Fairy Tale: Winter's Bite

Chapter 19: Rivalry Revisited (Part 2)

Chris was in the shade, sitting, taking one sip from his canteen at a time, not sure where to be or what to do.

He ended up just watching the Kāne Army obey Kimo's barking war cry. The man he'd known simply as his father-in-law was often addressed as General or General Jokura. Kale was either by his side or strutting around correcting sword positions; checking neatness, posture, attitude; and, in Chris's opinion, flaunting his number two status.

After a while, Chris grew restless, but he had already surpassed that awkward moment where he ought to join the others.

Soon, though, Joe came up from behind and slapped him on the back. "New lesson. You need to throw this at me as fast as you can." Joe handed him the ball.

"I like this lesson already."

"I knew you would."

They stepped into the bright afternoon sun. Joe jogged backward and when Chris stopped shooing him farther away, Chris threw the ball at him fast enough to snag a runner stealing second base.

Rarely in his baseball career had Chris missed that throw. He wouldn't have missed it this time either, but the ball acted as if it had hit an invisible wall. As it bounced in the opposite direction, its lightning-fast momentum was reduced to a wobbly hover. Then it hung in the air, motionless, and in the blinding sunlight, the red ball glowed like a planet in orbit.

"How did you. . . ?"

The ball dropped to the ground and Joe's eyebrows bobbed. "It's magic."

"Why did he teach you and not me?" Chris wondered out loud.

Joe simply shrugged. He was too consumed by the rustling grass at the edge of the clearing to offer more. "Look who's here."

Chris blocked the sun from his eyes with his hand so that he could see too—dark hair, pale skin, piercing eyes. Cassie didn't exactly blend in with the vegetation. "Mmmm . . . she shouldn't be here."

Joe grandiosely motioned for her to join them. "Why not?"

Cassie emerged into the sunlight, illuminating the area as if she was a light source. Her lavender dress, one he'd never seen her wear before, fell just at the knee. As she walked toward them with cautious poise, the air-light skirt moved with the breeze, exposing a hint of thigh. Her arms were bare to the shoulder, and when she lifted her hand to secure a loose strand of hair, she revealed more of her slim profile than she may have realized.

She didn't seem to notice the sweaty, muscle-clad warriors stop what they were doing to watch. But Chris certainly did. Their eyes were devouring every speck of her bare skin. If their nudges, whispers, and stupid grins were any indication, their minds were quick to fill in the blanks, painting a crisp image of what they couldn't see.

"Um, I don't know," Chris answered sardonically. "Maybe because we're surrounded by hungry flies and in walks the honey."

"Chris, this is one of those times where you should lighten up or you'll go into cardiac arrest."

Instead of lightening up, Chris doled out death threats with his eyes. If the soldiers were too dense to miss his face, they would undoubtedly notice his clenched arms, from fist to bicep.

"And what is going on with you two lately?" Joe went on. "She's your bodyguard. You're hers."

"Nothing!" Chris blurted too quickly, loudly, and defensively to be believable.

He knew it too, and Joe called him on it, from fluttering eyes to the sideways twist of his lips.

"Nothing," Chris whispered to correct himself.