "Yeah." He perfects the tone.
"It's nice not to be so formal all the time, huh?" I ask.
"I'm a prince. One day I'll be a king. I don't really do informal."
Kai paces a few feet in front of me, sending a weary glance to his brother. Rowan sits in the corner, chewing on his apple. He avoids our attention, finding something truly intriguing about the rock across from him. Kai slips his hands into his pocket. He looks down at me.
