He met my gaze calmly and gave me a single nod to confirm what I’d put together. “The prince is suspicious and nearly caught us more than once, but with your help, we’ve thrown him off our trail yet again.”
It sounded heroic, but what about the note I’d found in his pocket? I wanted to bring it up but couldn’t without revealing my snooping.
If the silence had lingered, I might’ve gotten the nerve, but Julian asked if anyone was eating the last piece of doughy bread, which started him and Gwen bickering, while Peregrin pointed out he could make more, and they all made their way to the kitchen. Lore gave me a reassuring smile as they went, making me wonder if they’d left on purpose.
It was just me and Soren now.
He moved from his chair to sit beside me on the couch, closer than I’d expected, reaching for my face.
I lurched back. “What’re you doing?”
“Your glamour is fading.” His hands hovered over my cheeks. “May I fix it?”
“Oh... Sure, okay.”
Warm fingers danced across my skin, and my pulse picked up. My body couldn’t seem to distinguish between flirting and fae glamours. I shouldn’t be getting butterflies from this. When he touched me, I definitely shouldn’t feel comfortable or safe. I caught myself before I accidentally leaned into his palm on my cheek.
He lingered for some reason. Maybe the glamour was being difficult.
Was I blinking?
I should probably blink.
Breathing would be good too.
“There,” he murmured, slow to pull away. He swallowed, and I watched his throat move.
Okay, now I was blinkingtoomuch. My head felt fuzzy. I tried to blink an average number of times, whatever that was. “Great.”
Great?Wow. I really had a way with words. At least I’d remembered not to thank him out loud.
But as soon as we had enough distance for me to function, I thought of the note from his room again. It didn’t make sense.
He stared at me. “Ask whatever questions you have.”
I frowned. “How do you know I have questions?”
“For one, you signed a contract mere minutes ago that allows you to ask all the questions you’ve been saving up. For another”—the tiniest smile tugged at his mouth, softening his next words—“you always have questions.”
I blushed but still had to ask. “Have you ever stolen people from their homes?”
Instantly, he grew serious. “Never.”
That was fast.
Still, I remembered his words about fae being fantastic liars when it came to misdirection. “How can I know that’s the truth?”
“Good girl.” He did smile this time, enough for his dimples to show. “Direct answers tend to be shorter. If we aim to confuse, you’ll notice it takes quite a few more words.”
He’d only used one:Never.
“There’s not a lot of wiggle room in ‘never,’ ” I whispered.
He dipped his head in agreement. “None at all.”
“Okay.” I swallowed and took a few deep breaths. “Then... why did I see a note in your room about ‘acquiring more humans’? Like, alotmore.”
A frown crossed his face. At first, I thought it was because I’d reminded him that I’d been in his room. He dropped his gaze to my hands, where I twisted my fingers. I stopped.
