Page 5 of A Bargain with the Fae King

“There was a bear,” I say between breaths filled with the tang of algae and fish from the nearby lake.

I don’t mention the whisper on the breeze. Probably just my imagination again. What would I say? I snort air through my nose and glance away. They don’t even know about the man I see in my dreams.

Elise cuts my dad an alarmed look and brushes her blond ponytail behind her.

“John…” Her voice is a plea.

Dad shrugs, looking for all the world like the Brawny paper towel man in his red plaid. “What? It’s just a bear. Ain’t the first, won’t be the last.”

Just a bear. Right. I shift on my feet and stare out over the water. Except, I’m not so sure. Not anymore.

Something about this place is unique, and maybe it’s not just my love for it.

Chapter 2

Myfavoritepartofthe day is the end. It’s the time when I can snuggle down under too many blankets and drift away to a place where I’m not the girl who almost killed her sister. Or the one who had to drop out of college to help with the medical bills.

Okay, maybe ‘had to’ isn’t right. Actually, Dad insisted I not drop out. Can’t blame him for not wanting me around the house. But what was I going to do? Show back up after Christmas break, force a smile, and answer the “how was your break?” question over and over? There’re only so many times I can lie. Eventually, I’d end up saying, “Oh, it was great, until I almost killed May in a stupid car crash and made my family hate me.” Yeah, that’d go over great. Wouldn’t have gotten spread around campus at all. Though truthfully, they probably knew already. Small town and all. The pitying looks would have been even worse.

Making coffee is infinitely preferable. I take an order. Fill it. My paycheck goes toward May’s physical therapy, or as much as Dad will let me, and I’m there for her. Somehow, she still wants me around all the time, even after what I’ve done. Like tonight, May insists on snuggling under my blanket, her head on my shoulder, as we watch her favorite animated movie for the hundredth time.

But honestly, there’s no place I’d rather be. One perk of putting my future on hold is all the time we get to spend together now. She won’t be young forever, won’t want to hang out with her big sister who, frankly, could pass for her mom.

By the time I fall asleep, I’ve almost forgotten about selling the cabin, the bear—everything.

I wake with a start and jerk upright in bed.

The room is awash in gray and not just from the moonlight spilling through the window onto the green-and-yellow quilt Grandma made for me as a little girl. It’s not a dream, but neither am I awake.

My heart leaps. My skin tingles.

“Riven.” Without error, I find him in the shadows.

“You’re here.” His voice cracks, raspy and willowy as his shadowed form. But beyond it, I taste the richness, the strength of the man who held me on that terrible night. “You came back.”

“Back?” My brows furrow. To our cabin? I can barely process his words. He’s here. He’s the one who came back.

He steps into the stream of moonlight, which pierces him like a fogged window. Even so, his form is vivid, colorful, so much morerealthan he’s been over the recent months. Pointed ears poke out from the long, brown hair trailing down over his shoulders. Sharp cheekbones accent a strong and balanced face. Proof that no matter how bad I want it, what he says, or the flowers I found in my hand that morning, he can’t be real. No guy looks like that.

And, oh, how I wish I could touch him. I can lose minutes, hours, thinking about the feel of his hand in mine that first night or the strength of his body when he pulled me close. I want that, crave it. Until this moment, I didn’t realize how much I missed him, how much I’d come to rely on our stolen moments together—whatever they are.

Riven sits on the edge of my bed, and I’d swear I feel the mattress dip. “To the forest. To the door.”

“The door to where?” I rub the quilt between my fingers. Solid. Comforting.

The hint of a smile flickers on his face. “To my home. Come with me, Lia. Please, we need you.” He unfurls his palm. “Ineed you.”

That open hand could be holding a diamond the size of my fist for the way my throat goes dry and my heart skips a beat. It’s all I can see, all I want. I reach for him.

Our fingers touch, solid as the bed under me. My eyes fly wide. A shiver races across my skin. And then my hand slips through his, washed in cold emptiness. My own personal friendly ghost—like always. I called him Casper once, but he just looked at me funny. Figures he wouldn’t know who that is.

“How can I find you?” My whispered words are too loud in the hazy silence.

One moment he’s sitting on the bed; the next he’s right next to me, inches from my face. A gasp lodges in my throat as the scent of honeysuckle swarms my senses.

Riven leans in, his lips a breath from mine. “Come to the circle on the hill.”

The dream pops like a bubble as I wake, gasping for breath in my room. The spot on the bed where he’d been is smooth and flat. Not even the smallest wrinkle mars the green leaves sewn into the little quilt squares.

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