Page 13

Hannah

I’m floating on clouds as I emerge from the bank later that afternoon.

It doesn’t even matter that all of this morning’s witchy research turned up nothing that helped with my magic.

In the past few hours, Severin has brought two more businesses to Ferndale Falls.

First, a jewelry and precious gemstone store called Bling It On run by gnomes, and then a florist run by wood nymphs called Oopsy Daisy.

Like the pixies, they got the names from the witches in Alarria, and I bet my friend Naomi played a big part in it, since she recently renamed her bookshop I Touch My Shelf.

Severin also had his shadow fae completely renovate each of the buildings, including the apartments of their second floors, once I mentioned them.

In the blink of an eye, those apartments went from dingy and broken-down to bright open spaces made all the more beautiful by the perfectly restored hardwood floors.

Downtown hasn’t looked this good in years!

“You are my new human-business liaison.” Severin hands his entire stack of papers, cash, and cards to the fae who magicked up all his paperwork. “You will get a job at the bank and handle all of the business forms and transactions for the fae.”

“My king.” The woman bows, and when she straightens, I pluck Severin’s new driver’s license, bank card, and a hundred dollars of cash from the pile.

His driver’s license is just as amusing as the rest of the paperwork, since it gives his name as “King Severin” and his address as “The Shadow Fae Palace, Ferndale Falls.” The license number is just a bunch of zeroes ending in the number one, and so is his social security number, for god’s sake!

When I teased Severin about it, he gave me one of his superior smirks and said of course he’s “number one.”

Instead of calling him out for shenanigans, the bank clerk accepted all his information without batting an eye, and I have a feeling when I look Severin up in the city’s records, his nonsense address will be there. Magic is even more amazing than I ever expected!

“You should keep these with you,” I say, pressing the cards and money into his hand.

His fingers curl around mine, and his green eyes watch me with an intoxicating intensity. “Are you happy, my betrothed?”

The butterflies in my tummy take flight. Fake, I whisper to myself. Remember all of this is fake.

His thumb slides back and forth over my knuckles, sending tingles racing through me. Instead of calming, the butterflies down espresso shots, careening around like an excited flock of pixies.

“I am.” In only one day, he’s put more money into the town’s bank account than I ever imagined getting out of this entire deal.

If he gets a few more businesses going and brings in the customers he promised, sales tax and rents will continue to roll in.

Everything I’ve worked so hard for will finally come true, and Ferndale Falls will be saved.

We won’t have to close any more municipal services due to lack of funds, and I can even look into starting the after-school program the elementary teachers want!

“Then let’s go and frequent one of our new triumphs.” Severin dismisses his attendants, tucks my hand into the crook of his arm, and escorts me back down Main Street. He stops in front of the bright-yellow front of Bling It On, and the bell above the door gives a happy chime as he pulls me inside.

The most beautiful jewelry fills the glass cases, the stones larger and more richly colored than any I’ve ever seen.

Instead of the typical display stands humans use, everything here is natural.

Gleaming gold and silver necklaces drape over huge crystals and natural geodes.

Pairs of earrings dot tiny bonsai trees like precious fruit.

And trays of velvety moss hold rings, face up.

Two-foot tall gnomes wheel through the place in a swirl of light-green skin and bright-white hair, no matter their age. They’re all dressed in adorable patchwork clothes made from green, brown, and blue leaves, and wear little hats made of clumps of bright-green moss .

A female gnome somersaults over to us, coming to a halt on tiptoes, arms flung wide like a gymnast sticking the landing. Gnomes, as I found out earlier today, seem to be allergic to anything as simple as walking. “Welcome to Bling It On. You may call me Diamond. How may I assist you?”

“We require an engagement ring,” Severin says.

I startle and gape up at him. Do what now?

“I apologize for being remiss in getting you a ring, my betrothed.” He picks up my left hand and presses a kiss to my ring finger. “I’m still learning your human traditions.”

Ohhh. The bank clerk asked to see my engagement ring, and I said I didn’t have one. That must be what he’s referring to.

“It’s not necessary,” I say. Because this is all fake.

“Of course it’s necessary,” he growls. “You will wear my ring. All will know you are mine .”

The possessiveness in his voice sends the butterflies into another tizzy. Hoo, boy. He’s good at the acting thing. That sounded real.

“We have some lovely rings right over here.” Diamond cartwheels across the floor to come to a halt in front of one of the glass cases.

The rings inside are lovely. Gnomes, it seems, don’t go in for super fancy settings, but they don’t need to.

The diamonds gleam and sparkle with unmatched clarity, and the colors of the emeralds, sapphires, and rubies are so rich that ornamentation would only take away from their beauty.

