Page 104 of Welcome to Fae Cafe

The rest of the fae lifted their naked hot dogs and began taking cautious bites; Shayne dragged his through ketchup first.

“Mmm.” Shayne nodded. “This is good. I like human food,” he said.

Greyson laughed like Shayne was making a joke. He shoved the rest of the hot dog into his mouth and reached for another, and Kate wondered if she should tell Greyson that Shayne hadn’t been making a joke.

She came to the counter. Cress’s gaze darted to her without the coldness that had kept her on edge all week.

A second later, the Prince went back to eating and reached for the ketchup. After heaping a puddle onto his plate, he tipped the bottle over and squeezed some onto Dranian’s plate, too. A lob fell on Dranian’s leg, and the auburn-haired fae scowled. Cress cracked a smile that warmed the layer of frost in Kate’s chest.

The apartment door swung open and banged against the wall.

“I got sweaters for the party!” Lily hauled a thrift store bag into the room. She carried it to the kitchenette and dropped it on the counter, knocking over the mustard. The first sweater she pulled out was a forest green knit with a reindeer and a red button for a nose. She threw it at Greyson, who lit up and held the oversized garment up to his shoulders.

Lily tossed sweaters at each of the fae, then tossed one to Kate. Kate ran her fingers over the yarn. She hadn’t told Lily yet about anything that had happened since Grandma Lewis’s funeral. She was too worried about what Lily might do if she found out about the Shadow Fairies and what they did to Mor. Lily was under the impression Mor had just burned his mouth on coffee.

“Mine isn’t ugly at all,” Kate said when she held hers up.

“Then trade me, Human,” Cress said. He turned his around to reveal an oversized brown thing with wood toggles and a patch over the chest pocket that said: SANTA’S HELPER. “Mine is hideous.”

“It’s supposed to be ugly. It’s anUgly Christmas Sweater Party,” Lily said.

Cress eyed Lily doubtfully. “Who’s Santa? And why must I help him?” he asked.

“I amnotan elf!” Dranian stood from his seat, red cheeked. His sweater dangled from his fist, and he shoved it back toward Lily.

“What’s the problem?” Lily opened it to see, and Cress, Shayne, and Mor burst out laughing. Shayne even threw his head back and roared.

“It’s insulting!” Dranian growled.

Lily made a face. “It just says ‘Christmas Elf’. What’s so bad about that?”

“I’m not wearing it.”

“Fine.” Lily put her hands on her hips. “You can show up wearing nothing then.”

“Careful, Human. He might do that,” Cress warned.

“Mine is awesome,” Greyson said, pulling his on over his hoodie. “I’m wearing this sledding tomorrow.”

“Sledding? What is that?” Dranian mumbled in what seemed like a pathetic attempt to change the subject.

“It’s where crazy humans hop on speeding boards and plummet down a hill,” Kate said. “It’s actually fun.” She didn’t add that it would also be the perfect distraction from all that had happened.

“You guys can come. I’m going with Lincoln and Tegan in the morning,” Greyson said before taking another bite of his hotdog.

“We try not to leave here if we don’t have to.” Shayne folded his arms and stole an odd look at Cress across the counter. But then he added with a grin, “Our human bosses are mean.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “I’m taking your sweater back,” she threatened, almost smiling.

“I’ll go with you,” Kate told Greyson.

Cress’s gaze darted over to her, landing heavy and warm. It looked like he was about to object, but he said, “I’ll come, too.”

“Cool.” Greyson launched into a story about how he and Lincoln had built the world’s biggest sandcastle in Florida and how they planned to build an even bigger castle out of snow. But the voices in Kate’s apartment seemed to fade when seconds passed, and Cress didn’t look away.

Kate didn’t look away, either.

After she’d found out about the bargain, Kate had tried to convince herself she’d be fine with her life once Cress was gone. But deep down she knew she would never be fine with letting him go back to that place to meet such a terrible fate.

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