Page 11 of How To Tame A Trickster Fae

I choke on my bite of bread, the rest of the table very studiously ignoring whatever in the world Caelan’s just said to me.

It certainly shouldn’t set me on fire from head to toe.

It certainly shouldn’t send me to the point of distraction.

“I don’t need help right now,” I manage to croak.

“No, I suppose your type of work is solitary,” Caelan continues, his icy lavender gaze pinning me in place. I can hardly breathe from the weight of it. “But if you need help, you know where to find me.”

“Actually, no, I don’t know where to find you.” I snort, laughing a bit out of nerves and at the absurdity of this entire situation. Underhill fae. In my friend’s bakery. In our small town, which is supposed to be my safe bubble away from the troubles of the outside world, and decidedly safe from the Unseelie.

Fenn, picking up on my distress, lets out his absolute worst ear-shattering howl.

There’s nothing quite like a fox yowl to break the mood. I let myself smile, and I mean it, because I have no doubt my vocal familiar will stop whatever this fae’s fixation on me is.

Caelan, however, simply leans closer, his nostrils flaring.

“You smell of the earth. Dark places. Precious metals. Magic.” He tilts his head, that glossy, soft-looking black hair slipping from the knot at his neck. “I would like to help you, if you let me.” His eyes meet mine, arresting and otherworldly beautiful.

“I, I—” I don’t want to tell him no right now. Not with how he’s looking at me, like I hung the moon itself, like finding dark places deep in the earth with him would be the best possible idea. “I don’t need help at the moment.”

“Then why are you so sad, pretty witch?” he murmurs the question so softly that I wonder if I’ve heard him correctly.

“The apothecary and Long Leaf Brews.” She nods to herself “Those are your best bets. Ga’Rek, there’s an inn at the end of Firefly Lane. You can find a set of rooms there while these two sort out their work. If you want to work with me, then I expect you here an hour before dawn,” Piper, goddess bless her, interrupts, and I force my attention to her concerned face and concentrate on breathing.

Dark places with Caelan, as delicious as it sounds, would be very bad. I’ve never been good at relationships or men, and I would be more than out of my depth with the gorgeous fae.

Besides, I have my hands very full with work. My mouth twists to the side. At least, I have my hands full with trying to figure out how to build my business without the help of the guild.

Or the help of the coven that cast me out.

“You have my thanks and my sword,” Ga’Rek tells her, interrupting my bleak thoughts.

Caelan appears distracted by Piper, too, but I can still feel his attention on me, a warm sort of awareness of him that sets me on edge.

Not that I’m ever not on edge.

“I have to go,” I manage, tripping over the words. Fenn yips in agreement, trotting over to the door, tail held high.

“You know where to find me, if you change your mind,” Caelan says, a knowing look creasing the corners of his eyes. “About help. Or anything else.”

I make a non-committal noise, saved from replying by a pair of rowdy minotaurs breezing through the door. If I’d been asked who the largest men were in Wild Oak Woods this morning, the minotaur builder brothers would have taken the prize.

Next to Ga’Rek and the tall fae, though, they don’t seem nearly as impressive.

I cough out a surprised laugh, practically running for the door. Their horns nearly graze the ceiling, and they stare in surprise at the fae and orc in our midst.

The chill afternoon air splashes across my hot cheeks as the door to The Pixie’s Perch closes behind me. The birch broom on the side of the little shop rattles against the wall in the breeze, and I narrow my eyes at it.

Change has come to Wild Oak Woods, indeed.

Change, in the form of two Unseelie fae and their massive orc friend.

CHAPTER FOUR

CAELAN

Iwhistle a tune to myself as I lean against the counter of the local apothecary shop, waiting for the witch they called Willow to appear.

---