Page 19

Severin

“Excellent news,” Varyn says the next morning, striding out from behind one of the trees beside me.

Having felt his approach, I don’t startle or take my eyes from Hannah’s cottage, which I’ve watched over all night to ensure she’s safe.

“Did you find a baker?” I ask. There’s only so much lumpy porridge a man can eat before going on a villainous spree, after all.

“No, but it’s almost as good.”

Not fucking likely. Nothing is as good as brownie bread.

“Shadow got the orcs to agree to open a pub in Ferndale Falls.”

“This is good news.” I can’t wait to tell Hannah.

“I also have a couple of cu sith interested in the bodyguard job. Where should I bring them? ”

My shadows stir, having sensed movement. I wave him to silence and refocus on the cottage.

The front door opens, and Finn comes racing out, making the thin shadow stretched across the bottom of the doorway twang in alarm. He gives several yips before disappearing into the trees.

Hannah follows, wearing a green top the color of maple leaves in the sun. It looks lovely on her.

My shoulders ease. There’s no way Meloria could have made it through my shadows without me knowing—I wove an extra tight protection around every access point—but that’s not the same as seeing Hannah safe.

Her friend, the short blonde, pulls up in one of the mechanical contraptions humans love and waves from its open window.

“Thanks for this,” Hannah says, getting in on the other side. “I left my car at Town Hall yesterday and forgot until this morning.”

“Please, it’s not a problem. The library’s the next building over.” The vehicle rolls backward.

As soon as it drives off, I pull all of my shadows back to me and form my wings. “Bring the bodyguards to Town Hall as soon as you can.”

Varyn rises beside me. “You’re going to keep watching her?”

“Of course.” As I lift above the trees, I search for the car. “I have to keep Hannah safe. My arrangement with her is still the only reason we’re able to be here on Earth.”

“Is that really the only reason you’re doing it?” he teases.

I scowl at him until he smirks and flies off toward the waterfall. Then I yell, “Get me a baker!”

An hour later, a pixie finds me where I perch on the outside sill of Hannah’s office window, held in place with shadows.

I magicked myself to be invisible, but used a low-effort spell meant only to fool humans.

The tiny fae spots me easily. He flies off, only to return a few moments later with the pixie leader and several of the flock, who carry a square paper box only an inch high.

“King Severin,” the head pixie pipes, “we bring you a gift.”

They drop the package into my hands, and when I open it, the sweet smell of maple syrup teases my nose. It holds a flat, bready disk with square depressions punched into its top. Syrup and crushed hazelnuts well within.

It’s cut into quarters, and I pick one up, syrup running down the meat of my hand.

The sweet burst of maple coats my tongue mellowed by butter, the bread part surprisingly crunchy but good.

I grunt and take a bigger bite. This might not be the airy perfection that is brownie bread, but it’s far better than porridge. “What is this?”

“It’s sweet pizza,” she says. “The humans eat it for breakfast, along with egg pizza. We want to be open all day instead of only in the evenings, but we need to hire a cook for the egg pizza.”

“Omelets,” another pixie says. “The humans call them omelets.”

“They are egg pizza.” The leader chops at the air dismissively. “The humans will call them that if they want to eat at our café.”

I snort in amusement and finish off the last bites of sweet pizza. What did Shadow say humans call these? Waffles? What a ridiculous-sounding word! But delicious, I’ll give them that. My shadows carry the empty paper box down to a trash receptacle as I lick the syrup from my fingers.

“We will open tomorrow.” The pixie shoots me a pointed look. “You will tell your people our sweet pizza is good?”

“I will.”

“That first one was free, but tomorrow bring money.”

I smirk. I like her and her little mercenary heart. “What can I call you?”

“You have not earned my name!” She sounds affronted, her wings flapping with agitation.

“I didn’t assume I had. Do you have a nickname I can use?”

Her little face twists in thought. “You may call me Blue.”

I tip my head.

Blue calls to her flock in the high whistle of pixie speech, and they dart away.

On their way back to Slice of Life, they dip low as they cross the green to buzz over the sleeping herd of tulips, whose drooping heads snap upright.

They chase the pixies to the edge of the grass, waving their leaf arms. They’re joined by another group of tulips.

It seems at least one witch has been busy.

But it’s not Hannah. Of that much, I can be certain. If her magic connected to plants, I’d feel it .

She works at her desk, tapping away at one of the human inventions I know nothing about. Her lips purse, and I’m thrown back to the best part of yesterday.

The kiss. The kiss that started as nothing more than a means to fool the others and turned into so much more. The taste of her, the feel of her pressed against me, and that little noise she made… Goddess, I’d kill to hear that noise again.

My shadows slide forward, searching for cracks around the window frame, wanting to touch her.

“Severin,” Varyn calls, emerging from the forest behind Town Hall, two cu sith following in their black wolf form. They come to a halt below me.

“Why are you in your animal forms?” Irritation runs through me. “A good bodyguard should blend in.”

“We thought the protective spell would make us look like dogs,” the larger wolf says. “Humans love dogs.”

“Trust me, talking dogs do not blend in.” I scowl down at them as I push off from the window, my shadows holding onto the ledge to control my fall. Once my feet touch the ground, I pull the shadow tendrils back in.

The wolves shift to their fae forms. One turns into a fae woman with pale skin, long, curly brown hair, and delicate features. The larger wolf becomes a tall man with deep-brown hair, lightly tanned skin, and an impressive build. “I’m Rune,” he says. “And this is Luna.”

“King Severin.” I send a pulse of magic toward them, wrapping them in T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. “Public nudity isn’t acceptable on Earth. Human clothes will help you blend in better.”

Rune looks up from inspecting the jeans. “Who are we protecting?”

“Mayor Hannah Wylde, a human witch who doesn’t know how to use her magic.”

“And what are we protecting her from?” Luna asks.

“Meloria, a shadow fae. She thinks to wed me, even though Hannah and I are betrothed.”

Rune and Luna share a look, and Luna gives a little nod. Rune turns to me. “We’ll do it. I’m on days and Luna’s on nights. We’ll need a place to sleep when we’re off duty. We could use the forest, but…” He gestures toward the town. “There are humans everywhere, and we have no den.”

“I’ll rent one of the human apartments for you.” One of the ones above the jewelry shop instead of the pizzeria. I might be a shadow fae, but even I’m not evil enough to subject fae with keen hearing to the clangor of a flock of pixies.

“And we’ll need more human clothes,” Luna adds. “If we have to shift to our werewolf forms to fight, these will be destroyed.”

True. Their werewolf forms are far larger. “Done.”

As soon as I mention that Hannah’s inside Town Hall, the werewolves take off to make a circuit of the building.

Now that I know Hannah will be safe, the strangest feeling goes through me, one I’ve never felt in all my years.

Is this relief? Have I been worried about my enchanting little witch not only because of her place in my plans but also because I care about her ?

What a very curious feeling.