Page 52 of Welcome to Fae Cafe

Why she’d stopped to help the childling in the academy hall.

Why she’d sneaked outside her building to help an aged woman and donated her yellow sweater when the woman was cold while the assassins had stalked her.

Queensbane.

Cress dropped the pen onto the table and stood as the windows darkened. Icy rain began pounding against the glass, the sound roaring through the small house now.

There was no more time for Cress to dally around with Thelma Lewis, to try and lure Kate Kole out, or to try new, clever games. He needed to find her,now, even if he had to fight his way through his own brothers to do it.

Cress could hardly breathe.

He could not fallin lovewith a human.

Cress stood across the road, waiting for Shayne to glance up from lazily washing a dish in the lower level of Kate Kole’s building. When the white-haired fairy finally looked out the window, he almost didn’t spot Cress there, leaning against the tavern wall.

Cress waved.

The fairy’s bright blue eyes widened. Shayne scuttled around the counter and slipped out of the building unnoticed. Mor and Dranian were still upstairs with the human target. They would catch Cress’s scent soon if he didn’t hurry.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Shayne said as he crossed the road. “All my instincts are telling me to attack you for being this close to the human.”

“I needed to speak with you about the enchanted kiss that went wrong,” Cress whispered, tugging Shayne around the side of the building. “What are you wearing?” The Prince made a face at Shayne’s human cooking apron.

“I’m cleaning,” Shayne said. “Well, I’msort ofcleaning. Honestly, I just flit around from corner to corner until Mor and Dranian do everything.”

Cress rubbed his temples. Though the thought of his immaculately trained, glory-receiving assassins cleaning human dirt placed the hottest shade of blue fire in his faeborn veins, he reminded himself of his larger problem.

“I’m enchanted, you fool. What do I do?” he asked.

Shayne grinned with obnoxious wideness. Cress scowled and looked off, fighting the impulse to tear the apron off the light featured fairy and hurtle it across the human city.

“You just have to reverse it,” Shayne said. “I did it with Lady Rosebellow when I was a childling. She enchanted me with a kiss, and so I enchanted her right back. Only one can be enchanted at a time, you know.”

Cress’s rounded eyes darted back. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?!”

Shayne put his hands on his hips. “Queensbane, where were you when the rest of us were studying defense at the Assassins’ House? Most of what I know of these things aren’t even from my childling days at the academy!”

“I was on assignment more than the rest of you,” Cress pointed out, and Shayne rolled his eyes.

“Yes, yes, you wereso much betterthan all of us. Please, keep reminding everyone,” he said.

Cress snarled and glanced back at the building. “She’ll probably smack me if I try to kiss her again.”

Another grin spread over Shayne’s face. “Yes, she seems absolutely fantastic like that.”

“I’ll have to think of a way to make sure she endures the kiss and doesn’t pull away too soon, now that she knows my play. This must work.”

Shayne’s irritating smile was full and glowing like the sun. “Careful, Cress. You’re going to make her your forever mate at this rate. You’re dabbling in things you’re not good at.”

“I’m good at everything,” Cress objected.

“You’re dreadful at romance. You’re like a crossbeast blazing through a twig forest. You leave a mess.”

“That isnottrue.”

Shayne snorted a laugh. “Well, hurry it up then before you enter the territorial stage. If you can’t shake this, you might start ripping other males apart for standing too close to her, and no one wants to see you go through that embarrassment.” Shayne tapped his chin and added, “And remember, if you plan to kiss her, don’t tell me. I have to beat you up if I find out you’ve touched her.”

17

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