Page 66 of Falling in Love with A Tiny Bat

Like Ash, currently a world away, with Castor, who invited me to join hisTree Townon Finch and has been sending mehugs from Whimsyever since I did.

Or like Dani, who I still haven’t been able to contact and who hasn’t made it to a single stream for two weeks now.

Or…like the monsters.

The monsters that swarmed me several days ago.

The monsters Alexiosatebefore he turned into the cutest little bat I have ever seen and slept on my pillow the rest of the night.

I didn’t wake up again.

Not even to take care of Ash.

The next morning, I blearily fumbled my way into the kitchen to find Alexios groggily seated at the kitchen table burping Ash, an empty bottle before them.

He smiled at me.

In his smile, I relived the way his arms had wrapped around my shoulders; the brush of his lips in my hair; the sheer, inexplicable tenderness and care wafting off him—and I asked if he wanted ketchup and eggs to go with his protein shake because I had to dosomethingto distract myself from so many unhelpful thoughts.

They have plagued me off and on ever since.

Now, walking through magical woods toward Brittny and Ollie’s house for dinner, I find myself squinting at Alexios’s broad shoulders. Head tilted sideways, I glare at the suit jacket I’ve never seen him without. It fits his masculine frame perfectly. But of course it does. It’s woven out of his magic, a la made-to-order.

Something I’ve learned about the fae is that those capable of shapeshifting are also capable of fashioning their own clothing out of thin air.

It’s what I like to think of as the PG clause.

God said,Nudity? Ha, ha, ha. Not on my watch.

Fearfully and wonderfully made, and all that.

Very…very…wonderfully.

Blinking, I straighten my head.

Not that I’m thinking about Alexios and nudity in the same breath, or anything.

I shudder.

Alexios casts a look over his shoulder at me. “We’re almost there.” Lifting a hand, he directs my attention toward a bend in the foliage. “It’s just around that corner.”

And so it is.

As we break from the woodland trail, a perfect little faerieabode comes into view. At the end of a winding stone path, three crooked steps lead up to a tilted ornate front door. Everything about it—from the climbing vines, to the cozy front porch, to the glittering shingles catching sunlight—screamsmythical cottage. Even the askew architecture appears utterly intentional and hopelessly endearing.

We don’t get a chance to reach the steps before Brittny throws open the door and waves.

Even though I know she was like me—part human and part fae, raised in a human world—not that long ago, standing there in a bright yellow dress, shaded beneath the petals of massive sunflowers, it is hard to picture her as anything other than entirely magic.

“Zahra, Xios! Welcome!”

Alexios pauses a moment in front of the steps, taking in the roof. “Happy to see your shingles are holding up better than I normally am.”

She laughs. “You’re in good company today, Xios…” Standing aside, she lets us into a quaint, cozy foyer with a cherry blossom plate hanging on the wall over an empty coat and shoe rack. When she notices my gaze sticking on the shoe rack, she says, “It’s for our visitors with physical clothes.”

I peer down at my boots. Which are completely physical. And weigh several pounds. “That’s me, isn’t it?”

Probably out of pure spite, Alexios’s shoes disappear from his feet instantaneously. “Yes, snowflake. For you.”

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