Page 69 of Fake Dating a Human 101

The sunrise came slowly, creeping over the floor inch by inch. Lily watched it all as it smothered the dim space. It nearly reached the bed when the bedroom doors swung open.

Fairies spilled into the room and took off her covers, lifted her off the bed, and dabbed her with wet cloths. They fixed up her hair so it was exactly how it had been the night before, and they tossed more glitter that stuck to her skin and made her glow in the morning sunlight. Lily observed them, took in their every movement, studied their patterns. But whenever one of them looked at her, she relaxed her face and stared off at nothing like she was in a daze.

As soon as they brought in a platter of food, Lily reached for it, pretending to be hungry. She shoved a handful of berries into her mouth and took a large bite of a crisp fruit on top of that. She chewed as the fairies straightened out her dress, but she shoved the wad of fruit beneath her tongue as they led her toward the door. The juices ran down her throat and she closed her eyes in concentration until the fairies turned her out of the labyrinth of hallways. She faked a few fumbles as they guided her through a lobby and out an enormous front door.

A large fountain took up the courtyard outside. The fairies led her to it and dropped her to sit on the fountain’s ledge. The moment they headed back inside, Lily unearthed the wad of fruit and spat it into the fountain, brushing the juices from her lip in disgust. “Seriously…” she whispered as she watched the fruit get swallowed into the bubbling fountain waters. Her vision went in and out of focus, and she stifled a quiet moan as she teetered.

Even just a bit of the berry juice in her throat had been enough to leave her thinking she might tip right into the water.

A hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder, steadying her. Instead of looking back to see who it was, Lily glanced across the yard at a forest a short distance away, wondering if she’d make it if she tried to sprint.

The hand readjusted and took her arm. Lily was pulled to her feet and turned around. She found herself looking into the blue eyes of someone she knew by now wasJethwire. She tried to look dizzy, but the moment her gaze locked with his, a fire lit in her chest. She imagined throwing him to the ground and putting cuffs on him, and she forgot to drop her eyes.

The fairy’s brows tugged in as he stared. He frowned. Then he said, “What is your name?”

Lily didn’t answer. She forced her gaze from his and focused on something in the distance. She wavered on her feet, too, though she was sure it was too late; sure he’d realized she was no longer suffering from the effects of his magical berries and whatever else he’d been feeding her this whole time.

A series of other fairies appeared, including Lord Hans-Der—Shayne’s father. New fairies were present too, ones Lily hadn’t seen before. They rode atop giant beasts with fangs, and one of them carried a glistening blue banner with a symbol on it.

“Bring the peace offering,” Lord Hans-Der said.

Jethwire pulled Lily over in obedience. His brows were still furrowed though, even as she almost lost her step.

Lily was shoved forward, and a new pair of large hands grasped her arms. A fairy in a strange outfit looked her over. “You’re sure she’s broken?” he asked.

“Yes,” Lord Hans-Der said. But from the corner of her eye, Lily saw Jethwire hesitate. He leaned toward his father and whispered something in his ear. And Lily cracked a weak smile of disbelief as it became clear she would be discovered any moment.

“Let’s check,” the fairy holding onto her said. “What is your name, Human?”

Lily dragged her gaze up to meet the fairy’s. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to laugh or to cry. Yes, she’d finally gotten her thoughts back. No, she wouldn’t get to keep them. But it had been nice while it lasted; she’d been able to remember everyone for a little while: Kate, Greyson, and Grandma Lewis. All her sword-wielding baristas. Violet, whom she’d developed an unexpected, common-ground friendship with. Even untrustworthy Luc—she would have liked to hold onto her memories of him over nothing. She wished she could say goodbye to them before they left her mind again.

“What is your name, Human? Do you recall it?” the fairy asked for the second time, tightening his grip on Lily’s arms until it was painful.

Lily smiled—it was a pitiful smile, but the fairy was taken aback at the sight of it. She looked him dead in the eyes, and said, “My name is Lily Baker. And it’ll take a lot more than that to break me.”

The Lyro family’s faces all changed at once. Some shouted and rushed forward while others passed blame. But Lily turned her head to make eye contact withJethwire. She cast him a gloating smile; one last act of rebellion for the psycho who’d messed with her and Shayne. She did it knowing he’d speak her name, make her eat, and take away her sense of self again. She did it anyway, because just once, she wanted to be the human who outsmarted and embarrassed him after all the things he’d done.

Jethwire said nothing amidst the chaos; he only eyed her in return. So, Lily told him, “In my world, we call people like youpsychopaths, and people like me would lock people like you and your whole family behind bars—”

The fairy who held Lily shoved her back against the side of a fanged beast, and it provided the perfect opportunity for her to kick the fairy in the shin. She hoofed him so hard, she was sure she broke her toes. The fairy shrieked and grabbed his calves, staggering backward, and it would have been satisfying, except that it took every ounce of energy Lily had left, and her own legs collapsed beneath her.

“You said she was broken! That she was a gift! What kind of gift is this?!” the fairy demanded while limping toward Lord Hans-Der.

Lily grunted a laugh as she fell over, rolling flat on her back in the dirt. The fairies continued to make noise and threats, but from her vantage point, she noticed Jethwire hadn’t moved a muscle. He didn’t seem angry as he studied her. In fact, a crooked smile curled up his lips. As the other fairies bickered, he sauntered over, dropped to a knee before Lily, and he tilted her face up with his wretched flute. “Well, Lily Baker. I’ll admit, I wish I could keep you now.” His grin widened. “But when a human is prettyandfeisty, it’s quite valuable to people like us. So why should we keep you when we can trade you for a high return?”

He pulled something out of his pocket, and Lily cringed at the sight of the berry.

“Eat this, Lily Baker,” he commanded. “Eat and go with these fairies willingly. I don’t care what you do when you get there, but you won’t dishonour me again during this trade.” He thrust the berry into her mouth.

Lily tried to shove it back out with her tongue, but as soon as she moved, she found herself chewing and swallowing it. Almost instantly, nausea trickled into her stomach, and she shuddered at the familiar, terrible feeling.

Jethwire smiled again. “I hope we meet again someday,” he said. “Even though by then you probably won’t remember me.”

“For your sake,” Lily said as she gritted her teeth, as the world around her began to blur, as her thoughts began to jumble, “you’d better hope I don’t.”

There was no way to tell if the day was long or short, starting or ending, or how much time had passed. Even warm and cold felt the same in the back of the caged wagon where the human found herself staring at the blurred tapestry of the sky. There were many, many turns and roads on her journey, through tall hills and mountains, around great cliffs and glassy green lakes. She couldn’t make it out well enough to paint it or record it in her mind for later, but one thing she knew for sure was that wherever she was, it was very, very far away. Too far away to ever be found.

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