Page 94 of Welcome to Fae Cafe

Cress reached around her for the plate and took it to the table. “You’re still a fool when it comes to the fairy laws,” he said. “It’s a miracle you managed to enslave my brothers. And now your rhythms are so loud, they’re impossible to ignore. Don’t you know what that does to someone with a fairy crush?” He mumbled the last part.

Kate put a hand over the pulse in her neck again like that might somehow silence it. She made a face at his back as she followed him to the table and sat. But she almost jumped when something thudded against the kitchen window.

Cress stepped over and pushed aside the thick curtains. A wild blizzard raged outside. He scowled at it and dropped the curtains to come sit.

All the lights in the house flickered, and a second later, everything went dark.

Neither of them moved to find a light or open the curtains. Kate could see a vague silhouette of Cress’s side, but that was all.

“This weather is crazy,” she said through the dark.

“That may be my fault,” he mumbled.

Cress’s fingers slid over hers on the table. He turned her hand so her palm was up, and a second later, a warm cookie was set on top. “If Thelma was here, she’d bite at you for not eating before the food got cold,” he said.

A smile spread across Kate’s face. She was glad it was too dark for him to see the tears that filled her eyes, or her stupid grin. “Yeah, she would have.” But she went still when a dishtowel dabbed her cheek, catching the tears. She felt the light heat of being watched by him.

“Can you see me?” she asked quietly.

“Yes. Perfectly.”

She took the towel and brushed the tears away herself. A moment of silence passed before either one of them spoke again.

“If I stay until the human Yule celebrations, you may have to flee this city and hide somewhere far away from the gate after I leave,” Cress said.

“I’m not leaving my city.”

“You might have to, Katherine.”

Katherine.

Kate broke her cookie into pieces without eating it. “Why?”

“Because Shadow Fairies love to torment humans. And they’ll come for you once I’m gone if they detect… Well, it won’t be safe foryou, especially,” he said. “The Dark and I have a bad faeborn-cursed history. I’m the hated, young North Prince whose armies drove them back into their Corner. Ordinarily, they wouldn’t touch me without the consent of my Queene, but…”

“But what?” Kate squinted, trying to see his face through the darkness.

“I believe my Queene has given them permission to kill me. Possibly even hired them to. My brothers and I are waiting to see if they strike first.”

Kate dropped her cookie puzzle to the table. “What? Is this a joke? Those fae who were following us the other day…”

“They may have reasons for being here. Which is why I have a good reason to leave.”

“Didn’t you say your High Court mightkillyou for going back home without completing your task?” Kate asked. “Isn’t it crazy to return to those people, Cress?”

“Perhaps.”

“Then stay!” She shouted it at him. “Why would any of you run back to a life like that?!” Kate felt hot tears resurface. “I can’t let Shayne, Mor, or Dranian go back to that terrible place. They’re happy here, can’t you see it?”

She heard him release a heavy breath in the darkness. “That’s why they’ll stay with you, and I’ll go. I haven’t told them yet,” he said. “I didn’t want to say anything until you’d mourned your human grandmother.”

Kate tossed her cookie toward his voice. She had no idea if it hit him.

“I’ll tell the High Court I killed all of you—them for insubordination, and you for committing a crime against the North Corner,” he went on. “I’ll take whatever punishment is necessary for returning without evidence, but it’ll keep the fairies from coming back here to search for you and my brothers in the future.”

“Do you really think Mor is going to stay here if you go back?” Kate asked. “Do you really think Dranian will just sit back and watch you leave? They’re going to follow you, Cress!”

“I’ll leave in the night. They won’t know until I’m gone.”

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