Page 35 of Falling in Love with A Tiny Bat

“Um. Ew. Don’t make comparisons like that. Do you likenormalravioli? Just plain?”

“Meda does.”

Because Meda is a delightful little bean. Unlike her difficult brother.

I huff. “Xios, you’re very bad at answering questions.”

He smiles. “I am skilled in the art of deflection.”

“That is not a good thing.”

“Thatis an opinion.”

I sigh. “Fine. Starve.” Despite myself, I swap the mushroom ravioli for the spinach on my way back out of the aisle.

Chapter 9

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Is this a ♦ functional adult ♦?

“So, let me get this straight.” Sitting Ash upright on my lap, I try to keep him from choking on his bottle of questionable gourd fluids. “Pollux and Kass don’t know where you are right now?”

We got home two hours ago. I put the groceries away while Alexios proved hedoesknow how to change a diaper. Then I made dinner. Spinach ravioli. I ate my dinner. I am now feeding my little baby, who I don’t believe has ever been fed before in his life, judging by how quickly he’s devouring his bottle.

In contrast, Alexios is still working his way through what must be a sad cold plate of ravioli by now. Honestly, I’m surprised he even took it at all.

“Xios,” I state.

He pulls his glare up off his food. “Yes, snowflake?”

“Pollux and Kass don’t know where you are right now?”

“I’m a grown man. Why would they need to know?”

I stare at him; he probes a ravioli, turning it over. “I was just wondering what to expect from Kass on Monday. If they don’t know where you’ve been for the past few days, you should tell them something soon.”

Ash coughs, sputtering against his bottle, so I draw it away, lean him forward, and tap his wee back.

As I coo soft encouragement, Alexios grumbles, “I detest the implication that Kass would think it appropriate to discuss my whereabouts with you.”

“Oh nooo. Yourstepmothermight be worried about you if she doesn’t know where you are. Thatsucks.” Once Ash has spit up a little of his food, I kiss his forehead, so he knows my sarcasm isn’t directed at him. “Kass is pretty powerful now thatshe’s come into her sandwomanabilities. Are you sure whatever enchantments are on me will be strong enough to fool her?”

Alexios nibbles a corner off a ravioli, chews for thirteen decades, and says, “I’m sure.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Castor is several millennia older than Kass and far better versed in the mystical arts. Raw talent alone does not outdo practice.”

Given that Kass transformed the school into a magical playground that only children and fae can see, I wonder if raw talent would be enough to sense foreign enchantments on me. As far as I know, sandwomen don’t have elevated senses, but their ability to rend reality has no equal.

Now that I’m thinking about it, actually, I’ll finally be able to see what the school really looks like. I’m not certain my acting skills will suffice in pretending that she didn’t remold our paltry library into some ancient Greek architecture. Maintaining the secret of Ash’s existence is important in order to maintain trust with Castor and discover more about what he’s planning. Concealing Alexios’s presence here just seems like an added complication.

Besides.

I want to see Prince Cael’s bright part of Faerie. Castor’s little gothic castle was real cute—in a depressingwhoa, was that stone person we just passed once alive?kind of way. I’m totally up for a less-concerning romp outside of purely unseelie territory, but that means I need to be in a position where people like Kass and Cael know I won’t go mad in Faerie.

“Tell Kass you’re staying with me. Organize for Castor to switch up his enchantments so your presence isn’t hidden.”

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