Page 7 of Festive with a Grumpy Fae

He picks up the book that doubled as my beloved object and studies the cover, then slips it into his pocket.

“Hey!That’s mine,” I protest, even as part of my brain wonders how he did that.Tiganaisn’t exactly a pocket-sized book, unless your pockets are tote-sized.

Hot Faerie shoots me an irritated glance.“No, it is mine.”

“Mate, it abso-fucking-lutely is not.”

His brows rise.“You used it in the summoning spell, did you not?”

My mouth drops open, and I sputter.“Nobody told me that meant I’d be giving it away!That’s my favourite book.Keep the saffron and the knife instead.”

To my utter… shock?Stupefaction?Consternation?… he holds out a hand, palm down, and the scattered filaments of saffron rise from the dirt and coagulate into a tidy bundle, which he then slips into the same pocket he put my book into.

“That’s going to stain the pages,” I mutter inanely.

“The spice is a worthy offering of wealth.The book is how I will learn about you.The blade is merely a tool, and I have no interest in it.”His eyes narrow.“Did you perform the spell with no understanding of what the components meant?”

“Of course not!The book is my favourite—and therefore valuable—and the saffron cost a bloody fortune, so of course it symbolizes wealth.”

He stares at me like he’s waiting for me to say more, but I’ve got nothing else to add.I kind of don’t understand what I needed all that stuff for.And I definitely don’t understand why he’s stealing my book.The spell didn’t mention anything about that.

Although, if he’s planning to useTiganato learn about me, he’s shit outta luck.My life is absolutely nothing like anything that happens in that book.“Uhh, just so you know, that book isn’t my diary or anything.It’s not even realistic fiction—it’s fantasy.So I don’t know how much learning is going to happen.”

Slowly, so slowly, he shakes his head.“You performed the spell without any understanding of it.”The pained tone reminds me of my Year Eight maths teacher trying to help me understand linear equations.This isn’t so different from that, in that I get the gist but not the finer details.

“I understood it just fine,” I insist stubbornly.“It worked, didn’t it?”

Rubbing a hand over his face, he says, “This cannot truly be my fate.How the gods must be laughing.”

I don’t know exactly what that’s supposed to mean, but I’m pretty sure he’s not paying me a compliment.“Do you think it’s smart to be mean to the guy who gets to decide whether you sleep in a bed or… here?”I gesture to the hard ground.“’Cause if you’re going to be a dick, I’ll go home and you can sort yourself out, mate.”I stride forward and snatch my tote bag from him, then hold out my hand.“Gimme my book.”

He folds his arms across his chest and scowls at me.“No.It’s mine.”

“Did you save your allowance to pay for it?Did you spend forty-five minutes in a bookstore trying to choose between it and two other books?Did you get so involved in reading it at the bus stop that you missed the bus to school?No?Then it’s not your book!”I yell, and around us, the night goes still.It just goes to show how much I’m used to tuning out the sounds of crickets—I hadn’t even noticed how noisy they were until they stopped.

My sexy faerie isn’t as intimidated by me as the nocturnal wildlife is, and he stares me down.

“The spell asks for a valued object to allow the summoned—that would be me—to better understand the summoner—you.What you value tells the story of who you are.By using the book for the spell, you gave it to me to learn about you.”

I sniff.“The spell didn’t say anything about that.I want a refund.”

He blinks.“A… what?”

“I’ll trade you for my book.”

“It doesn’t work that way.”

“Says who?The spell didn’t have a list of rules.It was supposed to summon a companion for me, and I’d rather have my book back than you.”

He doesn’t answer, studying me in the light of his magic glow ball.I stand firm, trying not to show how close I am to bursting into tears.This whole night has been a disaster.I must be the only person alive who can successfully summon a faerie companion who’s supposed to be attuned to me and have them dislike me.And to top it all off, I’m not only going to be alone for Christmas, I’m also losing my favourite bookandout the cost of half a packet of saffron.That shit isn’t cheap.

Just when I’m starting to think I may as well cry and get it over with—it’s not like my sexy faerie can think much less of me—he sighs.

“Perhaps we should negotiate.”

I laugh, a bit hysterically.“Yeah, nah.I read a lot, so I know I’m not going to come out ahead in a negotiation with the fae.”

“Not that kind of negotiation,” he snaps.“I’m not here for that.”