But I couldn’t let any of that emotion show. The fae would eat my fear and make it all come true.
“This wouldn’t be the Spring Court, would it?” I asked.
“Windrose,” the Spring Queen said, addressing me by my title. She sat on a dais, and I realized the surrounding fae were all her courtiers. “This is unexpected.”
“I have a fae I am returning to your custody,” I said. “Do you accept him?”
The Spring Queen rose and approached, her ladies-in-waiting trailing behind her. When she reached the coffin, she drew back the shroud and looked down. A small smile graced her lips.
“I do,” she said. “It has been too long since I have seen him. He left our court because of love, yet our affection for him remains.”
Her sharp eyes rose, and she examined Nick. I was suddenly aware that no matter how good my glamour was, he was a human in the Far Realm. Every moment we stayed, his life was in danger.
“And who is this?” the Spring Queen asked. “I do not believe I have met you before.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Just a friend of mine. We’ll be going now.”
I turned, but the portal we’d used to get to the Far Realm had disappeared as soon as I’d let the magic go. I wanted to swear, but that would give away my cards in the middle of a high-stakes poker game. If there was anyone I didn’t want to know about my weaknesses, it was any of the four fae monarchs.
“Are you sure you won’t stay?” the Spring Queen asked. It wasn’t a question. “My kingdom has many pleasures to offer.”
She was standing in front of Nick, her hands trapping his face. Her skin was rose colored with the slight sheen of an eggshell. I felt the temptation coming off her in waves. It was as though she was projecting an image of what life would be like in the Spring Court: endless picnics, flowers always in bloom, years and years of pleasure.
No human could resist that. Anyone would jump at the chance to live where their only responsibility was to themselves.
“Your Majesty honors me,” Nick said, “but I can’t stay.”
“You can,” the Spring Queen said.
“I can’t.” It was obvious to the queen that Nick was a human. His voice gave him away. “My loyalty belongs to someone else.”
With an amused smile, the queen turned to me even as she addressed Nick. “Does it?”
“As ever, you are generous with your hospitality, Queen Celandine.” I nodded at her. “Will you allow us to go on our way?”
The words weren’t a threat, but they were the threat of a threat. Let us go, or I’ll have to make this an issue.
“The Windrose is always busy,” the Spring Queen said. “Let us do you the honor of returning you to your home.”
With one hand, she sketched a large rectangle in the air. It burst open, revealing the park we had just been in. Suspicious, I glanced at her, but her expression was mild, innocent. She shouldn’t know exactly where we’d been.
I nodded again and pushed Nick through first.
“What was that?” I said when the portal closed. “You weren’t supposed to follow me.”
“I wasn’t going to let you go into the Far Realm by yourself. Especially since you didn’t know what you were doing.”
“I’m the Windrose!” I said. While my position within the fae courts was morestickythanpowerful, it still meant that I held more sway with the fae monarchs than anyone else in the courts. “I would’ve been fine! You…”
“Hey,” Nick said. “I knew you were going to keep me safe.”
His utter faith in me made something in my stomach clench. No one should believe in me like that. I wasn’t that trustworthy.
Sirens sounded in the distance. Nick tilted his head. “You might want to take this off. I think someone called the cops about a couple of fae in the park.”
“The only way this day could get better is if we got arrested,” I muttered.
With a deep breath, I drew the magic back into myself, the glamours slipping away. It was just in time because a black-and-white police cruiser screeched into the park, followed by a couple of sedans.
