Page 75 of Fake Dating a Human 101

Luc sighed loudly; it echoed through the trees. “You’re exhausting sometimes, Trisencor,” he admitted. “I’m not lying. You should find it within yourself to have a little patience sometimes.”

“I ran out of patience in my childling years,” Cress announced. “That’s an absurd request for someone like me.”

“Of course,” Luc agreed. “But humour me and explain why you two came back to the Ever Corners and aren’t in the human realm guarding our dear Violet and Kate Kole. And while you’re at it,” Luc looked around again, but he didn’t see or sense another fairy anywhere, “tell me what happened to my bestie Dranian and why he’s not here with you.”

Neither Mor nor Cress seemed to care enough to respond, so Luc looked between the two and decided which one would be the easier target. After three more strides of silent walking, Luc came up beside Cress. He reached out, and he grabbed the Prince of the North’s forehead to steal the memory for himself.

He didn’t get it, and the cost of his attempt was a punch across the jaw with a fist of faestone. Luc collapsed into a dizzy heap at the foot of a tree, descending into a blackout slumber.

As Luc slept, he thought he heard someone knocking against the edges of his dream.

“Let me in,”she said.

28

Dranian Evelry and the Thing that Happened

Twenty-Four Hours Ago

(Before Mor and Cress Showed Up for Luc,

and Before Shayne Returned to the House of Lyro)

Snow.

Dranian scowled at the cold white stuff falling upon Toronto and hugged his arms to himself, his one good arm carrying the weight of the other. The streets rang with Yule carols and all the nearby humans looked cute with their pom-pom hats and their scarves jammed into the neck crevices of their coats. But even with the holiday tunes and the human-y cuteness in every direction, Dranian found he was temperamental, and not due to natural moodiness, no, but because he’d justwalked himselfacross the entire North Corner of Ever to get back to the human realm and his feet and legs were bundles of soreness and silent complaints.

Naturally, as he was grouching about it to himself, muttering on about his circumstances—how the girl with no name had been stolen from him, how Lily had been human-napped and had vanished without a trace, how Mor and Cress had left him alone with Luc, and how Luc had disappeared fordays—he stepped in a slushy bit.

“Faeborn-cursed-human-realm-slushy-bits!” he cussed as he shook off his shoe.

A mother cast him a scowl and dragged her childling to the other side of the road. Dranian looked up at her in surprise, realizing he’d startled the small human family. So, he attempted a smile, which must have been rather terrifying since the mother’s face grew more horrified and her steps of escape became quicker.

Dranian snarled and turned back to his walking. His running shoes were every bit as damp, squishy, and repulsive to hike in as sticking his bare toes in swamp mud. But he finished the trek to Fae Café and paused outside when he noticed the new holiday drink menu in the window and the strings of lights flashing around the door. Something big and heavy sank through his chest. Half of him was so profoundly relieved to be back, to see this with his own two eyes. How he had missed this burgundy awning, the scent of fresh drinks, and the promise of warmth.

His eyes grew misty when he thought about Shayne never seeing it again. Never having this feeling of desperation and relief from standing before the café door. Then, he sniffed—loud and hard—to make sure none of his watery emotions showed. He even wiped his nose on his sleeve, then he grabbed the door a new man.

When he came inside Fae Café, he instantly craved cranberry desserts and caffeine. Even though he hadn’t been gone from this place for long, he didn’t realize just how much the separation had affected him. How much his fairy blood and empty stomach demanded to be filled with sweets and hot beast milk with whipped cream and tiny little crunchy bits sprinkled on top.

But then there was Cress. And Kate. And… queensbane, Mor and Violet were there too… and Greyson—oh no.

Dranian fell into a chair, threw his head back, and wailed a cry of self loathing.

Customers quieted their conversations, a few glancing over at him with strange faces. A female across the café even held a sizable piece of cake on her fork an inch from her mouth, frozen there at the noise.

Cress’s wild turquoise eyes darted up, spotting Dranian. Then they moved around, taking in all the cringing humans, and his expression grew horrified as Dranian ruined his well-maintained level of customer satisfaction. To Mor and Greyson, he whispered, “Get him.”

Greyson was smack dab in the middle of consuming a tart. He looked up as if to see if Cress was serious, and seeming to note the fairy’s deadly glower, Greyson dropped the tart to his plate and rushed through the café after Mor. Mor didn’t really need his help though—that was clear when Mor reached Dranian, grabbed a handful of Dranian’s shirt at his shoulder, and tugged him up from the chair in one great heave.

“Come with me,” Mor said in a voice far more soothing than Cress’s had been.

Dranian shook his head. “You don’t understand—”

“Apologies!” Cress shouted at the humans in the room even though they hadn’t asked for an explanation. “This fool was raised by raging forest beasts riddled with itchy fur-lice. Heoftenforgets how to act normal like the rest of us.”

“Cress!” Kate scolded with a whisper as she flicked him. “That’s a terrible thing to say!”

Cress leaned down to Kate’s height, put on his‘I’m about to educate you’face that Dranian had come to know all too well, and he whispered back, “It’s essential to stayaheadof the problem. That’s public relations won-oh-won.”

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