“Wait, is this Severn’s apartment?”
“Oh, no. Severn’s ismuchgrander. This is just where you and the children will live.”
I could only blink. I had a hard time imagining any home grander than this. “Do all of you live like this?” I blurted out.
She gave a gentle laugh and shook her head. “Most of the members of the New Court, like me, live between the twenty-fifth and thirty-fifth floors. Severn gives us nice apartments, don’t get me wrong, but not likethis. These penthouses are reserved for Severn’s close family. His brother Hemlock—Locke—has the ‘B’ apartment on this floor. I’m sure you’ll meet him sometime. Just be careful—Locke can be a little, well, unpredictable.” Her mouth twitched to the side like she was a little worried about me being so close to this mysterious brother. But then she pointed back toward “A” apartment. “Severn wanted this one for Henry and May.” She sighed deeply, a touch of sadness in her eyes. “I think he wants to give them as good a life as he can.”
Hesitantly, I asked, “How did their parents die?”
“Their mother died of cancer when they were just babies. But their father, Marco…” She shook her head as though it was too hard to talk about. “Severn wasn’t there when it happened, and I don’t think he can forgive himself. Really, be careful, okay? Humans don’t always fare well when they interact with the fae realm.”
My skin prickled at her warning, and I again wondered if I had made a massive mistake by accepting the job.
“Anyway, if you need anything,” Azalea said, stepping back into the elevator, “just ring. I’ll send up your bags when they’re delivered. Oh, just so you know, Ivy is bringing them up, and she’s a bit green. Literally, I mean. Green skin. Just don’t be surprised.”
The elevator doors closed before I could answer.
I returned to the penthouse, listening to the echo of my footsteps in the cavernous space. I turned in a slow circle, taking in my new home. The great room had everything kids could want: a wide-screen TV, gaming consoles, shelves bursting with books and games. The open kitchen and a dining table were at the far end of the great room opposite the wall of windows. A staircase led to an upper level, which I assumed housed the children’s bedrooms. The apartment carried delicious smells, spicy and warm, and the perfect blend of masculine and feminine.
I dropped my purse on the dining table and wandered over to the window, pressing my fingertips against the glass. I was on one of the tallest floors of any building in the city. All of Manhattan stretched out below me. Taxis and buses drove around like in a doll town. I could only imagine how this view would look at night when the shimmering lights came out.
I explored the apartment thoroughly, opening all the kitchen cabinets, marveling at the gourmet chocolates and cheeses that packed the shelves, and took a peek into Henry’s and May’s bedrooms upstairs, which were an odd mishmash of heavy oak furniture and rainbow pillows.
Gorgonzola and antique furniture? For kids? Where were the fruit snacks and applesauce packets? The play forts? Severn had been right to hire a nanny. It seemed like he’d bought the children whatever they asked for but had no idea what kids really needed.
I went back downstairs and found a hallway that led from the great room, past a powder room, into a beautiful suite that I assumed was mine. There was a bedroom with a queen-sized bed covered in reindeer pelts, a private balcony big enough for a bistro table and chairs, a bathroom with a soaking tub that could probably fit four people, and a walk-in closet that could easily double as a second bedroom. All in all, the suite alone was at least three times as big as my old campus apartment.
I fell back against the soft bed, staring up at the ceiling, and grinned.
I can live with this.
ChapterFive
“Willow!”
I woke up to a cold voice calling my name sharply enough that it pulled me out of my dreams. I jerked upright, shocked to find three faces staring at me. I was in a room I didn’t know. A room that looked straight out of a magazine, decorated in Parisian-meets-rural English style.
I blinked, then remembered everything.
The impossibly handsome man with electric-green eyes standing next to my bed who had barked my name was Severn Wilde. Henry and May, my charges, were grinning at me.
This wasmybedroom.
I swung my feet off the bed in a rush, embarrassed. “I’m so sorry! I can’t believe I fell asleep! It was so comfortable…” I couldn’t tell from Severn’s expression if he was cross with me. Helookedirritated, but I also suspected that his arrogant face always looked like that.
He explained evenly, “Fae pillows are enchanted with a drowsiness spell. Don’t lay your head on one if you don’t intend to slumber.” Though his words were hard, he added, “In time, you’ll adapt.”
“Yeah, anddon’tdrink any fae wine,” Henry warned.
“What happens if I drink fae wine?” I asked. What did a nine-year-old know about wine, anyway?
Before Henry could answer, Severn looked down at me sitting on the bed with an unreadable expression. “I’ll leave you to get acquainted. Azalea can reach me if there is an emergency. You are to attend to all the children’s needs, Willow, except on your evenings off, when Azalea or another member of the fae court will watch them. I expect you to oversee their education, as well as their feeding and combat training—”
“Combat training?” I blanched.
May giggled as she tugged on Severn’s silver-trimmed sleeve. He bent down, and she stood on tiptoe to whisper into his ear, “Severn, that’s not a human thing.”
The prince blinked as he looked down at her. His cold countenance didn’t change, a harsh look that utterly terrified me, but May didn’t seem to mind, as though she was used to it.
