Quietly, I make my way to where a woman in a pinstripe suit sits behind a wide mahogany desk. When I ask for Trevor Dillon, she gives me directions to an office at the very back of the library.
I find Trevor bent over a large book with ornate script in golds and greens, glasses perched at the end of his nose and his hair falling over his brow. He looks so handsome, so quiet and studious, yet there isn’t so much as a flutter in my stomach.
There used to be though. Where have all the flutters gone?
Trevor glances up, his eyes widening when they meet mine. The chair scrapes the ground as he pushes back from the desk and launches to his feet. “Kerris. What are you doing here?” He swipes the glasses from his nose, tucking them into the pocket of his tweed waistcoat.
He smiles and I feel…nothing. I press a hand to my stomach, willing the butterflies to wake up, but they remain dormant. “I was in town and thought I’d call in to see if you’d like to come out for a bite to eat.”
His smile falters and his shoulders fall with his sigh. “That sounds lovely, but I am quite busy today.”
What did I expect? That he would drop everything simply because I strolled in?
I should let him get back to work, but first, there is a mystery to solve. I let my fingers trail along the flower’s silky petals as I tuck a few loose strands of hair behind my ear.
Trevor’s lips press flat, his brow furrowing. “That flower you’re wearing. What kind is it?”
If he doesn’t know, then he probably isn’t the one who left it for me either. God’s tooth, this is so frustrating. I’ve met a handful of other men in Rosehill but cannot imagine any of them leaving flowers without so much as a card. “I was actually hoping you could tell me.”
Fishing out his glasses once more, he gestures toward the bloom. “May I?”
I slip the flower from behind my ear and hand it over.
“It looks like some sort of lily, but I’ve never seen one with petals like this. Truly remarkable.” After a few more moments of study, he tucks it behind my ear once more, his fingers lingering in my hair.
His wistful sigh warms my cheeks as he takes a step back. “I’m afraid I really must be getting back to work.”
“Of course. I’m sorry for interrupting.”
His lips tip up, and he sinks back onto his chair. “You never have to apologize for that. Would you like to meet for tea on Monday? I could come by your cottage around noon.”
“I would love that.”
I make my way back out of the library, more confused than before. If the flower didn’t come from Ronan or Trevor, then who?—
Maybe it was…
No, that’s ridiculous.
Or is it?
None of the Seelie seem to recognize the flower.
Is that because it didn’t come from our side of The Divide?
17
“Unseelie fae can scent their prey from a kilometer away.”
Unseelie Fae: A ScientificStudy
Moonlight peeks through the clouds, kissing the silver petals of the two flowers thriving in my windowsill.
Everett knew where I lived.
He brought me right to my doorstep without a word of direction. Is that because he’s been here before, perhaps with a flower in tow?
I should leave well enough alone. I’ve already appeased my curiosity over the Unseelie, after all. But the thought of seeing Everett again makes me giddier than all my suitors combined, and I simply have to know.
