Page 72 of Welcome to Fae Cafe

Prince Cressica and the Baristas He Knew

Only the glowing patches from the human lamps on the road gave the night any life. Cress waited at the streetside until the silhouette of Mor’s curly hair appeared in the alley. Shayne’s crossbow was in his grip, but the assassins were otherwise unarmed. Though it was dark, Cress saw that they were dressed in decorative, human-like garments, and their silken fairy hair was smoothed back and not loose as it should be.

“Your Highness!” Dranian’s shadowy shape dipped into a bow, and Cress bristled at the formality. He opened his mouth to speak but Mor cut him off.

“Cress, where in the cursed human realm have you been?” Mor stepped into a patch of light. “We didn’t know if you were alive!”

“It’s complicated. I had to keep my distance. I’ve only come here now to warn you.” Cress hugged his damp arms to himself. Mor pulled off his fancy human jacket and handed it over, so Cress took it without objection and stuffed his arms inside.

“What’s the warning?” Shayne asked from where he and Dranian remained in the darkness.

Cress scuffed his wet hair as he sorted his words, but he was cut off by Mor’s deep voice again.

“Why haven’t you contacted us in aweek? Why did you disappear after you were left in that alley to die?”

“Left to die? It was just a few broken bones, Mor. I melded them back together. What in the faeborn Corners did you think happened to me?”

“Kate said you were nearly dead,” Mor said, his brows pulling in.

“Kate…?” Cress said, articulating her name spoken so casually from his assassin’s mouth. He almost said several things in response. Almost, but he held up a hand instead. “That’s not important.” Cress took in a deep breath. “The Shadow Fairies are in the human realm.”

Silence filled all the cracks and spaces between the four assassins. Cress waited as the heaviness of the news settled in.

“You’re not just being funny, right Cress?” Shayne tugged on the drawstring of his crossbow and inched toward the puddle of light.

Cress made a face. “When have I ever done that?” he asked. “I sniffed fresh traces of them in the academy when we were there. Then I smelled them in the park and followed their trail. I saw them for the first time at another human library not far from here.”

“That doesn’t make any faeborn sense. How did they sneak past our Queene?” Mor asked.

Shayne scratched his head. “Do you suppose they came through the Seoul gate and took a human air vessel to get here?”

“No,” Cress said. “They came throughourgate. The North gate.”

“How do you know that?” Shayne asked.

“Because Bonswick is with them.”

One of the assassins inhaled sharply—Cress did not see who. Shayne’s blue gaze darted to the rooftops, his fingers drifting back to his arrows to loosen one. Mor looked over his shoulder toward the dark alley they came from, then both ways down the street.

Dranian stepped into the light to meet Cress. His dark auburn brows were furrowed, his flesh appeared tight. “Do you think…” He swallowed. “Do you think they’re here for us?”

Cress shifted his feet. “Our Queene still can’t seem to decide if she wants me as her heir or if she’s jealous of my power and wants me dead. That wicked faeborn female.” He muttered the last part.

Mor had a strange look on his face. His gaze dropped to the sidewalk.

Shayne loaded his arrow and kept his shooting hand on the bow’s trigger. “Do we kill the Shadow Fairies, then? Do we try to negotiate? Do we…” He chewed on his lip. “Do we go back to the Queene and try to beg for forgiveness for whatever we did to bother her?”

“Absolutely not,” Cress said. “The Dark cannot be negotiated with, and we cannot go back to the High Court when we have yet to kill that human who’s enchanted me.”

“Go inside, you two,” Mor abruptly said to Shayne and Dranian. His silvery brown eyes hovered on Cress. “There’s something I need to speak to our Prince about.”

Shayne’s hands tightened around his bow. A beat of silence passed, but the two assassins dipped their heads and left. Their silent footsteps carried them back to the dimly lit café. Neither of them turned their heads or ears to the road to eavesdrop.

“What’s this about, Mor?” Cress asked when Shayne’s white hair disappeared inside.

Mor stared with hard, unblinking eyes. “That enchantment should have worn off a week ago.”

Cress’s mouth tipped down at the corners. “What are you implying?”

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