Page 63 of The Cursed Fae

Missy waved her arms to get my attention. I ignored her, focusing on Archer. She gestured emphatically toward the doorway. Someone was coming. And I was mouth-to-mouth with a guy who wasn't Laz.

Like that, the spell broke. I broke away, stepping out of Archer's reach so he couldn't draw me back in. He rounded a quizzical brow, clearly confused. His lips slightly swollen, he asked, “What's wrong?”

Over his shoulder, Missy's brown eyes were enormous. Her mouth mimed a single word: “Go.”

I smoothed my shirt into place and shook my head. “Um, sorry. I forgot... something.”

I snatched my bag and darted from the astrology attic, a confusing mix of giddy passion and guilty shame swirling inside me. I made it halfway down the stone stairs before I saw the reason Missy warned me—Tina.

Right. I'd told my roommate where to find me, though I hadn't expected her to come looking. If she'd found me getting hot and heavy with someone besides her brother... well, I owed Missy for this one.

“Hey,” I said too brightly.

“Hey. Astrid's looking for you,” Tina said, eyes narrowing on my flushed cheeks.

I kept walking down the stairs, prompting her to turn and follow. “Oh, okay. It's late. What does she want?”

“I don't know,” Tina snapped. “Ask her yourself. I'm not your secretary.” My roommate pulled a rumpled envelope from her back jeans pocket and thrust it toward me. “She left this for you.”

Someone had scrawled my name in an elegant font across the front. I'd seen Astrid's chicken scratch handwriting, and this was definitely not it. I waited until long after Tina was asleep before breaking the seal on the envelope and reading the note inside. It contained a single line and was definitely not from Astrid.

Your studies are coming along nicely.

Chapter twenty-two

The Problem With Prophecies

I skipped the library and went straight to the cafeteria in the morning to avoid Laz. What would I tell him? Should I tell him anything? Our relationship didn’t have a firm label yet. Was I under an obligation to divulge the kiss with Archer?

The barista hadn’t started making lattes, nor was there a cook on duty to prepare waffles. The early bird selection was a cereal bar, day-old muffins, an assortment of fruit, and yogurt cups. I poured a mug of drip coffee and grabbed a banana and a strawberry yogurt. There were a handful of sleepy-eyed students eating in silence, but no one I knew.

Then my eyes landed on Ewan. He wore a knit hat over his dark waves, which were still damp from a recent shower. His laptop was open, and he was scrolling through some website.

I was just about to turn away when he caught my eye and waved me over, closing the computer lid before I slid into the seat beside him.

“Porn,” he said with a shrug.

“It’s a little early, isn’t it?” I teased, peeling the banana and taking a bite from the top.

“Can’t help it, Sable. The heart wants what the heart wants, you know?”

“I think you mean the hand wants what the hand wants,” I quipped.

Ewan leaned back in his chair and chuckled. “Touché.” He pointed at the fruit. “You really need to watch how you’re eating that. You’re giving me funny ideas.”

I grinned. “Sweet talker.”

“What’s got you up and out of bed so early?” He studied my face, zeroing in on the bags under my eyes. “Looks like you could’ve used a few more hours under the covers.”

I finished the banana and threw the peel at him. “Yeah, well, life.”

The amusement faded from his expression. “Want to talk about it? Not to brag, but I’ve been told I’m a superb listener.”

“You don’t want to hear about my woes.”

“Eh. I like other people’s woes. Great distraction from my own.” He smiled, though it was the type of smile meant to mask the truth.

I pulled the foil lid from the yogurt. “Things in Arcane Landing are just different. Using magic every day is new for me.” I jabbed my spoon in the cup too hard. “Mom said moving here and attending university would give me the chance to be me. To be part of this world. To be normal. Then I find out I’m an outlier even among the fae, and now there are wolf-vampires and fae-vampires and it’s all very confusing.”

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