Page 4 of Faerie Gift

A familiar blond head popped into view rounding the cement walkway from the parking area and I couldn’t stop myself. I ran for him. Truly happy for the first time since he’d left.

“Mike!”

He caught sight of me and his smile was bright enough to light up the night. He greeted me with a big hug, arms coming around my waist, drawing me close when I jumped on him. Literally jumped until he had no choice but to keep hold of me.

“Tavi, you are a sight for sore eyes,” Mike told me on a groan. Then squeezed me tight enough to force the breath from my lungs. “It’s so good to see your pretty face.”

For someone like Mike—High Fae, used to breathtaking and flawless beauty—to compliment me meant he either had serious reality issues or was used to lying because of court protocol. Either way, I’d take the kind words.

I didn’t mind his crushing hold either, even though I was struggling to breathe. Something inside of me settled with him this close, a knot of tension I hadn’t been aware of carrying in my chest.

Boy, I was in trouble. So much trouble.

I rested my cheek against his shoulder for a moment longer before he released me only enough for me to lean back, looping my arms on either side of his neck and staring at him.

At first, I hadn’t thought him conventionally handsome. His nose was a bit too long and his face too narrow for him to fit into a proscribed little box. But he had those intense eyes and shiny golden hair ruffled around his face and…mmm.

His skin gleamed with a slight bronze sheen, his hair like a ray of sunshine itself. His eyes were a vibrant green with gold around the irises, like the personification of a spring forest. Young, sure, but devastatingly beautiful and captivating in a way I had never seen before. Not to mention those adorable pointed ears.

“Where are the rest of your things?” I asked him, noticing how he didn’t have any luggage with him.

He shrugged and took a step back, his arms at his sides with thumbs hanging on the pockets of his jeans. “I didn’t take anything with me this time. I mean, the palace has everything I need. And then some.”

Something in his tone sounded off. Not angry, just resigned.

I took him in from head to toe. Same height, same lean muscles, same clothes I was used to seeing him wear outside of our school uniform. Yet he seemeddifferentto me.

“Are you okay?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Of course I’m okay. I’m here, aren’t I?” He flashed me a smile. “I’m better than ever and happy to be back. How are you?”

I was happier to have him here, with me. The best I’d felt in three weeks, but I wasn’t about to tellhimbecause I had a feeling he wouldn’t understand.

Instead, I drew him down in another hug because I needed the closeness. “I’m doing well,” I murmured against his chest. “But not exactly ready to get back to work.”

Mike glanced up at the sky, his eyes narrowed and his lips pursed in thought. “I don’t want to go inside just yet. I know it’s a little chilly, though. Do you want to take a walk?”

“Sure thing,” I agreed without hesitation. Whatever I could do to spend time with him before the rest of the students arrived back, I would happily do, despite the goose bumps rising on my arms.

We headed for the rear lawn in pensive silence for the first few minutes. The extensive property included the castle and vast woods, all surrounded by an iron fence embedded with enough amulets and protective spells to keep the masses from looking too closely. From here I could look back at the castle and see it in its entirety, from the ancient foundation to the balustrades encircling the upper floors

Mike and I had spent a lot of time together our first semester. In fact, he’d been instrumental in getting me to the school in the first place, and I like to think we’d helped each other with studying once classes started. He had also been present the first time I took the potion to suppress my shifter nature and nearly killed myself.

It wasn’t an experience I wanted to repeat and I was pretty sure he’d agree.

Among my tiny list of friends, Mike stood as one of the best, and although neither of us had made a move toward being anythingmorethan study partners…I’d lost a piece of my heart to him.

Against all logic and better judgment.

I was smitten no matter how different we were. Full-blooded fae—and a royal to boot—versus a halfling who shouldn’t exist… Yeah, the odds of us ending up together weren’t good.

I don’t care.

Although I didn’t think he felt the same way about me. Which sucked. It was enough to drive a girl a little bonkers. Most days I tried not to think about the future and simply focus on each day as it came. Easier said than done!

“How was your trip home?” I asked him with forced cheer. I didn’t have to force itmuchbut the silence was getting to me, crawling under my skin with distinct discomfort. “I’m sure it was nice to get away for a little bit. Did you do anything exciting?”

Mike shrugged and kept his focus ahead. “It was fine. Things at the palace are the same as ever. Nothing changes. I didn’t go anywhere. Barely saw my parents.”

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