“Did he know?” I asked quietly.
The smirk immediately fell off his face. “Who?”
“The father of the children. Did he know you were…” I waved my hand toward the otherworldly specimen across from me. “Fae?”
Severn Wilde’s gaze cut to the photograph on his desk for a split second.
So I’m right,I thought.That is a picture of their father.
“Yes. He knew about the entire Gifted Realm. There are more hidden species than just fae. Werewolves, sprites, witches.Demons.”
I blinked, unable to fully process his words. “And the children?”
“Henry and May have known about the Gifted Ones since they could barely talk, though they are bound by a confidentiality spell never to speak of what they know. As you will be if you accept the position.”
I didn’t love the idea of being placed under any more spells, but it did make me feel a little better to know that other humans knew about the fae world. That at least one other human had trusted Severn enough to befriend him, even to entrust him with his own children in the case of his death.
“What’s this confidentiality spell? Is it so I won’t tell the paparazzi the truth?”
He smirked again. “No one would believe you if you did. But yes, every human in fae employ—and there are a few besides yourself—is required to submit to a spell that would prevent you from telling anyone about our existence.”
I started to object, but he raised a hand.
“I’m afraid it’s mandatory. You’ll be able to tell that friend of yours, the one my crows tell me you’re staying with, that you’re working for Severn Wilde, taking care of his wards, living in Wilde Tower. You can tell her everything—except aboutthis.” He flicked the point of one of his ears with a finger.
Then he set the paperwork on the desk across from me along with a pen. “It’s your choice, Willow.”
I should have run. Anyone with half a brain would have gotten the hell out of there. He was offering me a chance to forget everything that I’d learned in the last half hour. To go back to regular life. Okay, so maybe Severn Wilde wasn’t a psychopath—although I hadn’tentirelyruled that out—but in a way, this was worse. I had no idea what the Gifted Realm entailed. How many fae and other creatures lived among humans, disguised? If the fae were anything like in fairy tales, they were mischievous tricksters at best, sociopathic monsters at worse. Not someone you’d want to be writing your checks.
Severn’s jaw tightened. He glanced at a stately clock mounted on the wall above a drink cart as though he was already done with me. “Well?”
“I need to meet the children first.” He raised an eyebrow. I folded my arms across my chest, forcing my chin high. “I can’t make a decision without meeting the children. They’re the ones who matter here, not you.”
I didn’t think the prince regent of Manhattan’s illustrious New Court was used to being told he didn’t matter. I worried he’d be angry, but to my surprise, he only laughed darkly.
He pressed an intercom button on his desk. “Azalea, send in Henry and May.”
It took several painstakingly long minutes of me and Severn staring at each other before the elevator attendant opened the door. Her eyes, which had been brown when I’d met her before, now glowed a soft lavender, and she had pointed ears just like Severn’s. I jumped when our eyes locked.
She’s fae, too. The fae sight lets me see her in her real form.
She had two children with her, whom I guessed to be around seven and nine years old. Their ears were normal, as were their eyes, except for a slightly haunted look. They had soft brown skin with dark hair, like their father in the photograph. Freckles and sun-kissed cheeks told a story of beach holidays, of giggling in the park, but now they seemed very serious. My heart went out to them. They’d lost their parents and were now stuck with an inhuman creature as a guardian. They kept throwing glances at Severn anxiously, looking to him for direction, and my shoulders eased. It was clear that they trusted him.
The children were obviously well-fed and well clothed, but it didn’t take a genius to surmise that Severn was, as he’d admitted, completely unprepared to care for them. I couldn’t picture a cold fae prince reading bedtime stories or teaching them cartwheels. They’d already lost so much. How could I possibly leave them alone in a mysterious world of magic and intrigue?
“I’d like to talk to them alone,” I said to Severn, ignoring how irritated he looked. I turned to the children and asked more softly, “Would that be all right?”
The children exchanged a look, and the boy, who was the eldest, nodded.
Severn grumbled under his breath but walked around his desk and whispered something in both of their ears. They looked at me and nodded.
“Keep it brief,” Severn ordered me. “I don’t have all day.”
If what he had told me was true, he had entire lifetimes, but I didn’t argue the point. Once we were alone, the children looked at the floor shyly, their big dark eyes so full of grief.
“Henry, right? And May?”
They nodded solemnly, and the little girl snuck a look at my bow-and-arrow earrings.
