Page 26

Hannah

When I wake up the next morning, I stretch and roll over, my whole body aching in the very best of ways.

God, last night had been incredible. Being with Severin was the sexiest encounter of my entire life.

I’ve never come like that before, so often or so hard.

I’ve also never felt so connected to another person, so seen.

But I have no idea what magical sex is supposed to be like. For all I know, everything that happened between us is completely normal.

I’m so tired of not knowing about all of this magic stuff! On top of all my embarrassment over the first trial, I didn’t want to admit to Severin that this is yet another thing I’m ignorant about. So I tried to play it cool and make it sound like it was no big deal. Happens every day.

But god, it felt special .

Or was he only acting?

Ugh, I can’t tell which it is. Only one thing to do! I grab my phone from the nightstand and text Skye and Autumn. Anybody want to do brunch? The pixies have opened Slice of Life, and they have waffles!

You had me at brunch , Skye answers.

You had me at waffles , Autumn adds.

Meet you there in thirty?

They both like my text, so I roll out of bed and make my way through the kitchen to the back door. Swinging it open, I call out, “Morning!”

Luna pops out from behind a tree to wave that all’s well, and Finn trots out of the forest, yawning the whole way. As soon as his little tongue uncurls, he says, “This is an ungodly hour.”

“It’s ten thirty! I slept in.”

“Ungodly,” he repeats but squirms happily when I crouch down and give him scratchies. I hit an especially good place, and his left foot lifts, digging at the air and making me laugh.

“I discovered what my magic is last night. I can talk to animals!”

Finn’s eyes snap open, and his ears droop. “You can talk to all of them?”

He sounds upset by the news, which is the opposite of what I expected.

“I think so. What’s wrong?”

“Is that why you can talk to me?” It comes out as a worried whine. “Does this mean I’m not your familiar?”

“I’m sure you’re my familiar!” I hurry to reassure him. “No other animal talks to me like you do.”

He humphs.

“No, I mean it!” I touch his soft forehead in a gentle pet. “From other animals, I get one or two words at best, but you and I have entire conversations! And your vocabulary blows all of them away.”

“Well, of course it does.” He immediately perks back up, living fully in the now in that special way animals have. “I’m special.”

“You sure are.” I hug him, his musky floral smell comforting. “Now let me get ready, and we’ll go have brunch.”

“What’s brunch?” he asks as he follows me into my bedroom.

“It’s breakfast and lunch combined into one meal.”

“That’s horrible!” Finn sounds offended. “Why would you tell me I’m only getting one meal instead of two?”

“Because it’s a bigger meal and you get to eat things you don’t normally eat.”

“Treats?” His ears perk up. “You should have led with that.”

I grin. “I’ll know better next time.”

I get ready in a flash, taking the world’s fastest shower and throwing on comfy weekend clothes, yoga pants and a T-shirt.

In no time at all, my little car is puttering down Main Street, with Finn in the front seat and Rune overflowing the back, his head hanging out the window so the wind ripples through his hair.

Already the town feels different, more alive.

People are enjoying the green, couples sit on blankets while their kids play. A dog catches a Frisbee.

Finn sticks his head out the window to watch, then turns to me. “Do not ever expect me to do that.”

The werewolf huffs a laugh of agreement.

“No Frisbees. Got it.”

A batch of tulips run past, a little boy making meowing noises following, so Severin already got the spell changed to show the walking flowers as cats. That’s so sweet of him to remember.

More people stroll the sidewalks, a mix of humans and fae. Bling It On is full of shopping shadow fae, the little gnomes whirling about in a frenzy to help all of them. There are orcs inside I Touch My Shelf. And there’s even a line outside Slice of Life!

Ferndale Falls feels vital again. It’s everything I hoped for.

I swerve around the infamous pothole and park in the municipal lot. Then we hurry back down the sidewalk to the pizzeria/waffle place. Rune slips away from my peripheral view, which feels like it should be impossible for someone so massive, but he’s good at his job.

Skye and Autumn are already in line when I join them, and I give them big hugs. “I’m so glad you could meet me.”

“Uh, oh.” Autumn points at me. “Is that guy trouble I detect?”

“Yep.”

“How can you have guy trouble if it’s all fa—” Skye catches herself right in time, slapping a hand over her mouth. Then she whispers from between her fingers a muffled, “Sorry.”

Blue streaks out the open front door and stops, hovering in front of my face. “Mayor Wylde! You are a special customer. You do not have to wait!” Her little arms gesture me inside.

Skye’s slip made me realize a crowded and public café might not be the best place to talk about everything. Dammit.

“Excuse me, Blue. Is there a special table where my friends and I can sit without being overheard by other people?” I lean forward and whisper. “We need to talk about magic.”

