We finished eating and Citrine and the male guard were still sitting in a tree watching us. Well, the male was watching us. Like before, Citrine seemed to be paying very little attention.

"Are they just going to watch us all night?" Mark asked quietly.

"Watch and listen," Tate smiled. "You'll have to be quieter than that if you don't want them to hear you." His voice was so soft, I almost couldn't hear him from five feet away.

"They can hear us from way over there?" I asked, automatically thinking of all the times Mark or Clara was talking to me about Ash while he was closer than that. He had to have heard us. Oh man, Clara said some really embarrassing things.

Smiling sheepishly, Ash nodded, "Our hearing's a lot better than yours." I felt my face turn pink and he rushed on, "I did try not to listen, though."

Tate laughed, "I didn't."

I didn't know what to say, I just stared at them in mortified disbelief.

Ash looked like he felt bad. "I heard some things, but it wasn't on purpose. Like the first time I saw you, when you fell and you were embarrassed worrying if I'd seen you..."

"Oh my crap, stop talking, you're making it worse," I buried my face in my hands and Mark cracked up. Smacking him on the arm I said, "Don't laugh!"

"Oh come on, manita. It's no big deal, it's cute."

Ash chuckled, "It really was Jolie; I found it endearing. As I'm sure Tate found it cute when Mark thought he was dreaming earlier today. What was it he said about you, Tate?"

I glanced at Mark, and he looked like he wanted something to crawl under. Tate was a little too smug.

Clearing his throat, Tate said, "If I remember correctly, and I'm sure I do," he paused to wink at Mark, and I almost laughed. "He said, this badass god of war thing I have going on is pretty freaking hot."

My mouth fell open in surprise. Mark never said stuff like that; he must have really thought he was dreaming. I looked at him sitting there with his knees pulled up and his head resting on his arms to hide his face.

He was more embarrassed than I'd ever seen him and it wasn't funny. Giving Ash and Tate each an irritated look, I moved closer to Mark.

Lowering my voice as much as I could I said, "Well you weren't wrong, he is pretty freaking hot; but he knows it, yuck."

I poked him in the side until he peeked up at me. "You, on the other hand, are an Efron level hottie, who's also an amazing and humble person. Know your worth."

He gave me a little nod, "Thanks for not laughing at me."

I shrugged, "That's the first time I've heard you say something like that about a guy. Now I know your type."

I looked at Tate and Ash, obviously trying to look like they weren't listening and lowered my voice even more, "I guess when we get home, we're going to have to find a biker bar or something. We can make Clara go with us, she'll love it."

Mark busted out laughing, "Yeah, you pegged my type," he rolled his eyes at me and I laughed. Whispering he said, "Can you believe we're in faerie land?"

I shook my head, "Can you believe my boyfriend is a freaking faerie?"

"I know, it's crazy. I told them about your fighting, I hope you're not mad."

I shrugged, "I was probably going to tell him soon anyway." I would have told Ash already, but I was worried about his reaction.

When we were younger, some boys seemed to think my learning to fight was a challenge to them; it led to a couple of fights in school. I was only defending myself, but school rules don't care. After that, Mom and I decided it was best if we didn't tell people about my hobby. 

Only one guy has found out since we've been older and he was totally put off by it. I guess if he was going to date a girl, he needed to know he'd win in a fight. I didn't expect that from Ash, but I really liked him and I didn't want to be disappointed.

Thankfully, Tate and Ash had started their own conversation. I took a deep breath and asked, "What did they say?"

"It was fine, don't worry. Ash was understandably surprised, and Tate seemed impressed. They're not dumb kids, I think they were both glad to hear you could protect yourself."

I nodded, "OK."

After that, we talked for a while about unimportant things; I think we both needed a break from the craziness. We tried to guess what Clara's reaction would be if she was here.

That led us to a conversation about what other mythical things could be real. We decided unicorns would be cool but leprechauns seem too creepy. To be fair, it was probably because of those disturbing leprechaun movies, but once that image is in your head, it's hard to get out.

We talked about anything to avoid talking about Mom, or the trials, or the fact that we were in a cage surrounded by faeries that either didn't like us or were too scared to show they liked us.

The guys left us alone and gave us this break. They were talking the whole time too. Hopefully, they were being more productive and figuring out how we're going to get out of here.

When we ran out of mundane things to talk about we just sat quietly. It didn't take long for Ash to notice, and he and Tate stopped talking too.

Walking over to us Ash reached down to help me stand. "It's late we should rest for a while."

"OK," I looked back at Mark and he nodded to me before laying back on the ground.

Ash seemed to want a little space for us; he led me to the far side of the cage and we stopped to lay down. It was starting to get cold, I wasn't looking forward to another night sleeping out here. When we laid down facing each other, he pulled me close and it wasn't so bad.

Actually, it was pretty great. I curled into his warm chest and closed my eyes as he covered us with a wing.

My eyes flew open. Looking up at him, I didn't know what to say. Was it rude that I wanted to touch his wings? I guess not if he can use them like a blanket, right?

Looking down at me, he spoke softly, "So, I heard your boyfriend is a freaking faerie."

I let out a little laugh at him mimicking my words.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I was going to, I swear. Actually, the night you were taken."

I rested my hand on his cheek. "I know, I already figured that out. You don't have to be sorry, I understand. I wasn't even ready to tell you about my fighting and your thing is a way bigger deal."

"I'd say your fighting is a pretty big deal. Mark said you do it because you like it. Is that true?"

I nodded, this was it. This was when he started thinking I was weird and girls should have some other hobby.

"OK." I looked at him in surprise, and he said, "I didn't like seeing you injured, but this is something you should be proud of. From what Mark said, you're very skilled. He told us the two of you practice together; that you spar with each other."

"We do, we have for years. His mom wouldn't let him take lessons, so I would always come home and show him what I was taught. Then we would practice together. His punches are crazy fast, he keeps me on my toes."

"When we get back to your world, do you think I could watch you practice?"

I thought that would be kind of cool actually but for some reason, the idea of him watching me fight made me nervous. I'd be easy pickings for Mark that day. "Yeah, if you want to."

"I'd like that."

He kissed me on the forehead and I wrapped my arm around his waist to pull myself closer to him. That was better than any reaction I could've hoped for. If there was any question left in my mind, that settled it. I loved Ash. No matter what, I loved him.

He ran his hand down my side making me shiver. "Are you cold?"

"No."

I looked up at him and he kissed me. This wasn't like any of the other times we'd kissed. Neither of us was nervous, we knew what we were to each other. We were in love and we were a team.   

"I will get you home, Jolie."

"I know. I trust you."

He ran his hand through my hair and drew my head to his chest. "Rest, love. We have a big day tomorrow."

I didn't think I'd be able to, but I relaxed against him and fell asleep instantly.