Page 7 of Crown of the Fae King

I laughed and glanced at everyone now clustered around the register, trying to catch every word. Even Jericho watched out the pass-through from the kitchen. My attention caught on the shiny foil packet on the counter, the one with the two pancakes inside. It reminded me that my life was the opposite of some romantic movie.

The truth hit me like a wet slap to the face. The entiredaymust have been a setup from the moment I’d stepped through the door!

I made a face at Rena. “Sounds like someone went to a lot of trouble to make my day.” I smiled at my would-be knight in shining armor. “I don’t suppose Andy was in on it?”

The bell rang. A bunch of school kids. It was time to get to work.

“Lass, ye’re mistaken. I’ve come of my own volition—”

“I’m sorry. It’s about to get busy—”

“Name yer price.”

I froze. “Excuse me?”

“I require yer undivided attention, Lennon Todd. And I am willing to pay for it.”

I tried to warn him with a look. “This isn’t funny anymore.”

“This is no joke. I swear it.”

I stepped around him and headed for the teenagers, snatched four menus and waved for them to follow me. But they didn’t. They just stared at me like they were…frozen in place. Beyond them, Lynette held a loaded fork up to her open mouth but didn’t bite.

“Forgive me.” The Scot kept his distance, but I heard him just fine due to the absolute silence of a room full of people. “The nonsensical brother and sister have drained my patience. I didnae wish to shock ye like this—”

I turned in a circle and searched for just one person who wasn’t in on the joke. But it looked like everyone in Hazelton wanted me to believe I had entered the Twilight Zone. I couldn’t even hear traffic outside.

“Ah. This is a nightmare.”

I’d dreamed the same thing often enough—busted for eating something I hadn’t paid for, sure I was going to lose my job. All the elements were there. And this Scotsman had stuck in my subconscious from the week before.

I pulled out the nearest chair, plopped down on it, and started slapping my cheeks. “Wake up wake up wake up.”

The Scot chuckled. “Nay, Lennon, this is no dream.”

I ignored him and pinched myself. It hurt. “But I’m just dreaming it hurt. Happens all the time.”

“What sad dreams ye must have.” He came around to stand in front of me and gave me such a sincere look of pity, tears pricked the backs of my eyes.

All my senses worked too well for a dream. My ugly orange dress was just as ugly, just as orange as usual. I could taste bacon grease in the air, feel it against my face. I couldn’t remember when my dreams had been so…saturated before.

I got to my feet again, looked at all the bodies frozen in place, noticed all the details that hadn’t changed. I wouldn’t have remembered all this stuff in a dream.

What. If. It’s. Not.

Those four words nauseated me instantly. I gripped the back of the chair for balance, and I knew for sure this was no dream because I was seriously going to hurl—not from unexpected motion, but because there was no motion at all. I would have run to the bathroom, but I couldn’t trust my legs.

I had to make it stop. “You’re doing this?”

“I am. The two of us have stepped out ofTimeis all—”

“Then stop it! I mean, start it. Whatever! Just make it stop or I’m going to puke all over the place!”

That got his attention.

Sound roared back into my ears again. The murmur of voices, thetinkof utensils against plates. Lynette finally took that bite she’d been staring at. The teenagers stared at me, mouths open, as if I’d moved across the room in the blink of an eye.

“Whoopsie,” the Scot said. “I must remedy that.”

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