He’s right. Being chosen might be one of the best feelings in the whole world. “Your Unseelie will choose you too.” I can feel it in my gut. If he shows her even half of the charm he’s shownme today, she’ll fall hard and fast. They’ll probably be married before I turn twenty-five.
“Do you think so?”
“She would be a fool not to.”
His small, almost self-conscious smile warms me all the way to my toes.
We say our goodbyes, him returning to his goat, and me returning to an empty cottage, wondering if I should find myself a pet for company.
10
Maddox
“Sometimes three legs are better than four.”
— Maddox Finch, An Observation
“This was the best of days, Biscuits.” My goat rolls his eyes at me from where he chews on an old boot that he found on one of our walks. He loves walks almost as much as he loves that boot.
“Nia Quill asked me to join her for pie.Me. Maddox Finch.”
Yes, this was a glorious day, indeed. The only thing that would have made it better would be if she had baked the pie herself and offered it to me as a proposal of mating.
Not that she would do such a thing when I am supposed to be enamored with a false female and she is determined to wed the short Nolan. Even so, this day brought us closer. I may win her over yet.
I take out the list she gave me to study.
1. Tell her she is beautiful (and mean it)
I have told females they are beautiful before, but this has never seemed to make a difference.
Perhaps the secret is not in the telling but in the combination with the other items on this magical list.
Biscuits raises his head for a sniff of the paper, and I have never moved as fast as I do when stuffing the list back into my trouser pocket. “That is not food. If you eat it, then I shall never find a mate.”
I do not wish to be wrinkled and gray and alone.
A swift meeting of a fist on wood shakes my wagon’s door. I roll off my bed to answer, finding Ever waiting on the other side, the sun at his back blinding.
“You have finished your meetings?” I assume. These days are very long without him. If I did not have Nia’s Quill’s company, I would have gone out of my mind by now.
“If only I was finished being king,” he says with a groan. “All the Seelie want to do is talk. There are too many words and not enough actions.”
They do speak a lot, but when one’s voice is as sweet as Nia Quill’s, I do not mind listening. I could sit and listen to her all day. She could be counting the threads on her beautiful gowns, and I would hang on every number.
He jabs my arm with his finger. “Why do you make this face?”
What is it with my friends commenting on my face? “Am I not allowed to be happy?”
“Gryffin said you were sad.”
“When did you speak with Gryffin?” Does this mean he told Ever the secret of my lie? Ever would disapprove even more than Gryff, and then he would tell his mate, and she would tell Nia Quill, and I would have ruined my one chance to grow closer with the only fae who has ever truly held my heart.
I capture a breath behind my lips, holding it hostage while I await his response.
“He and I went for a hunt at dawn. I find myself needing to kill more often than before.”
My stomach sinks even lower. “You went hunting without me?”
