Page 72 of Faking with the Fae King

I leave Finn in the kitchen, crunching on a handful of unsalted peanuts.

When I return with their snack, the mother porcupine spins in place a couple of times in excitement. Then she takes a baby carrot in her front hands and brings it to her mouth. Whoa. She’s got big teeth like a beaver, and they’re as orange as the carrot! I didn’t really see her teeth the other day because she was gnawing on a tree while we talked, telling me she likes maples the best.

I fish out the smallest of the carrots and give them to the babies. They all go to work, those big teeth crunching away.

“Good, good,” the babies coo. Happy little num-num noises fill the yard, sounding like little cartoon people talking in nonsense words. It’s so freaking cute I have to hug myself to keep from reaching for them.

Forget being the wacky woman who tromps through the forest with cargo pants full of food. The animals are going to follow me home instead. And I’m so totally okay with that.

“Thank you,” the mother says once she finishes the rest of the carrots.

The babies echo her in tiny squeaking voices, “Tank oo!”

They scamper back into the trees, and I watch the place where they disappear until the swaying fiddleheads fall still.

My magic slips outward, tracking them as they head deeper into the forest. Other little blips fill my awareness, chipmunks and birds. A grin stretches my cheeks. All of my training has paid off. I can detect nearby animals and talk to them. I love my power. I always dreamed of being able to talk to animals, to let them know they can trust me.

But my magic isn’t very physical. I sure as hell can’t do cool things like fly and use shadows like Meloria or tunnel through the ground and throw around rocks like Ruby. I barely figured out a way to use it for the second trial. Ferndale Falls’s prosperity and any possible relationship I could have with Severin, fake or not, depends on me winning the last trial.

Will my magic be enough?

CHAPTER THIRTY

Hannah

When Severin picks me up for our date that evening, he’s wearing the fanciest waistcoat I’ve ever seen over a white shirt made of silk. The soft material gapes open, exposing a lot of gorgeously muscled chest, the sleeves rolled to the elbows to show off his delicious forearms. Even his already-perfect hair looks somehowbetter, which shouldn’t be physically possible. Those razor-sharp cheekbones, those kissable lips…

I want to lick him.

“I didn’t realize we were dressing up.” I glance down at my blouse and jeans. My clothes are nice but nothing fancy. “I’ll go change.”

“No need.” He extends his hand. “I’ve taken care of it.”

As soon as our fingers touch, an electric tingle shoots up my arm, thrumming through my chest and waking up mybutterflies.

His shadows coil from his tattoos, reaching out to wrap around me as he pulls me into his arms. His scent, smoke and pine and leather, surrounds me as he launches into the sky.

The cool air of evening flows around us, but I’m plenty warm, snuggled close to his firm heat.

My tiny cottage soon disappears from view as the last of the residential area slides by and we near downtown.

One of Severin’s shadow tendrils glides up my cheek and slips over my eyes in a blindfold.

“I have a surprise for you,” his deep voice growls in my ear, sending shivers racing through me as my butterflies whirl with giddy joy.

“Okay,” I say. “I trust you.”

His arms tighten around me, and he tips us back to vertical, coming down for a landing.

Distant conversations come from all around, along with the rustle of wind through leaves. We’re on the town green.

Instead of setting me down, Severin scoops me into his arms in a bridal carry and strides forward. His footsteps strike pavement, and there’s the sound of a door opening. It closes behind us, cutting off the sounds of outside.

The shadow tendril slides from my eyes to show—

Shock makes me gasp, “Where are we?”

“Ferndale Falls’s newest shop, opened only today,” he says. “We’ll finalize the paperwork on Monday.”

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