Fated Consorts Full Series Bundle

It’s happening again. This time, in public. Water clogs my mouth and nose. I kick my feet and stroke upward with my head tipped up, desperate for air, but it’s no use. Everything around me is dark, and I’m convulsing. Dying.
I’ve been drowning for weeks.
The dreams come while I’m wide awake and nowhere near water. The current dream releases me, and I cough, clearing my lungs from the imaginary liquid as the nightmare fades.
Sitting up, I frown and climb back onto the bench in front of my local gym. Grass sticks to my sweaty yoga pants, and I idly brush it away while doing a quick scan of the area.
One of the women from my self-defense class stands several feet away, gawking at me. I flip my hair saucily and pretend her Krav Maga instructor didn’t just have what undoubtedly looked like a nervous breakdown.
I run a hand through my tangled black hair and focus on breathing. Oxygen always tastes better after one of my weirdo daymares. As the woman gives up staring and hurries to her car, I chase my shots of oxygen with a few sips of water.
Above me, the stars twinkle like little sparkly eyes, laughing down at me for my dramatic display. Like the damn stars don’t have anything better to do than gawk at my awkwardness. . .
“Hey, partner,” a familiar voice says just as a body drops onto the empty space beside me.
“Hey, Finn.” Partner means partner in crime. However, Finn is typically
getting me out of trouble rather than helping me get into it.
I offer a weak smile and note the way his cheeks are still flushed from
playing my “victim” in our recent class.
“You okay?” he asks, studying me closely.
“Yeah, totally fine. Why?”
“You fell off the bench,” Finn says, and I groan.
“You saw that?”

“El, everyone in the parking lot and half the lobby saw it.” His voice is gentle but also full of laughter. Finn’s been my friend long enough to know I’m a puzzle.
“Whatever, I just tripped.”
Finn grins.
“You were sitting down.”
“That’s a thing. Tripping out of a chair,” I say, but Finn shakes his head. “At least you didn’t break something. The water cooler still hasn’t been
replaced since you knocked it over last week.”
I wince at the reminder, deeply relieved that Finn finds it amusing now instead of weird. A simple drink of water had turned into a full-on daymare, and I’d somehow drop-kicked the cooler, flooding the break room with five gallons of water. By the time I’d come to my senses, Finn had pinned me to the wall. Apparently, I’d been calling him a demon and trying to claw his eyes out.
Although Finn had been worried at the time, he’d covered for me with our manager. Blamed it on the equipment being faulty and even broke the water tower stand to prove it.
“You did good tonight,” Finn says, rotating his ankle. “That last takedown left me sore.”
“Really?” I ask, not sure whether to believe him but relieved for the
change of subject.
“Really. You’re getting stronger.”
His brown eyes sparkle with something. Pride? Whatever it is, I don’t miss the toned arm that dangles from the bench behind me or attractive slant of his brows or the way his hair spikes kind of crazily now that he’s worked out. Finn’s not hard to look at, but for the year we’ve been friends, there’s been nothing romantic between us. And I’ve watched with fascination while he steers clear of the women who try for romance. I’m not sure why.
Finn is a lone wolf. Then again, so am I.