I had no idea what my role entailed.
The whole time I’d gone over the details of our deal, thinking I’d been smart, Soren had been stroking my ego so I wouldn’t notice how much I’dmissed.
With another sigh, I followed the two fae girls back downstairs. Was the whole toad-turning thing actually real or just a threat?
The otherworldly fae lights lit our way to the kitchen, where Soren and I had been earlier. Once again, the open shelving full of dishes and plants struck me as oddly normal. More potted plants I hadn’t noticed the first time filled the room with fresh air and an outdoorsy feel, though how they all grew underground, I couldn’t begin to guess.
A blast of culture shock slammed into me at the sight of a guy with ram horns on his head belting out an off-key pop song into a wooden spoon.
“Oh!” He dropped the spoon into the stone sink before grabbing and twisting a dish towel. It was so... domestic. I blinked at him a few times.
Nope, the horns weren’t going anywhere.
The whole scene was so incongruent that I wanted to pinch myself.
He set the dish towel down to pick up a covered plate, bringing it toward us. “If Soren hadn’t mentioned you were human, I’d never have guessed,” he said, making Lore grin wider.
As Lore took the plate, Gwen grunted and gestured toward him. “Meet Peregrin.”
“Call me Perry.” With an awkward bow, he touched a bashful hand to one of his horns. “I wanted to ask what you’d like. But Soren said you’d probably prefer to be left alone, so...” He reached over to the plate he’d given to Lore and whipped the cover off with a flourish. “I went with breakfast for dinner. Nobody hates breakfast! We have omelets, sausages, eggs. I make a snappy waffle—and I do mean it’ll snap. That’s a special secret ingredient.” He winked as if I understood the joke.
The following pause was clearly meant for me to fill.
When I didn’t speak, his cheeks turned ruddy. “Maybe you’d prefer pancakes?”
I couldn’t wrap my mind around the normalcy.
They all stared at me.
“Are you not a breakfast person?” he asked with the same level of shock I’d had when discovering fae were real, which made Gwen snort and Lore giggle.
“Anything is fine,” I managed finally. It wouldn’t do to get on the cook’s bad side. I wasn’t about to whine about the food the way my sisters always did.
Thinking of them brought my sour mood back though.
Gwen turned on one heel, headed toward the connected dining room.
“Come on.” Lore waved for me to follow.
We entered the room with the dark wood table where Soren and I had sat earlier. I pulled out the closest chair and dropped into it with a sigh, putting my head in my hands.
“Seriously?” a male voice said from the far end of the table. I jerked my head up. “Is this how far I’ve fallen, to not get even a single take, much less a double?”
Gwen snickered.
I stared down the table at the fae, who could’ve passed for a movie star. His cheekbones were chiseled sharp enough to cut something, he had tousled blond hair ending at his dark blue collar, and though his thick eyebrows dropped low in a frown and his perfect full lips were twisted in disappointment, he was still gorgeous.
And if I understood correctly, his disapproval came from me not noticing him.
“That’s Julian,” Gwen commented offhandedly, picking up a stack of plates to set the table. Her tattooed hands brought me back to reality abruptly. “His opinion of himself is far too high. Feel free to bring it down further.”
She sounded pleased that he was put out.
They’re fae, Brynn, remember?Of course they liked to cause pain.
No more letting my guard down.
I ignored Julian. When they tried to draw me into conversation, I only gave short answers.
