Page 107

Oh God, oh God, oh God.

There’s suddenly not enough wine in the world for this conversation.

My hand drops from the Green Man’s chest.

I haven’t been using birth control. Des hasn’t been wearing condoms.

Fuck, fuck, fuckityfuck.

What sort of loser justforgetsabout these things?

It’s a trick question because obviously this bitch right here is the loser who does.

Des and I have never talked about the subject of children, aside from one confession he forced out of me weeks ago, where I admitted I wanted to have children with him.

But not thissecond.

What if, oh God, what if…what if I’m pregnant?

The Green Man’s voice drifts in. “…fae aren’t particularly fertile, but humans are.”

Gah, this dude won’t shut up about it. Where is theejectbutton for this conversation?

I catch sight of Temper, who is entering the ballroom, self-consciously straightening her dress.

Thereis my escape.

“Temper—Temper!” I call out, the panic clear in my voice.

She whips about, searching the crowd until she sees me. My best friend takes one look at my expression and another at the man next to me, and bless her to the ends of the earth, she begins to slip through the crowd, a determined look on her face.

“Are you all right?” the Green Man says, his eyes bright with excitement rather than concern.

As if he’s unaware of the effect his words have on me.

My eyes search the crowd, falling on Des, whose back is to me. He’s the one I should really talk about this with, but he’s trapped in discussions, and more importantly, I don’t really want to havethat talk.

Temper swoops in then. “Back up, Green Man, my friend needs more wine.”

Before either me or the Green Man have a chance to react, Temper slides her arm through mine and forcefully escorts me away.

“Oh my God, I love you,” I say.

“I know. I love you too.” She gives my arm a squeeze.

“I need to get out of here,” I say, not bothering to comment on the fact Temper has a healthy glow to her or that her hair is a little sex shaken.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, eyeing me up and down. “You look like you accidently saw your grandparents getting it on.”

I swallow. “I’ll tell you, just—” I glance around us at all the fairies crowding the room. Dropping my voice, I say, “Not here.”

She eyes me again but nods.

We’re just about to the door when I hear Mara’s voice.

“Callie!”

I close my eyes.