Page 14 of Fake Fae-Ancée

"Stop insulting me," I grunted.

"Stubborn boy. You tell her the truth, that’s what you will do. About why you had to leave for your homeland, right after you married her. About what really happened. Come clean. Meet your fate."

I stared at the phone.

"I can't."

Baba snorted, and I was almost glad to hear a hint of anger creeping into her voice. It made her almost seem normal.

"If you're not going to meet your fate, little prince, at least see that it doesn't go down the drain. You know your prophecy. Shemustsurvive! It's that simple."

I groaned. "I know."

"Bring her back to your lair before Nox finds her. Get her to safety."

She ended the call.

Kai

I was barelythrough the door when a cannonball of taffeta and pink hair flew at me.

"Oh my God, where have you been!?"

Charly, my new roommate for a few months now, glared at me like the world was going to end in the next five minutes. She was wearing the bright purple bridesmaid’s dress and her pink hair was tied up in an adorable little bun.

"I was working…?"

I tried to sound casual. Like someone who’d had a reasonably normal, if stressful, morning. Not like someone who had just found out that she had lost all her fae-ish superpowers, wasn’t as divorced as she’d thought she’d been for the past five years, and subsequently knocked out her supposed ex-husband.

Charly scoffed. "Without any shoes on?"

"Tough assignment." I fought to keep a straight face.

Charly had moved in with us a while ago to live with Gabe. I liked her. She might look harmless to the unsuspecting eye, but she was not to be trifled with.

Now she arched a questioning brow and an irrational fear that the events of this morning were written all over my face shot through me.

Do not think about the kiss!

As soon as I would allow my thoughts to venture back to the kiss — that totally crazy, irrational, bruising, angry kiss — my poker face would collapse in on itself like one of Lily's horrible cakes.

"Nevermind. We've got a little situation. The bride won't come out of the bathroom."

Charly grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall.

"What, why?"

"She disappeared in there, crying all over, and hasn't come out since. We all are pretty worried."

By"we all"Charly meant the girls waiting outside the bathroom door, also wearing purple dresses. Sarah, Lily's best friend, threw me a relieved look. Next to her, Lily's big sister Jennifer Juniper was frowning at the closed bathroom door. She was the figurehead for P.A.S.H., Europe's main organization for paranormal police and military operations — the very same also employing yours truly.

The bride was nowhere to be seen. From behind the bathroom door came muffled sobs. I felt a sharp twinge in my chest.

"How long has she been in there?"

"Two hours," Lily’s sister said. "We're supposed to be leaving now, or this is going to be Lily's second disaster wedding."

I shut her up with a cutting look. Jennifer bit her lip.

---