Page 17 of Make Me Bee-lieve

Polina shakes her head as I reach for my shirt. “No, it’s fine. I’m just surprised. I’ve never seen a human without his clothing on before,” she says. “Or without the beekeeper attire, I should say.”

I arch an eyebrow. “Really? But you’re a … you’re a bee. Don’t you go out and fly around? See all sorts of sights?”

Polina’s lips curl into a soft, amused smile. She’s pretty. In a weird sort of way, of course. But pretty. Earlier I thought she was terrifyingly hot, but when she smiles like this, I can see the softness of her personality shine through. Not so terrifying, after all. My heart skips a beat as my cheeks become warmer and warmer with each passing second.

“No, I’m fae. We take on the appearance of bees in order to blend in with the rest of the natural world, so the humans don’t interfere with our lives. We share many characteristics with the actual insects, but not all. And because I am the princess, I especially do not get to leave to ‘see all sorts of sights,’ as you put it.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I lower myself to sit on the edge of the bed. “There are actual bees, but also not actual bees. Right. Okay. Makes sense.” It doesn’t. “So, there are fae butterflies, too, I assume?”

Polina nods. “Oh, yes! Many! There are fae posing as thousands of different insects, of course. And some birds, as well. And we always take on many of the mannerisms of those we mimic.”

I snort and drop my hand into my lap. “How about mice, then? Rats?”

Her face scrunches up, and she sticks out her long, black tongue. Oh, wild. “Oh, no. Ew. No. Of course not.”

“Of course not,” I mutter. “Why would you do that?”

She stares at me blankly, and I sigh. “I’m sorry,” I say. “That was rude. I’m just stressed out. This has been an ordeal, and I’m worried about my cat.”

Polina nods as she takes a few steps forward. The golden train of her skirts drags across the floor. “The fluffy white one on the rooftop?”

My eyes widen. “Y-Yeah. That’s the one. You know her?”

“No, but I heard that the man with blond hair returned some time ago and retrieved her,” she says. “At least, that is what my scouts reported.”

Relief floods my body, and I let out a long exhale. Kyle. Kyle came up and found her. Good. He knows Bonnet. Hopefully, he’ll take care of her until I can get back home.

“And my Shrinkatron?” I ask.

Polina’s brows knit together. “I’m sorry. My scouts did not say.”

Ugh. Okay, that’s not good. What if someone messed with it while I was gone? Or worse, stole it? Most of the people in the apartment complex are decent, elderly folks who mind their own business to the point where you forget they’re even there. But if Kyle could get up onto the rooftop without raising any red flags, anyone could.

Polina straightens and clasps her hands—all four of them—in front of her torso. “Ser Beatrix said you wished to speak with me as soon as possible.” She smiles and dips into a little curtsy. “So, here I am.”

My heart skips a beat. Suddenly, my cheeks are flushing for an entirely different reason.

“Something doesn’t feel right about a queen doing a curtsy for a human guy like me,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck, trying my best not to make eye contact with her. It’s like if she can see my eyes, she can see the thoughts behind them. That she’s making me blush. That I’m just an insecure nerd who doesn’t know what he’s doing. At all. And I hate being at such an enormous disadvantage.

Polina chuckles. And that, too, makes my stomach turn like I’m in a car that went around a bank too hard.

“I’m not a queen. I’m a princess for another two weeks! And you’re the Caretaker. To us, you’re … almost like a deity, I suppose. Like our blessed sun,” she says as she makes her way over to one of the bookshelves. She runs her fingers across the book spines. “You give us life. Protect us from invaders. Of course I will show you the proper deference.”

I smirk. “The sun is your deity?” Then I cross my arms in front of my bare chest. “You’re putting me on par with the sun?”

She glances back at me, and her dark lashes flutter. My chest tightens. “Yes. Without you, there would be no hive. No us.”

“You’re giving me way, way too much credit,” I say, then get up from the edge of the bed to stand beside her. “I only just got the job. And seeing as how I accidentally shrunk myself already, I can’t say I’m doing a very good job at it, either.”

Polina chuckles again and shrugs. “It’s okay. We all make mistakes when we’re new. But green or not, you are still our Caretaker, and we will afford you the proper respect. That is what you are owed.”

“See, in university, my professors always told me that respect is earned, not given,” I say. She trails her fingers along the books again and plucks one from the stack. I try to catch the title on the cover, but she flips through it too quickly for me to notice.

She shakes her head again, and flecks of golden glitter fall from her russet hair. But unlike real glitter that gets everywhere and is impossible to get rid of, hers simply evaporates in the air. Whatever just shimmered off of her was … organic.

“Pixie dust?” I say out loud, lifting my fingers to her hair. The scientist in me wants to bottle it up and take it back to the university to give to some of the microbiologists to study. But then Polina turns to snatch my hand in hers. My heart catches in my throat as she stares at me with her dark, cold eyes.

“Yes,” she says carefully, her voice low and husky. A shiver passes down my spine and into my toes, curling them. “But you shouldn’t touch a woman without her permission, Caretaker.”

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