Page 32 of Fake Dating a Human 101

Dranian’s solemn face tilted from Luc to Shayne. Then he looked at the ground. “I don’t want to,” he murmured.

Lily huffed. “I’llask him. What’s your mysterious plan, Shayne?” she demanded with ample sarcasm. “It can’t possibly be worse than charging into a hoard of death-bringing fairies like we just did.”

Luc raised a finger. “Actually, that plan was excellent. We survived. You’re welcome.”

Wind tossed Lily’s hair and she dragged a hand up to smooth it down. “Shayne?” she asked when he didn’t say anything. Shayne didn’t even meet her eyes—he looked past the treeline at something in the distance.

“Let’s stop for the night,” Mycra cut in. She swooped around the others to Dranian’s side. “We all need sleep. I’ll guard everyone’s dreams so we have strength for tomorrow.”

“If you think I’m letting you into my dreams, you’re mad,” Luc stated. “I’ll guard my own dreams tonight, thank you very much.”

“There’s a House at odds with the House of Lyro,” Shayne stated, making everyone quiet down. “That’s my plan. I mean to pay a rival House a visit,” he finished.

Mycra’s brows tilted in. Her hand rested idly on Dranian’s arm. “Which House? Who are you speaking of?” She asked it like she didn’t actually want to know.

Shayne flashed her a smile. “Oh, no one too fancy. The House of Riothin istechnicallythe enemy of Lyro, but—”

“The House of Riothin?!” Dranian shouted, startling Lily more than it should have.

“Yes,” Shayne said back. “I’ve always wanted to see the great House of my enemies. Weren’t you ever a teensy bit curious about it, Dranian? You must have wondered about it at least once.”

Mycra shook her head. “Shayne, we can’t go there. You’ll be sacrificed on the spot because of your last name.”

“Not necessarily. Not if I can convince them to join hands with me against my brothers and father. I am rather charming, you know. They might go for it.” Shayne flashed a smile that turned something in Lily’s chest. “Maybe one of their daughters will wish to wed me and we can form an alliance through marriage.”

Luc laughed and batted his lashes. “Oh dear. I think I might actually like this idea.”

A pulse beat against Lily’s neck. She realized her hands were balled into fists, and she unclasped them slowly. She wasn’t sure why she felt like she couldn’t speak all of a sudden, like the conversation had gotten away from her too fast and she no longer had any control.

“Let’s just sleep on it for now,” Mycra said. “We’ll discuss this in the morning when we’re not all exhausted.” Then, to Dranian, she said, “Let’s get a fire going. Can you summon flame?”

Luc snorted. “Prince Cressica can only influence weather patterns. He’s not a sky deity.” He turned for the trees. “I’ll gather wood, you useless fairies of the North.” He vanished.

“Do you know how to make a fire?” Mycra asked Shayne next.

“Absolutely not. You know I grew up rich.” He folded his arms. “And in the human realm, we have these magical sticks with buttons called ‘lighters’. I had no need for learning this sort of thing.”

Lily swallowed and finally pulled her stare off Shayne. Everyone had moved on so quickly.

“You guys are unreal,” she said. It came out quieter than she meant it to. She grabbed a sharp-edged stone and headed to a flat patch of dirt. “Hand me your dagger,” she said to Myrca. And then, “How can I possibly be the only one here who knows how to do this?” She brushed dry leaves into a pile, stacked a few sticks, and began slapping the spine of the dagger against the rock the way she’d read about in basic survival guides.

All the fairies leaned in to watch her.

It took a few tries, but eventually a spark shot out and hit the leaves. Lily lowered herself to blow on the flame until it caught. Luc returned with an armful of dry sticks, so Lily added them to the fire. Minutes later, one human and four fairies sat around the lapping flames.

Everyone chatted about this and that. Mostly, Shayne, Luc, and Dranian took turns asking Mycra specific questions about her past. Lily couldn’t follow the conversations. Every time she tried, her gaze wandered back to the blue-eyed, white-haired fairy in the long red coat. Though she hated the thought of agreeing with Luc, she had to admit Luc was right. On the hill, Shayne had changed. It was right when he’d read the note on the paper bird. One second, he’d wanted to run. The next, he’d wanted to fight.

And now… now he wanted to stay in the Ever Corners and visit a rival House instead of going home? Was he out of his mind? Lily hugged her knees to herself as she thought about it.

Dranian fell asleep first, his snoring echoing through the forest. Then Luc drifted off, sitting with his back against a log. Mycra yawned and lowered onto a patch of grass, so Lily unzipped her hoodie and shrugged it off. She arranged it flat on the dirt and laid back, but her gun dug in, so she unclipped her holster and set it beside her.

Stars twinkled through the leaves overhead. She wondered if Kate was looking at the stars too, wondering why Lily had never returned from that ‘work trip out of town’. Connor was going to start flipping out with her not responding to calls and emails. She released a quiet sound when she thought about how embarrassing it would be if she ended up on the Missing Persons list.

“Ugh.”

She had to get home. But how could she leave Shayne here after everything she’d seen of this place? After the horrible things his own brothers had done—werestilldoing—to him?

Lily tilted her head to spy on Shayne across the fire. The flames blocked most of her view. She lifted a little to try and see better, but she couldn’t make out his silhouette anywhere on the other side. She jumped when his voice appeared beside her.

---