Page 26 of Faking with the Fae King

I’m floating on clouds as I emerge from the bank later that afternoon. It doesn’t even matter that all of this morning’s witchy research turned up nothing that helped with my magic. In the past few hours, Severin has brought two more businesses to Ferndale Falls. First, a jewelry and precious gemstone store called Bling It On run by gnomes, and then a florist run by wood nymphs called Oopsy Daisy. Like the pixies, they got the names from the witches in Alarria, and I bet my friend Naomi played a big part in it, since she recently renamed her bookshop I Touch My Shelf.

Severin also had his shadow fae completely renovate each of the buildings, including the apartments of their second floors, once I mentioned them. In the blink of an eye, those apartments went from dingy and broken-down to bright open spaces made all the more beautiful by theperfectly restored hardwood floors. Downtown hasn’t looked this good in years!

“You are my new human-business liaison.” Severin hands his entire stack of papers, cash, and cards to the fae who magicked up all his paperwork. “You will get a job at the bank and handle all of the business forms and transactions for the fae.”

“My king.” The woman bows, and when she straightens, I pluck Severin’s new driver’s license, bank card, and a hundred dollars of cash from the pile.

His driver’s license is just as amusing as the rest of the paperwork, since it gives his name as “King Severin” and his address as “The Shadow Fae Palace, Ferndale Falls.” The license number is just a bunch of zeroes ending in the number one, and so is his social security number, for god’s sake! When I teased Severin about it, he gave me one of his superior smirks and said of course he’s “number one.”

Instead of calling him out for shenanigans, the bank clerk accepted all his information without batting an eye, and I have a feeling when I look Severin up in the city’s records, his nonsense address will be there. Magic is even more amazing than I ever expected!

“You should keep these with you,” I say, pressing the cards and money into his hand.

His fingers curl around mine, and his green eyes watch me with an intoxicating intensity. “Are you happy, my betrothed?”

The butterflies in my tummy take flight. Fake, I whisper to myself. Remember all of this is fake.

His thumb slides back and forth over my knuckles,sending tingles racing through me. Instead of calming, the butterflies down espresso shots, careening around like an excited flock of pixies.

“I am.” In only one day, he’s put more money into the town’s bank account than I ever imagined getting out of this entire deal. If he gets a few more businesses going and brings in the customers he promised, sales tax and rents will continue to roll in. Everything I’ve worked so hard for will finally come true, and Ferndale Falls will be saved. We won’t have to close any more municipal services due to lack of funds, and I can even look into starting the after-school program the elementary teachers want!

“Then let’s go and frequent one of our new triumphs.” Severin dismisses his attendants, tucks my hand into the crook of his arm, and escorts me back down Main Street. He stops in front of the bright-yellow front of Bling It On, and the bell above the door gives a happy chime as he pulls me inside.

The most beautiful jewelry fills the glass cases, the stones larger and more richly colored than any I’ve ever seen. Instead of the typical display stands humans use, everything here is natural. Gleaming gold and silver necklaces drape over huge crystals and natural geodes. Pairs of earrings dot tiny bonsai trees like precious fruit. And trays of velvety moss hold rings, face up.

Two-foot tall gnomes wheel through the place in a swirl of light-green skin and bright-white hair, no matter their age. They’re all dressed in adorable patchwork clothes made from green, brown, and blue leaves, and wear little hats made of clumps of bright-green moss.

A female gnome somersaults over to us, coming to a halt on tiptoes, arms flung wide like a gymnast sticking the landing. Gnomes, as I found out earlier today, seem to be allergic to anything as simple as walking. “Welcome to Bling It On. You may call me Diamond. How may I assist you?”

“We require an engagement ring,” Severin says.

I startle and gape up at him. Do what now?

“I apologize for being remiss in getting you a ring, my betrothed.” He picks up my left hand and presses a kiss to my ring finger. “I’m still learning your human traditions.”

Ohhh. The bank clerk asked to see my engagement ring, and I said I didn’t have one. That must be what he’s referring to.

“It’s not necessary,” I say. Because this is all fake.

“Of course it’s necessary,” he growls. “You will wear my ring. All will know you aremine.”

The possessiveness in his voice sends the butterflies into another tizzy. Hoo, boy. He’s good at the acting thing. That sounded real.

“We have some lovely rings right over here.” Diamond cartwheels across the floor to come to a halt in front of one of the glass cases. The rings inside are lovely. Gnomes, it seems, don’t go in for super fancy settings, but they don’t need to. The diamonds gleam and sparkle with unmatched clarity, and the colors of the emeralds, sapphires, and rubies are so rich that ornamentation would only take away from their beauty.

“Oh, that one.” I point. Then another and another catch my eye. “No, wait. That one!” I’m like a child on Christmas morning told I only get to open one of the pretty packageswaiting under the tree. There are so many wonderful possibilities I have zero idea how I’ll ever decide.

Severin’s less easily impressed. “None of these will do. I require a ring fit for a queen.”

“Of course.” A pleased glint enters the gnome’s clever eyes. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’ll fetch our premiere collection from our underground vault.”

She springs forward and hand walks behind the counter toward the back corner of the shop to where there’s a large rectangle cut out of the floor. Diamond jumps into the dirt, disappearing from view as easily as a diver slicing into water. The only sign of her passage is the little moss cap sitting where she entered.

“Did they cut a freaking hole in the floor?” I whisper-hiss to Severin, my eyes flicking toward the other gnomes in the shop. “That’s property damage!”

“I’ll cover any damages,” he says. “Besides, it’s necessary for gnomes to have access to the ground. Watch.”

After a minute, the moss shivers, and the gnome spins up into view, the green plant back in place on her head as a hat. Diamond tosses a lovely wooden box to one of the other gnomes, tumbles over to the back of a display case, and bounces up a small series of steps to stand on a little platform that puts her at waist-height to the top of the case. Her colleague lobs the box back to her, and she opens it to display—

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