“Don’t worry. We have special candles for that! We buy them from the shadow fae.”

She escorts us inside to one of the tables along the wall, not batting a tiny eyelash at the fact that Finn comes with us. At her sharp whistle, three pixies fly a purple pillar candle to our table. “When you light this, no one will be able to eavesdrop on you.”

I make the newbie mistake of trying to order a waffle and get a three-minute lecture on how that word shouldn’t exist, because all the best foods are, of course, pizza.

Properly chastened, and trying really freaking hard not to laugh, we order coffee and “sweet pizzas” for the three of us, with un-spiced “meat pizzas” for Finn, which from the menu description should be hamburger patties.

The pixies drop off an insulated carafe of coffee, and by the time we’ve poured and doctored them, the food arrives, teams of pixies flying each plate over to us, the one with the burgers going to Finn on the floor.

They let out happy cheers of “Pizza” and all the pixies in the café echo them. As soon as they leave, I light the candle, and a bubble of silence surrounds us, as if someone turned down the volume on the rest of the world. It’s like Severin’s sound-cloaking spell, but in candle form!

I cut my waffle in two and pour maple syrup on one half and blueberry syrup on the other. The menu promised everything’s made from real ingredients instead of artificial flavors, and I love both, so why choose?

“Okay, spill.” Autumn jabs her fork toward me.

“Witch stuff or guy stuff first?”

“Witch stuff, of course.” Skye looks up from pouring raspberry syrup across her waffle. “That way, we can spend the rest of the time talking about guy stuff.”

“I figured out my magic last night.”

“That’s amazing!” Skye beams at me.

“Congratulations!” Autumn says. “What is it?”

“I can talk to animals.”

“Tell them I’m still special.” Finn looks up from gulping down his burgers.

“Of course, bud,” I assure him, then turn back to my friends. “Finn wants you to know he’s still special.”

“Of course he is.” Then Skye’s voice goes dreamy. “I’d love to be able to talk to animals.”

“It sure would help with the goats,” Autumn says, then points her fork at me. “But how’s it going to help you with these bride trials?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “But it’s got to be better than having no idea about my magic.”

“It definitely gives us a more focused topic to research,” Skye says. “That always helps.”

“Is there anything else we can do about the magic thing right now?” Autumn asks. When the two of us shake our heads, she grins. “So on to the guy stuff!”

I take a big gulp of coffee. “Severin and I slept together.”

“What?” Skye shrieks right as Autumn lets out a stunned, “No!”

“That’s all I need to hear of that .” Finn bumps his head against my calf. “Find me on the green.” He weaves his way across the restaurant before bolting out the front door.

“I thought everything between you two is fake,” Skye says.

“It was. But now it’s… I don’t know.” I play with my ring—my freaking ginormous diamond ring that should mean my fiancé loves me a lot.

But it’s all for show. Severin bought this one because it’s makes our fake engagement look real.

I shove a bite of waffle into my mouth, the sweet explosion of maple syrup making my tongue happy, even though the rest of me feels frustrated and confused.

“Last night felt really special. He surprised me by bringing me here for a date, let me order our food, and talked to me… really talked, stuff about his childhood and life.”

“That sounds perfect!” Skye says. “What’s the problem?”

“We went out to practice my magic, but this time, our powers did this new thing where they combined, and it was all tingly and exciting, and we… well, you know.” I gesture. “But I don’t know if it was just the magic or if it’s something more.”

“What did Severin seem like?” Autumn asks.

“He enjoyed it, but he’s such a good actor. When he looks at me like he cares, it doesn’t look that different than when we’re faking for a crowd.”

“What if that’s because he always means it?” Skye’s eyes go dreamy. “He might really be into you.”

“Maybe?” I poke at my waffle with the tines of my fork.

Autumn puts her hand on mine and gives me one of her serious looks, her red eyebrows drawing together, her freckled nose scrunching. “Do you want things between you two to be fake?”

“No,” I whisper, then clear my throat and speak at a regular volume. “But it’s not completely up to me, is it? Fake is all he wants. Or maybe he wants ‘fake plus benefits.’”

“Is ‘fake plus benefits’ even a thing?” Skye asks.

I give her a grimace-smile and shrug.

Autumn asks, “Okay, spill the goods. How was it?”

“I’ll say this much.” My lips curl. “There sure as hell wasn’t anything fake about the orgasms he gave me.”

Skye gasps, “Orgasms, as in plural?”

Autumn shoots me a questioning look and holds up two fingers.

I shake my head and hold up three.

They both shriek with laughter, and I join them, already feeling tons better. Chatting with my besties is exactly what I needed.

Whatever this is with Severin, I’ll figure it out.