Page 280 of Volik

I wrap my arms around his neck and hold myself up until we’re face-to-face. “Volik.”

“Da?”

“I love you.”

His worry melts away. “Da.”

I roll my eyes.

“I love you too, my Nixy.”

“I also love this pool.” I make sure he can hear how much I mean it. “I want to learn. And there’s no one I’d rather learn with.” I kiss the tip of his nose.

“Okay. Let us learn.” Volik jumps up, with me still in his arms, and splashes us into the pool.

“Volik!” I laugh as our clothes soak through. “Can you at least warm up the water?”

He lowers me to my feet, then sends a burst of heat into the water.

I grin, because now we just have a giant hot tub.

“Ready?”

I keep grinning. “Sure. How do we start?”

“I watched some videos.” Volik moves so his back is against the side.

I have some doubts. Based mostly on the fact that the pool looks about twelve feet wide. And with his horns, Volik is over eight feet tall.

Not to mention the pointy horns…

Then Volik does a little hop as he pushes forward to swim across the surface.

But he sinks.

Like a damn boulder.

Straight to the bottom.

Chapter 130

Volik

Ihold the blanket up, and Nix scoots closer to me on the couch.

Neither of us mastered swimming. But we did practice jumping out of the water from a lying position until Nix felt comfortable with it.

After, Nixy let me dry her hair.

I doubt she will develop true Fire Touch. But her heat is growing. And I suspect she will be able to dry her hair and heat her own drinks soon.

Though I also suspect she will continue to let me do it. Because I like it.

She yawns, and I lower the blanket over both of us. Nix snuggles into my side.

She rests her head against me, and I start the movie.

Chapter 131