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LYSANDER

I stride through the office with a confidence I don’t feel at all, ignoring Aster at my heels.

All I care about is getting in and out of here as quickly as possible.

The shock of coming face to face with a human has my wings fluttering madly.

He was so — tall . And fierce-looking, with all that metal in his face. His dark eyes seemed to attack me.

The amulet is supposed to hide me, but for a split second I was sure it failed. Syril assured me humans aren’t dangerous, but I can hardly believe it.

This is what being in hiding has reduced me to. A creature who jumps at shadows — and human men with metal studs in their faces.

It’s clear I don’t belong in this world where humans and monsters mingle. All the more reason to find my sister soon so we can leave.

“Your Highness, please,” Aster huffs, hovering too close for comfort. “You know I have to sign you in!”

“But not the human?” I move out of range. A faun should know better than to get within touching distance of a fairy.

His ears droop. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, but Mister Maddox insists all monsters sign in. Monster and human interactions are very closely regulated in Greenriver.”

Frustration bubbles up. I suck in a deep breath.

I have to be above that, because I’m a prince, and that means graciousness and calm.

I let Aster march me back to the waiting room and sign me in.

The human is gone, leaving behind only a warm, spicy scent that sticks to my sensitive nose.

It makes my skin prickle all over, and I rub my nose delicately, trying to replace the human’s scent with my own.

Thanks to the amulet, the human only saw someone who looks more or less like him.

Pink skin instead of green, coarsely defined features, and a broad, wingless body.

Surreptitiously, I check my reflection in the window, but to my own eye I still look like me.

The amulet only casts its illusion on those who aren’t wearing one.

It’s unsettling to hide in plain sight, but every monster I’ve met in Greenriver does the same.

By the time Aster is finally satisfied, I can no longer contain myself. I burst into Maddox’s office without even knocking.

“Is there news yet?”

The look on his face tells me everything I need to know. “I’m sorry, Prince Lysander. I haven’t heard from her.”

“It’s been a month. You said —” I swallow back my frustration. “No one has reported anything?”

“Nothing of substance.”

I grip the desk. “Was there anything not of substance?”

“I get a lot of reports.” He steeples his fingers.

He’s an ordinary looking human, but he wears his own amulet visibly over his shirt to signal to all monsters that he sees their true form.

When the missive from my sister found me, I’d been hiding far from the humans — a fairy like me could never pass unnoticed in the human world.

But in Greenriver I was shocked to find humans and monsters living side by side.

Elsabeth told me Owyn Maddox would help me, and he did. He sent me to Syril, where I’m safe. For now. Yet why would she summon me to Greenriver, then disappear?

“Can I read the reports?”

Maddox sighs. “Your Highness —”

“Lysander,” I interrupt. The constant Your Highness ’s make me feel like a fraud.

“Lysander, I don’t want to give you false hope.” His tone is kind. I grit my teeth. Everyone is so kind, and still they can do nothing for me.

“You won’t. I just want to see for myself.”

“I wish you would trust me,” he says.

“I do.” Mostly.

He shakes his head. “You don’t. But I understand.

I’ll print them for you, but please, Your Highness, don’t spend hours poring over them.

Ninety percent of all reports are just ghosts — fragments of peoples’ imagination.

The other ten percent have already been investigated and they’ve turned up nothing. ”

“I just want to look.”

I need to see, to understand, even if the outcome of the search is beyond my control. I need to ground myself in words and be assured someone looked them over and confirmed them to be meaningless.

Maddox hands over the stack of paper and ushers me out of the office. “I’ll tell you if I hear anything. I promise.”

I hold the papers tight and sign out on Aster’s sheet. Outside, Orion is waiting for me in his car. I give him a tight nod as I climb in.

Four flaming eyes go to the papers I’m clutching.

“Ready to go?”

I’m glad he has the tact not to inquire. “Yes, thanks.”

The scenery rushes past my window at foreign speeds. Vehicles still make me faintly sick, but I swallow it back. My wings press uncomfortably into the seat, restricted by the ridiculous strap Orion makes me wear.

I only have to stay in this human city until I’m reunited with Elsabeth.