Page 47 of Welcome to Fae Cafe

“Honestly, I thought the faeborn Prince finally got you,” the curly-haired fae—Mor—spoke for the first time. “I’d hoped he had.” He glanced at his nails.

“You can call me Shayne, Human.” The white-haired fae shoved Dranian out of the way like he wanted to get a look at Kate himself. Kate felt like an ant in the shadow of his strong, folded arms. He looked as stunningly appealing as the others, possibly more so. He seemed to have some Asian heritage, but his hair was pure white, and his irises were wildly blue. They studied Kate’s small frame, catching on the mountain tattoo on the side of her neck.

“What does this mean?” He tapped the tattoo with a finger and Kate moved out from between him and the wall, slapping a hand over the side of her neck to hide it.

“It’s none of your business,” she rasped.

All three fae looked at her doubtfully.

Mor stood from his island seat and carried the mug to the sink. He dumped out the liquid with a big splash, getting it all over the counter. There was hardly a speck of clean space left on the countertops.

Kate swallowed. “How many times did you guys try to make coffee?” she asked them, eyeing the half empty bag of sugar.

“Coffeeis repulsive,” Mor muttered. “All human food is repulsive.” He cast Kate a look like it was her fault. His gaze stopped on the pink sweater in her grip, and his brown eyes narrowed. “Where did you get that?” he demanded.

Kate’s fingers tightened around it. “I made it,” she lied.

Mor’s glare promised he didn’t believe her.

Kate turned for the coffee maker and dragged the heavy machine toward herself, nudging a pile of trinkets out of the way. “Let me show you how to make coffeeproperly.”

But Mor’s mug slammed onto the countertop. “You will poison it,” he accused.

Kate blinked. “Poison it? Are you kidding me?”

Minutes later, fresh coffee chugged out into the pot, filling the apartment with the scent all over again. Kate stayed facing the coffee maker as long as she could, even when there was nothing left for her to do.

The fae all scowled at her like one terrible monster with six eyes.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. Kate turned and faced them, forcing herself to keep her chin up. “Now that I’ve shown you how to not trash the kitchen with coffee filters, tell me who you are and what you’re really doing here,” she said to Mor especially.

Mor bit his lips together in a way that looked painful. He looked off and flicked one of the tentacles of Kate’s aloe vera plant. His neck flexed, and a vein became prominent.

“Don’t fight it, Mor.” Shayne sighed. “You know you’ll blurt it out eventually.”

“I’m not trying to command you like some heartless master or whatever. But I need answers,” Kate said. “You’re here to kill me after all, right? It’s not cool to leave me guessing.”

An exasperated breath left Mor. “My unhidden name isMor,” he finally said with a deep voice. “My real name is”—his throat bobbed—“one of the ones you uttered in the library of the human academy. I’m an assassin of the North Corner Brotherhood of Assassins. Yes, I’m here to kill you.”

Kate’s fingers traced over the dull thuds in her chest. “Right. And why did you choose to become someone who…killspeople? Tell me the story.”

Mor cracked his knuckles, seeming to fight a snarl. “I was born in the Dark Corner of Ever among the Shadow Fairies. I abandoned the Shadow army during the war for their immoral choices. I met Prince Cressica on the battlefield when we were both sixteen faeborn years old, fighting against the Dark Corner. He and I got separated from those we fought alongside, and so we fought together, and we survived the war that way. He brought me back to the North and petitioned the High Court for me to join him in the North Brotherhood.” He paused and glanced off. “I did not know he was a prince of the North, nor did I know whose ward he was when I met him. The luck of the sky deities was on my side that day.”

Kate fiddled with a dirty mug on the counter. “How old were you when you decided to leave your family?”

“I was fifteen faeborn years old when I left. But I do not pity my past self.”

“Do you miss them?” Kate dared to ask. She couldn’t meet his eyes. She slid the mug over and dropped it in the sink as quiet came over the apartment.

Dranian looked like he might split Kate’s counter in half. He inhaled and exhaled loudly, and he began to pace. His footsteps weren’t light.

“Yes.”

Kate noticed Dranian and Shayne both glance at Mor in surprise.

Mor went to the window and turned his back to the room. His dark eyes flickered over the streets. It seemed like the conversation was over. Kate chewed on her lip as she thought about his story. She turned to Dranian and Shayne.

“What about you two?” she asked them and hugged her arms to herself. There was no normal way to have a conversation with people who wanted her dead, but the first rule of negotiation in every spy novel was to make your captor reveal things about themselves, and in turn reveal things about yourself to try and build up sympathy. Though, Kate hadn’t expected Mor’s story to be like that.

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