“What?” Sophie’s eyes snap open, all drowsiness gone.
My stomach drops.
Alexis gestures wildly at Emlyn. “He’s a fae!”
Oh no.
The sleeve of Emlyn’s shirt bursts into flames.
“Fuck!” He jumps back.
I instantly extinguish it, but Alexis uses the distraction to break past me and lunge for him. Emlyn barely evades her grasp and clambers onto the settee behind me.
“ENOUGH!”
I blanket the room in a thin layer of ice, startling everyone—including myself, frankly. But nobody moves, and that’s all I need.
“Look, I brought him here because Ellie’s in trouble, and he’s the only one with answers.” I look to Alexis. “You have every reason to hate him, but I need you to put that aside for now. For Ellie. Please.”
“What exactly happened?” she asks, wrapping her bare arms tightly around herself.
“His friend kidnapped her.”
“Oh, come on, Reid. Seriously? And you think you can trust a word he says?”
“He can’t lie!”
“Stop it, you two!” Sophie yells. We both shut our mouths. “Get rid of the ice, please.” Her eyes move to Emlyn, who I suddenly realize has his hand resting on my back as he hides behind me. “I won’t attack. I promise.” She looks at Alexis, her teeth chattering from the cold.
“Fine,” Alexis sighs. “I’ll hear what he has to say.”
Keeping a watchful eye on Sophie—I don’t trust her one lick—I get to work on the ice. It takes some effort to get it all to dissipate, leaving a decently dry room behind. Alexis tests one of the armchairs for dampness before plopping down on it, crossing her arms and staring expectantly at me.
Where to begin?
I start with introducing the idea of Caeo and Ellie’s memory loss. Sure enough, she doesn’t believe me.
“That’s impossible. How could I not have noticed something like that?”
“Fae magic,” Sophie says, still standing next to me and Emlyn.
He nods to her. “Told you.”
“Wait, how’d you figure that out?” I turn from Sophie to him. “You said there was something on Caeo that kept anyone from noticing.”
“There is.”
“I haven’t actually met Caeo,” Sophie offers. “He’s in my classes, but we’ve never spoken. I doubt he knows who I am. Maybe that’s why?”
It’s so weird to have a normal conversation with her. Not that this conversation’s normal. Not at all.
Emlyn shrugs. “It’s possible. I don’t know the details.”
“Why are there fae spells on Ellie and Caeo?” Alexis demands.
All eyes turn to Emlyn. He sighs.
“Caeo’s the half mortal son of the exiled queen of my realm. He wears a charm that prevents anyone from connecting him to anything fae.”