“Oh, that one.” I point. Then another and another catch my eye. “No, wait. That one!” I’m like a child on Christmas morning told I only get to open one of the pretty packages waiting under the tree. There are so many wonderful possibilities I have zero idea how I’ll ever decide.

Severin’s less easily impressed. “None of these will do. I require a ring fit for a queen.”

“Of course.” A pleased glint enters the gnome’s clever eyes. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’ll fetch our premiere collection from our underground vault.”

She springs forward and hand walks behind the counter toward the back corner of the shop to where there’s a large rectangle cut out of the floor.

Diamond jumps into the dirt, disappearing from view as easily as a diver slicing into water.

The only sign of her passage is the little moss cap sitting where she entered.

“Did they cut a freaking hole in the floor?” I whisper-hiss to Severin, my eyes flicking toward the other gnomes in the shop. “That’s property damage!”

“I’ll cover any damages,” he says. “Besides, it’s necessary for gnomes to have access to the ground. Watch.”

After a minute, the moss shivers, and the gnome spins up into view, the green plant back in place on her head as a hat.

Diamond tosses a lovely wooden box to one of the other gnomes, tumbles over to the back of a display case, and bounces up a small series of steps to stand on a little platform that puts her at waist-height to the top of the case.

Her colleague lobs the box back to her, and she opens it to display—

“Oh. My. Freaking. God,” I breathe as my eyes do their best to pop out of my head like a cartoon character sighting their lady love.

All of the jewelry in the store is beautiful, but the rings in this box are works of art. And the stones! The stones are utterly massive . Each one looks like it could inspire a heist movie, and when put together, I feel a little lightheaded just looking at them.

I open my mouth, ready to say they’re all too much and I’ll take one of the ones from the regular case, when Severin reaches out and plucks the most exquisite ring from its mossy bed. “This one.”

It’s a large princess-cut diamond that’s as wide as my ring finger. There are no other stones, but the ring’s far from plain, because the carved gold band looks like the stem of a flower that curls back on itself, the petals of the bloom opening to disclose the diamond at its heart.

Severin slips it onto my ring finger, where it’s a little loose. Then the gnome touches the band, and in a tingle of magic, it shrinks to the perfect fit.

I stare down at my left hand, feeling the weight of the ring. I never knew a ring could be heavy. Then again, I’ve never owned a ring big enough to be seen from outer space before. This thing probably creates its own gravity well—it sure has sucked me in.

When Diamond names the price, Severin pulls out ten gold coins.

I gulp. Our little stint in the bank means I now know each is worth several thousand dollars. God, I love this ring, but I make words wheeze out of my reluctant throat in a faint whine, “It’s too much.”

Severin’s attention snaps to me. “Do you like it?”

“I do.” But none of this is supposed to be about me getting money and gifts. It’s supposed to be about helping Ferndale Falls.

“Then it’s well worth the cost.” He lifts my left hand to press a kiss to my knuckle right below his ring. “It’s not nearly as precious as you, my bride.”

My butterflies take flight.

“Come.” He offers me his elbow and leads me back outside to where a small crowd waits on the green.

Skye gives me a little wave, having come out of the library.

“Why are all these people here?” I whisper-hiss out the side of my mouth.

“I arranged it, of course.”

Of course. It’s more proof he’s a consummate actor, determined to make our engagement look real.

“Thank you all for being here,” Severin says. He lifts my left hand, presenting it on his. “I knew you’d want to see Mayor Wylde’s new ring.”

Even though she’s one of the people who knows it’s all fake, Skye lets out an excited squeal, ever the romantic.

Jared pushes to the front, his phone clicking photos. Ferndale Falls is too small to have a newspaper, but as our resident photographer, he maintains an unofficial town-news website, and I have a feeling I know what the new headline is going to be.

“Now one with a kiss!” Jared says, waving his phone.

Severin’s eyes hold me mesmerized as he leans close.

Is he actually going to kiss me? Oh, no, no, no.

I’m not ready. We haven’t practiced. Wait, what am I even thinking?

Practice? I hiccup a flustered laugh. Practicing kissing Severin would mean a whole lot of actually kissing Severin.

I already feel like I’m going to explode out of my skin—how would I ever survive that?

As he gets closer, my heart leaps, my body locked rigid as flames heat my cheeks. I want to moan in mortification. Ugh. I bet everyone can see I’m not used to his touch.

His lips brush the corner of my mouth. It’s the tiniest caress, but it sends a jolt of electricity shooting through me. The butterflies escape my stomach to fill my whole chest with fluttering as my heart races.

Fake, fake, fake, I chant to myself. This is all totally fake. You can’t forget he’s a really good actor.

As I meet Severin’s intense green eyes, the butterflies completely ignore me, doing loop-de-loops of joy.

Shit. I’m so totally screwed.