There’s almost comfort in his words.Almost.“Can my family come back in?”
“So you’re agreeing.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“You have a choice in whether or not you’ll go along with the ruse happily.” He studies me with such intensity that my insides nearly wilt. “Anyone who sees us together must thinkwe’re in love, that we’ve come to this decision together. It can’t look like we barely know one another, that we’re only going through the motions. This extends to the witches and fae. No one must suspect. It’s best for my people.”
“But my parents…”
“They know the truth, that I said what I did to help you, but no one else.”
No pressure there. “So basically I’m in a fake relationship with a fae. I’m faking it with a fae.”
He exhales in annoyance. “So that you get the space you need, and I get the lords off my back.”
“What about the spell?”
He shrugs. “What of it?”
“We need to break it. I can’t be tied to you forever.”
“I wouldn’t hear of it. It will be researched.”
“Just like that? With a snap of yourkinglyfingers?”
He smirks. “Yes.”
I pause in pacing to peer into his eyes, searching for any hint of a lie. I don’t see one. And just as quickly as our eyes meet, the outside world falls away again, dimming my peripheral vision so that only he exists. I don’t know if that’s the spell or just him and all his…fae magic stuff.
Either way it’s distracting.
It takes hard focus to tear my gaze from him. “How did you know that my family needs us—the daughters—to marry in order to keep the magic alive?”
“Rumors fly fast in this community. It’s easy to overhear what the werewolves and vampires talk about. Even the witches, though there my kind keeps our distance.”
That I understand. Fae and witches have never gotten along. The relationship’s strained, like distant relatives that only visit during the holidays—we tolerate the other, but there’s no love lost.
And I don’t know why. There aren’t any comprehensive texts on the subject, at least none that I’ve found.
I exhale a deep breath. I’m ready. “My family can be called in.”
“So you agree?”
I nod. “I agree to ever so happily be your fiancée.”
Saying it makes me feel like I’m dying on the inside. Not only do Inotlike him, but I don’t know anything about his culture, and what I do know isn’t nice. It’s full of fierce competitions, vengeful leaders, bloodthirsty rulers.
I keep my head tipped toward him in a limp attempt to prove that I can act like I love him. Feylin watches me closely before nodding his approval.
“Do you want to bring them back?”
He’s offering me the chance to use magic, but he’s the last person I want to know my secret. We might be in a fake relationship, but I don’t trust him.
“No, you can do it.”
“As you wish.”
Then they’re back. He doesn’t wave his hand. He doesn’t even blink. He simply works magic without a hint of effort.
