Page 24
Story: Fake Dating a Human 101
Luc’s face blanched.
“They’ve found us!” A shrill voice lifted in the distance.
Lily spotted Mycra racing over the hills, her dark hair lapping behind her. Her strides were impressive, even with a short spear in her hand. “The House of Lyro is coming!”
“What?!” Dranian growled.
“Did you sayrash weeds?” Luc shouted. He yanked the hem of his coat around as if checking it.
Lily’s flesh pulled tight as she gazed over the hills. She couldn’t see anyone coming yet, but she wanted to look into the faces of the people who’d put Shayne into such a battered state. Who’d cast him out of their home when he was younger. She wanted to see what his heartless family looked like, but even more than that…
She wanted him to escape from them.
“Let’s airslip back to the café!” Lily turned to Luc. “Hurry!” she added.
Luc nearly choked. “Do you really think I can carryall of youthrough the wind, dear Lily?”
Her spare hand drifted to the pocket of her hoodie where she usually kept her phone. “Carry one of us at a time,” she returned, and Luc’s heart-shaped lips twisted.
“I don’t think you know how things work among fairies,” he said. “We can’t just leave when they’re this close or whatever Shadow Fairies they’re working with will follow us through the gate—as my own past has proven. Either we fight until they’re dead or we’re dead, or we make a bargain for our lives,orwe find a way to fool them intothinkingwe’re dead. But we don’t just ‘slip away’ without consequences.” He nodded toward Shayne. “Did this fool never tell you that?”
“Why do they care so much? Why can’t they just let us go?” Lily finally dropped Shayne’s coat and folded her arms, squeezing them tight. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
Luc sighed. “It does, actually. I killed the heir to the House of Lyro the other day.”
Shayne released a deep moan. “I was hoping I’d dreamt that part. Couldn’t you have just messed Kahn-Der up a little? Broken his legs and smashed a few ribs? Did you really have to toss him off the top of a pillar like a bag of spoiled potatoes?” he asked Luc.
Luc examined his nails. “I enjoyed it.”
Shayne thought about that. Then he admitted, “So did I.”
“Didn’t you hear what I said?” Mycra shouted when she reached them. She scooted to a stop, kicking up dirt. “The House of Lyro is coming. They’ll be here in minutes. We should run before it’s too late!”
“That won’t solve anything,” Luc said, more to himself.
“Sure it will. Let’s get out of here and sneak back to the human realm while they’re not looking,” Shayne said. He extended a hand to Lily, but she cast him a look to remind him she could walk on her own.
“Jethwire is leading the army,” Mycra added, and Shayne’s mouth twisted.
“So my father isn’t with them?” he asked.
“I doubt he’s back yet,” Mycra said. “But it doesn’t matter; it’s the hunting army. They’ll have already been promised rewards. Anyone spotted in your company will be black marked, and they’ll shoot to capture, not to kill.”
Shayne dragged a hand through his white hair, making it stand on end.
“Isn’t that better?” Lily asked.
“No,” Mycra, Dranian, and Shayne all said at the same time.
Shayne nudged Lily toward Dranian. “We should split up then,” he decided. “Lily, stay with Dranian. Why don’t you two head home first?”
“That is aterribleidea,” Luc said. He cast Shayne a sidelong glance. “You should be quiet if you only have bad ideas.”
“We don’t have time for this!” Mycra objected.
“Exactly,” Luc said. “They’ll catch us if we run, and they’ll corner us if we split up, which means we must fight.”
“What?! You want me to…fightfairies? Here in the Ever Corners?” Lily asked. Her chest tightened—she couldn’t seem to take in a full breath anymore.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24 (Reading here)
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100