Page 48 of Fake Fae-Ancée

"Yeah… er, thank you."

Bates took another bow and walked out, closing the door noiselessly behind him.

I stared after him for a second, but my stomach growled unmistakably and I set about eating. The food was delicious and exactly what I would have ordered myself. I felt decadent. Aunt Gytha would never let me have fancy stuff, especially not for breakfast. The French toast was fluffy and crunchy at the same time, a crispy cloud of goodness melting on my tongue. Wouldn’t the situation be so weird…

My ears grew hot as I remembered my brief phone call with Gabe from last night.

"You're doing what!??" Gabriel had sounded completely stunned. I was almost a little proud to leave the old Vampire, who always knew everything better, speechless.

"I’m… moving in with Yuri. Today. And we're engaged. And I'll explain everything another time. Bye!!"

At least I could count on Gabe to pass on the info about me moving out to Claudio and Lily. I didn't muster up the courage to make this particular phone call myself. Besides there was no need to spoil their honeymoon in the Maldives.

They would get over it… I hoped.

I popped a strawberry into my mouth, washed it down with the last sip from my energy drink, before I got up to face the music.

Kai

A coupleof Trolls in blue overalls carried all my stuff through the living room. One with tusks the size of butterknives was just holding a stack of boxes on one arm, a sleeve with glittering sequins dangling from the top one — my beloved dress from Retro Banana, which I never wore but felt so decadently soft on your skin. My heart clenched. Those goons had apparently gutted my beloved room, throwing my precious gowns carelessly and crumpled into the boxes. I could only hope for their sake they had been more careful with my collection of weapons.

"Kai, Ohmygosh!"

I was hardly through the door when Charly popped into my field of vision, grabbing me by the shoulders. She was wearing faded jeans and some of her 80ies band shirts — and a maniacal grin that did not bode well.

"Is it really true? This is crazy!"

"I guess," I muttered, causing her to squeeze me in a hug.

"Congratulations," she squealed, holding me at arm’s length. "Oh, I’m so sorry, are you hungover? You do look kinda drained."

"I am," I said, feeling a little shaky. No, it wasn’t a hangover making me feel like I’d been hit by a truck. But just, right then and there, with Charly blinking at me expectantly, the truth sank in about what the little scheme Yuri and I had agreed on would actually mean.

I had to lie to my friends.

Brilliant.

Charly started bouncing up and down and I wondered briefly if she had been worried at all about my rather dramatic departure last night, but figured she probably didn’t know. Apparently no-one apart from Kalinin, and P.A.S.H., had taken any notice of me being kidnapped by a giant crow.

"Give me all the dirty details," she chirruped, taking my hand and beaming at the rose-gold band on my finger. "When and where and Ohmygosh!"

"That’s a story I’m dying to hear myself," another voice sounded from behind me. I wheeled around to meet my friend Gabe’s piercing glare.

My roommate — former roommate now, I thought with a bitter twang in my chest — was standing next to Kalinin in the doorway to the large vestibule. They had obviously been having some kind of tense conversation. No shit, Gabriel was suspicious as to why I was moving in here at the drop of a hat.

Kalinin frowned at me. He did look not half as exhausted as I felt right now. In fact, he seemed well rested and fresh, wearing black slacks and another one of his dark hoodies that hugged his broad frame. Yeah, okay, I could admit it. I had a very handsome ex-husband. Or soon-to-be ex-husband. Or fake fiancé. Whatever the hell he and I were these days…

"Oh, come on. It’s no big deal," I said, letting go of Charly, and sauntered over to them. "Didn’t Yuri tell you all about it, by now?"

Gabe measured me with an arched brow. He had probably never heard me call Yuri anything else but "Kalinin" or sometimes "scumbag" or "that bastard". But I could be convincing if I needed to be. Or at least I hoped so.

"No, he didn’t actually." Gabriel threw Yuri a pointed look. "He wanted to wait for you, to tell us all about it."

Terrific. My knees turned wobbly. I hadn't anticipated having to implement our stupid plan right after breakfast.

My knees turned even more wobbly, however, when Kalinin suddenly stepped next to me. He snaked his warm hand around my waist.

And pulled me closer.

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