Page 115 of Welcome to Fae Cafe

Human cameras fell off their legs one by one and tumbled to the road around the scene.

A male officer glanced over at Shayne’s crossbow as the fairies approached. He nodded. “Nice,” was all he said.

Cress studied the building’s entrance. “Is that where the human hostages are?” he asked the same male officer.

The officer looked at Cress oddly, but he nodded again. “I hope they’re still alive. There hasn’t been a livestream video in over twenty minutes.”

Cress sniffed. “They’re alive.” He turned to Mor just as the fairy returned. “Get us inside.”

And just like that, the four fairy assassins vanished into thin air.

In the same second, they appeared in a dark room. Humans in masks jumped in surprise; one of them shrieked.

Lily’s face was tear stained. “Thank goodness!” she said, crumpling forward. Her hands were bound behind her back.

Human weapons were raised. Dranian slid left to stab, and Shayne fired an arrow at the human on the right. The human weapon stones meant to pierce Cress’s princely flesh fired off at obscure angles and went into the walls. Cress waited until his assassins finished. Then he let his dark, cold turquoise gaze settle on the masked humans who had ruined his hideous human sweaters Christmas Eve party.

“Who are you…?” one of them dared to ask.

“Cressica Alabastian, High Prince of the North Corner,” Cress answered. “You might as well start bowing.”

Human shrieks erupted when the fairies swept through, kicking and snapping knees.

“That’s what you get, thugs!” Lily shouted at them as justice was served. Her black eyelash ink ran down her cheeks in streams.

Soon every human in the room apart from Lily Baker and Officer Connor Backs was wailing and kneeling.

“Officer Riley?” Connor Backs blinked like a fool as though he’d just woken from a deep sleep. He was a full twenty seconds too late in registering what was happening.

Lily’s hands shook when Cress tore the binds from her wrists. She failed to stand on her wobbly legs, so he lifted her to carry her out. Shayne, on the other hand, picked up Connor Backs and flung him over his shoulder with the officer’s wrists still bound and his human rear up. The fairy carried him out that way.

“I totally thought I was going to get my fingers chopped off or something,” Lily said through heavy breaths. “Don’t tell Kate about this,” she begged.

“I’m afraid she already knows, Human,” Cress said as he carried her out the front of the building. The crowds exploded with surprise and cheers. Police officers all down the road lowered their weapons.

Two fixed cameras took it all in.

“So much for being faeborn subtle,” Mor said.

Shayne laughed. “Did you actually think we’d get away with no one noticing we were here?” he asked, patting Connor Backs on the buttocks.

“I’ll deliver you to the human medical building,” Cress told Lily. “But make no mistake, Lily Baker, if you ever trick a fairy into eating a raisin cookie again, the sky deities will show no mercy. I hope you realize that what happened here today was punishment for that wretched cookie I ate this morning.”

“I saw him,” Connor mumbled from where he hung over Shayne’s back. Shayne turned so Connor could see the others. “The guy who was telling all the bad guys what to do…”

It seemed Connor Backs was muttering nonsense after his little fright with the humans. Cress sighed and trotted the rest of the way down the stairs.

“Who?” Lily called back to ask. She still looked as though she might faint. “What guy? I never saw a guy. And what do you mean ‘bad guys’, Connor? Call themculpritslike a real cop.”

“He had weird silver eyes. And I swear he disappeared into thin air.” Connor’s voice slipped through the wind, running along the back of Cress’s neck and inching into his faeborn heart.

At Cress’s side, Mor stopped walking.

Dranian cursed.

Cress felt the reddest anger and darkest fear in existence burn through his veins.

Cress pushed into the café, snapping the bell right off its perch. His faeborn heart quickened as he spotted Kate’s-brother-Greyson sitting on the floor in a trance, shuddering and hugging his knees to himself. The human’s two loud friends were stricken beside him, shouting into their magic mirrors at other humans asking all sorts of questions from their side. The rest of the café was empty.

---