Page 32 of The Cursed Fae

“We're on the same arena team,” Laz said.

Justin towered several inches over Laz, who was easily six feet. He had a shy smile that revealed a dimple on the left side.

“The infamous Winter Sable,” Justin said as we shook with gloved hands.

A sour taste filled my mouth. If I heard some version of that one more time, I was going to lose it. It wasn't Justin's fault that it was the umpteenth time I'd heard the words in a week, so I swallowed my snarky response and nodded.

“How do you like it here so far?” Justin continued, oblivious to my annoyance.

I shrugged. “It's okay. Different. Still getting used to it.”

“I get it. I lived in the human world for a long time, came to Arcane about two years ago.”

My eyebrows arched. “So I'm not the only one? Good to know.”

Justin chuckled. “Nah. A lot of students spend time in the human world. It's just fae like this guy”—he cocked a thumb toward Laz—“who grew up here.”

Laz wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “You'll get used to Arcane,” he promised. “Let's grab a beer. Unless you've changed your mind about the kombucha?”

“Funny,” I deadpanned.

We made our goodbyes and Laz led me over to the keg buried within a snow hill so that only the top was sticking out. I saw Archer with a group chucking snowballs at each other and waved. He waved back as he ducked, and the projectile heading for his face smacked into someone behind him.

At the keg, a guy Laz introduced as AJ twirled his hand and formed two ice cups from the snow, which he filled with beer from the tap.

“Did you make that too?” I asked, gesturing to the beer pong table.

“I'm not that good,” AJ replied with a chuckle.

He handed me the first cup, and I had to admit the alcohol tasted way better in the frosty mug. In fact, it didn't taste like beer at all. It had more of a fruity flavor, though not too sweet.

I held up the ice glass. “I find this extremely impressive.”

Laz clinked his cup against mine. “It won't be long before you'll be able to make the mugs yourself.”

We mingled more, and I met a dozen people whose names I'd never remember. It was information overload, but I did my best to seem friendly.

After another trip to AJ for a refill, Laz led me over to a threesome sitting near the fire on a bench made of snow that didn't melt from the heat. I recognized the girl from my classes but couldn't recall her name. One of the two guys I'd seen in the dining hall with Laz before.

“Brendan, Shane, Kora,” Laz rattled off. “This is Winter.”

All three seemed nice enough, though Shane kept eyeing me strangely. I didn't know what to make of it. The second beer was speeding to my head, so I didn't say much.

“This is the first time I've been back here since... well, you know,” Kora said.

“Yeah, me too,” Laz replied. His arm slid from my shoulders to my waist. While a little possessive for my tastes, I enjoyed having him so close. It was comforting. Almost too comforting, because I was getting tired despite my interest in the conversation.

“It's weird; doesn't feel right,” Kora said.

The guy beside her, Brendan, squeezed Kora's leg affectionately. “Ray would want you to be happy.” He turned to look at me, but spoke to her. “Maybe our newest Sable fae can get a message to him for you.”

“Excuse me?” I sputtered.

“You can talk to spirits, right?” Brendan asked.

“Not that I know of,” I lied.

The last thing I wanted was to be in the middle of a supernatural love triangle. And unless I was totally reading the situation wrong, that was exactly what was going on.

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