Page 71 of Fake Dating a Human 101

No, he couldn’t wait. And that was wildly unfortunate. Because Shayne knew not a soul in this House would tell him where Lily was unless he did the one thing they wanted.

His hand tightened around his fairsaber, but the rest of him dropped—his shoulders, his stance, his optimism. Could he really say goodbye to his true brothers forever? To the café? To the human realm? To Kate? To… to Lily? Could he say goodbye to Lily’s police station, to secretly following her on her morning jogs, to her endearing scolds and the way he had her blushing schedule wrapped around his little finger? There was no going back to any of that if he did this, not even in a few years once things blew over. There was no sneaking away or maneuvering out of his position to live a happy life. In the whole North Corner of Ever, only Queene Levress had the power to stand against a household as influential as the Lyro’s, and that was because she had all the armies of the North at her fingertips, and she was allied with Hans-Der.

No, there was no way out. And there was only one way to discover Lily’s location.

Shayne released a growl and tugged at his hair. “I’ll do it,” he stated.

As the words left his lips, his cracked heart hardened to stone. He refused to feel anything more about this at all. It would destroy him if he did.

He sighed and dropped his hand from his hair. He knew this was coming anyway. He’d already decided on the way here what he would do. He’d already said his farewells to everything he would never see again.

Hans-Der’s wide grin made the man look younger than he was. Shayne couldn’t stand looking at it. Instead, he dropped to his knees and stared at the floor, letting his fairsaber fall away with a clamour. For all his years of running, all his time spent training with the Brotherhood to defeat people like this, for all his time spent among the humans… this is what it had led to: Shayne chained to a chair for eternity. To be quiet instead of loud. To never laugh again, because he wouldn’t have anything to laugh about now.

“Bring the ring,” Shayne said.

Hans-Der folded his arms and looked down the end of his nose where Shayne waited. “You know there’s no way to trick the heir’s ring. You can’t get out of its bind. But just in case…” He nodded to someone Shayne couldn’t see.

Sounds of struggling and a low, muttering voice filled the hall. Shayne turned on his knees to find two huntsmen dragging a scowling auburn-haired fairy over the carpet. They tossed him down at Shayne’s side, and surprise filled Shayne’s face.

Dranian lifted his head, growling about his ‘one bad arm’. Shayne watched him take in the image of Hans-Der, the fairy who had purchased him all those years ago and had never once made things easy for him.

“I have no idea whether you were aware your old fairy guard followed you here or not, but now that I have him, I’m sure you’ll follow through on your promise,” Hans-Der said. “We shall have the swearing-in ceremonytomorrownight. And I’ll keep your fairy guard contained until then to ensure you don’t attempt any tricks.” With that, Hans-Der crouched to a knee and looked Shayne in the eyes. “I have, after all, waited all these years to solidify an heir. I’d hate for you to get away again.”

Shayne’s mouth parted as Dranian was kicked by a hunter. Massie threw his head back and shrieked in high-pitched laughter that pulled Shayne’s flesh into bumps. Dranian took in deep breaths, his lashes fluttered, but he focused long enough to tilt toward Shayne and mumble, “Don’t worry. I understand why you had to come here and do this.”

Warmth and dismay puddled in Shayne’s chest. He struggled to spit out words, fighting the temptation to reach over and take Dranian’s hand. His greatest, dearest friend, and the realest, truest, most loyal brother he’d ever had. “We’ll always be the best of friends. You and me,” he whispered back. “Regardless of where I am.”

Jethwire carried over a bronze bowl. Everyone in the room leaned to try and see inside it.

Dranian was grabbed by the hunters again, and too quickly, his presence left Shayne’s side. Shayne looked back over his shoulder; fear, worry, shock, and all sorts of other things pasted across his eyes. Dranian had the same sort of face, though he wasn’t one for big expressions. Still, the two of them locked eyes that way, and as they did, Shayne gave his forever-friend a small nod. A nod of,“Goodbye.”A nod of,“Good luck.”

The truth was, he wasn’t surprised to see Dranian at all.

But still… Shayne closed his eyes after Dranian was taken away. Knowing Dranian would come here didn’t make what Shayne had to do any less real. He hated goodbyes.

“Let me swear innow, and then tell me where Lily Baker is,” Shayne said to Hans-Der one more time. “I have no interest in waiting until tomorrow. I’ll become the official heir right now.”

Hans-Der reached over and lifted a gold ring from Jethwire’s bowl. He studied the large Lyro crest stamped atop it. The gold band had a magical glow that radiated, casting flickers of light along his face. Shayne’s stomach twisted into knots as he imagined wearing it. As he prepared himself for that ring to bind to his flesh where it would become impossible to remove. Where his role to govern the household would begin.

Hans-Der dropped the ring back into the bowl. “We’ll get the preparations ready for tomorrow,” he decided once and for all. Then, he turned, faced the room, and shouted, “Let’s celebrate!”

Shayne watched as fairies leapt around the hall. Music began to play, but he closed his eyes. He couldn’t bear to see them rejoice. Instead, he turned and headed for the maze, and he made his way around the curves to his room, expecting it to feel cold and abandoned like the inside of his chest.

The moment he entered, he gasped and slapped a hand over his mouth and nose.

Lily’s scent was oneverything.

It was like a caress of false hope, trapping him in a nightmare while he was still wide awake. She was everywhere, yet nowhere. Her fragrance was on his pillow, bound to his sheets, in footsteps on the floor, and resting in the air.

Shayne leaned on his bed, holding himself up by his fists. He whispered, “Where are you, pretty Human?” The room answered with silence. And so, he vowed, “I’m going to find you. Even if it takes me the rest of my life.”

27

Luc Zelsor and All His Hopes and Dreams

It was a bit unfair. One minute the Shadow nobles were calling him aprince, and the next, they were calling him atraitor. What a bunch of brainless fools who needed to make up their minds.

Luc had started pacing around his cold iron cell the moment he’d been shoved into it by a series of clammy Commander hands. After a few hours, he decided to sing. Normally songs were for fairies who were merry, and Luc didn’t have many reasons to be happy, but despite the oncoming vote—which somehowstillhadn’t happened—he could think of one thing, one single thing, to be merry about. And for that, he sang, “There once lived a young fox who faced every obstacle with cunning and determination…” His lips curled into a cruel smile. “The fox grew to the capable age of twenty-five years and found he had reached the greatest measure of strength he would. And so, on a cold Wynter’s day, he began a great trek up a mountain to face the greatest obstacle of all—another fox!” He did a little skip and hop with that one. “One twice his age, and equal in power… And would you look at that? He won! The young, cunning fox beat the snot out of the old loser—”

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