Page 45 of Rebel Fae
Vaughn was already wrapping the fabric around Bael’s massive thigh. The Khurynian made no sound, even though he scrunched up his face in pain. Vaughn worked quickly, his jaw set, his fingers agile. When he finished, he glanced over his shoulder, then back at me.
“Where is it?” he asked.
“I got it tangled in the trees, but I don’t know how long it will last.”
He nodded appreciatively. “Brilliant thinking.”
“What do we do now?”
Vaughn glanced around. “Where are the others?”
I walked around Bael and stood next to Vaughn. Placing a hand over my eyes to block the sun, I scanned the surface of the lake.
“There.” I pointed in their direction. They had made it about halfway across the expanse of water.
Vaughn stood and spotted them easily. “We need to cross, too, get away from the beast.” He glanced back over his shoulder again while all I could do was try not to look at his naked body. He was broad, made of pure muscle. His legs were lean and powerful, his waist narrow when compared to the width of his shoulders.
I blinked away when my traitorous eyes started drifting in the wrong direction. I wanted to admire him fully, but this is not the time.Sonot the time. What was wrong with me?
He took a knee next to Bael again. “Do you know how to float in the water?”
“No,” Bael answered in a hoarse voice. “I’m a winged fae.”
Vaughn peered at me for a solution. “What do we do?”
I cast around, searching for another log. “There!”
This one was smaller than the other one, and I worried it might not be enough to keep Bael afloat.
“Help me put him in the lake, Tally,” Vaughn said once the log was in the water.
He hooked his hand under Bael’s right armpit, and I did the same on the other side. We started dragging him toward the shore, being ever so careful of his injured leg and wings.
“While I get him across,” Vaughn said, “you can go help the others.”
Bael was heavy, and it took us a few minutes to get him into the lake. I went as far as mid-thigh, then backed away and returned to the shore. Bael wrapped his massive arms around the log. It sank almost halfway, but it held.
Keeping the log perpendicular to the current, Vaughn behind it, and started kicking. I watched them go for a few beats to make sure Vaughn could handle it, but I didn’t need to worry. He was strong and made quick work of it.
I took to the air and flew to the others. As I approached, I heard Becca’s voice as she complained about something. Thankfully, she stopped when she heard the whirring of my wings.
“Thank God!” she exclaimed. “Regina is no help. She stopped kicking as soon as you left.”
“That’s not true.” Ronnie glared at her. “She’s just too weak.”
Regina was slumped around the log. Her skin was deathly pale, and as I paid close attention, I saw small tendrils of smoke wafting from her skin. The sun was burning her.
“We have to hurry. She’s burning. Ronnie, Becca—”
“You spend more energy running your mouth than helping,” Ronnie told Becca.
She glared at him. “Just wait till we get to the other side. I’m going to tear you a new—”
“Shut up and get to work,” I snapped, flying parallel to the water and setting my hands on the end of the log, mimicking Vaughn. Beating my wings at a moderate speed to make sure they would last me the rest of the way, I pushed. We began moving faster.
After about ten minutes of pushing, I heard a splashing sound behind us. I panicked, but when I whirled around to check, I found Vaughn and Bael drawing nearer. How had they already caught up to us? Gods, Vaughn was strong.
Soon, he overtook us and got ahead. Another ten minutes passed, and finally, we could see the shore with more detail. Vaughn was already there, laboriously pulling Bael onto dry land. After setting him down under the shade of a tree on his stomach to protect his delicate wings, Vaughn returned to the water and came toward us. With his help, we crossed the remaining distance in no time.
