I listened to my own words and cursed under my breath.Oh, great.So not only could I not tell anyone about the fae part, but the confidentially spell would manipulate my words if I did try to talk about it. And make him sound like a god!
“Okaaay,” Zara said slowly. “That’s good, I guess. What’s the problem?”
I tried again, but when I told her about his pointed ears, it only came out that he had gorgeous hair.
I rubbed my temples. “Never mind. I just…I guess I’m just worried about working for that family. Because they’re, you know,differentfrom everyone else.” That time, the words came out true. I was learning how to navigate around this confidentiality spell.
“Yeah, well, welcome to my world.” She reached over to pat my knee. “My relatives are all insufferable. Completely out of touch with reality. It’s like they’re a whole different species.”
She went to the tiny kitchen to unpack her groceries and start on dinner. I had to silence the ironic laughter in my head. “Different species” indeed. Later, we ate with the TV on in the background, and I told her as much as I could about Henry and May and the gorgeous hunting-lodge-inspired interior design of Wilde Tower, and the insanely good pay, and then stayed up after she went to bed, sitting on her balcony overlooking the city.
I had to silence a gasp.
As night fell, shimmering lights appeared on the horizon. It was rare to see stars in the city, with its perpetual light pollution, but in any case, these lights definitely weren’t stars. They appeared as waves of glimmering dust that floated in the ether, twinkling softly and gradually changing color. On the street below, a woman in a suede dress sauntered by with white wings tucked behind her.
As crazy as everything was, I felt a small thrill. My eyes were open to a new world I’d known nothing about. A beautiful, magical world. A world of demons and witches. Of attractive, cold fae princes who could literally move mountains with a kiss.
What would it be like working for Severn Wilde, prince of the New Court? Those electric green eyes, that scar on his chin…
I couldn’t get his face out of my mind.Which could be trouble, Willow.
Obviously, I wasn’t going to be stupid again. I’d never again fall for the charms of someone in a position of power over me. Not after Professor Decker. I shuddered to even think of that creep who’d pretended to be so helpful and friendly. So unlike Severn, with his cold beauty and cruel smirks. There wasnothingwarm about Severn.
It might not be terrible looking at someone so beautiful all day… but I swore to myself that it would never go beyond looking.
* * *
On Friday,I stared up at Wilde Tower for the second time that week, wondering if I’d lost my mind. I knew so much more than I’d known on Tuesday.
In the days since the interview, I’d frantically packed up my old campus apartment, formally submitted my notice to Professor Decker via email, and read as many childcare handbooks as I could get my hands on. All the while, I kept getting distracted by the glimpse of a fae in a suit or a demonic creature in a billowy silk blouse. I’d observed the otherworldly Gifted Ones out of the corner of my eye whenever I saw them. They weren’t too common in the city—maybe one out of every 500 or even 1,000 people were fae, and some were hard to tell, like the possible cosplayers or just run-of-the-mill humans who dyed their hair blue. The ears were usually the first giveaway. Or their glowing eyes. And the occasional set of horns.
None of the Gifted Ones I passed gave me a second glance. Either they didn’t know I could see them in their true form, or they didn’t care. But one thing was certain about the Gifted Realm, particularly the fae: no fae were frumpy. No fae were unattractive. No fae wore ratty leggings and jogged through Central Park. I never saw any fae moving other than at a languished pace, as though they had centuries to get to where they were going. For all I knew, maybe they did.
After I’d made it through security and stepped on the elevator again, the same lavender-eyed attendant beamed at me.
“Willow! You showed up! I was afraid Severn scared you off. I’m Azalea, by the way—we didn’t properly meet before. Henry and May are going to be so happy to see you. They’ve been making bets on how long you’ll last with Severn as your employer.”
“Um, really?”
Azalea laughed as she closed the elevator gate and pressed the odd buttons. From here, I could see glowing blue flecks in her lavender eyes. “You know his reputation in the human world, right? That he’s a deeply private leader with a cruel streak? Well, that’s true in his fae form, too.” She gave me a wink. “But he’s not all bad once you get to know him.”
The elevator reached the fiftieth floor but continued rising. At my confusion, Azalea explained, “Severn thought it would be best to give you time to settle in first. Unpack. Get used to your new home. You’ll be sharing one of the penthouses with the children. Then, once you’ve had time to explore, he’ll bring the children at lunch.”
“Where are they now?”
“A werewolf took them to the park.”
I tried not to balk. “Sure.”
The elevator stopped, but instead of the doors opening, it lurched to the right and started moving horizontally as it had done before. For all I knew, we were moving through portals in some new reality.
The bell dinged.
Azalea smiled as she opened the gate. “Home sweet home.”
The doors glided open into a lobby with two different doors. She pointed to the one marked “A.” Taking a deep breath, I opened the door into what could only be described as a movie set. That was my first thought, at least, because it couldn’t possibly be real. The apartment’s open-concept great room had twenty-foot-high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows and must have easily been worth ten million dollars. I was almost afraid to step on the hardwood floors in my dirty sneakers. The apartment had the same Old Europe decor as the rest of Wilde Tower, which now completely made sense—it was fae chic, a mix of ancient and modern styles. Tapestries of leaping deer hung on the walls, and the furniture was rich and velvet, the rug soft as a cloud.
I ran back to the door and caught Azalea’s attention before she descended.
