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quick peck on the lips and jumped up from his chair to join Brennan in a game of toss on the beach. Anya peeled off the huge beach bag and eased down into the lounge chair next to me.
    “Hey Ruby! You’re looking ever-so-sweet and in love this morning!” she replied with a bright smile .
    I blushed, returning the smile and sighed. “Yeah, ever-so-sweet and apparently, a super-fast swimmer now too.” Anya raised her eyebrows, “Oh , really? Do you mean, a super super -fast swimmer? Like a certain ah — someone we used to know?”
    I nodded. “ Mmmm .”
    “I see,” she replied with pursed lips as she stared out into the water. Then, she let out a quick sigh of resolve and nodded her head firmly. “Well. It’s a good thing. At least you got the power of swimming instead of the power of flight. That might have been… ahh …awkward, if you suddenly leapt off a step and floated into the air in front of somebody.”
    “Wait. That could actually happen?!?” I shrieked.
    “Well, of course!” Anya answered, as if I w as supposed to know this already. “But, it didn’t. So there’s no need to worry about it.”
    “Well , what if it does happen!? You said yourself that you didn’t know what gifts or powers or magic or whateverthehell else you call it could happen to me…what if that happens too? And please, please, please tell me I’m not going to sprout wings.”
    Anya was shaking her head, “Oh. Of course not! And as for flying…It’s very unlikely. When dragons pass their magic on to another being through death, especially through such a small bite – such as the one you got – they usually only pass on one special gift.”
    “Yeah, but I already got the gift of Fairy hearing…remember? So, doesn’t my super-fast swimming ability make that two already?”
    “Not really,” Anya answered calmly . “That’s not so special. Everyone in Fey can communicate like that. It’s just part of our nature. But super-fast swimming, that’s something exclusive to the Water Court.”
    “Wait. So you mean you and Brennan can’t swim fast ? Like, you guys haven’t just been ‘faking’ being slower around me all this time?”
    Anya laughed. “Nope. We aren’t. And, we haven’t. W e are part of the Earthen Court – not the Water Court. Our special gifts have more to do with strength, pulling energy from the Earth, manipulating the Earth , and things like that. You want me to start a landslide or an avalanche for you somewhere? I’m your girl. But, if you want me to swim the English Channel, well, you’d beat me, hands down.” Okay. The “ starting an avalanche ” comment had me a bit uneasy, but I was also a little excited at the thought that I might actually be better than Anya and Brennan at something. I’m usually just so…so…regular!
    “No way!” I laughed, “ so… like…you suck in the water?”
    “I didn’t say that!” Anya retorted, getting a bit irritated. “We’re faster than most humans in the water, but nowhere near as fast as the Water Sprites, Mermaid s and Dragons of the Water Court. Those are the true champion swimmers of Fey. And now it seems, so are you!” she smiled again, her irritation fading.
    My mouth fell open in slight disbelief as I shook my head, “I don’t think I hea rd you right. Did you just say… Mermaid s?!?”
    Now it was Anya’s turn to laugh. “Of course I did, silly! Who else would be in the Water Court? You didn’t really think all those myths were just myths , did you?” she shook her head playfully at me.
    “Uh. Yeah. I kinda did,” I answered as I sunk back into my lounge chair.

 
    Chapter 7
     
    Anya laid back on her beach chair too and flipped her sunglasses down over her eyes, shaking her head and smiling. “ Ohhhh , Ruby…”
    I stubbornly retorted, “Don’t ‘Oh Ruby’ me! How am I supposed to know about all this stuff? So what other mythical creatures are in the Water Court?”
    She thought and started listing the