Page 36 of Faking with the Fae King

Although glad she has such a loyal protector, I bare my own. It’s not in my nature to hide my strengths.

The two of them disappear, leaving me alone with Hannah at long last.

“We need to talk.”

She nods, her cheeks pinking as her fingers brush her lips.

“I need to know what your magic is so I can understand the challenges you’ll face in each trial.” And how best to help her with my own magic, though I don’t admit that to her. We might not have known each other for long, but I can tell she won’t agree to cheating.

Hannah lets out a soft oof, as if punched in the gut, and several emotions dash across her intoxicatingly expressive face: surprise, hurt, shame.

I can feel her power, so what has her so worried? Is it completely useless for trials such as these?

A tiny spurt of hope goes through me. What if she has baking magic and I get to marry my own personal baker? I squash the errant thought down with a frown. Good bread won’t help her win the competition.

“What is your magic?” I ask again.

Her face crumples.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Hannah

My hopes plummet. He’s talking about my lack of magic instead of the kiss.

The kiss that made my butterflies so pregnant they immediately had babies that tripled my tummy flutters. The kiss that made me moan like an adult actress trying to win the Oscars of porn. The kiss that woke up my lady bits until they screamed for attention.

Oh, god, it was the best kiss of my entire life, but clearly it meantnothingto him. It was fake, all for show, a way to convince Meloria and everyone else he loves me too much to give up on me after my face plant.

My cheeks blaze with heat as mortification twists through me. I must be as red as a beet, which only makes all of this even worse. One thing’s for sure. I’ll only survive the next year by staying really, really far away from Severinand his tempting lips. I take a step back. Keep away from the smoking hot fae, Hannah. That way lies heartbreak and forgetting all of this is fake.

“What is your magic?” He frowns at me.

“I don’t know.” I force the words past numb lips, then like a dam breaking, the rest comes out in a rush. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I don’t have any idea how to use magic.”

Severin’s eyes lock on to mine with piercing intensity as he freezes into unnatural stillness like a predator right before it pounces on prey.

An instinctive warning shivers through my body: here lies danger. So why the hell does it only make him more attractive?

“You deceived me.” He grips my chin, tilting my face upward as he studies it closely. Then he does the absolute last thing I expect—the corners of his lips quirk. “I had no idea you had it in you.”

Did that sound… admiring?

Relief rushes over me, combining with his touch into something heady. I sway toward him.

No! I jerk myself to a halt. Bad body! Remember the distance thing.

“How can you not know your own magic?” he asks.

“I only got it a couple of months ago,” I say. “And I have no idea how to figure out what it is. I tried holding Naomi’s crystal. I asked about family history. I tried to do spells and make potions. Nothing’s worked.”

“Clearly, we must make this a priority.”

“We?”

“From now until you win one of the bride trials, wespend every spare moment together.” His commanding tone rings through the garden. “I will teach you magic.”

His words echo inside me.

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