by Chani Feener
“Right.” She didn’t like the sound of that, but wasn’t going to be a stickler about it. Instead, she quietly led the way, not bothering to tell him to let go a second time. He kept his hold on her jacket the whole way.
Their relationship was sticky, and Arden didn’t exactly know where they stood with one another. At times, the Erlking had used Brix against her, and even though she understood the Lutin hadn’t had a choice in the matter, she was still irked that he’d tricked her into drinking spiked wine and spied on her.
Now that he’d taken the Erlking’s place, however, she wasn’t above wondering if she could use that to her advantage. The two of them were sort of friends, after all, and friends helped one another out. He wouldn’t know Mavek’s true name—no way that would have been entrusted to one of Herla’s fae—and he’d already tried to convince her to give up her search for a way to remain human so…
Arden wasn’t quite sure how his new station could help her, but certainly a time would come when she’d need the help of a faerie regent. She hoped that if that time came, she could call on him. Maybe it was spite, or pure stubbornness, but she refused to go to Mavek, no matter how terrible her supposed future was. Knowing Brix would be there was comforting.
The coffee shop sat above the dining hall, a small space with a breakfast bar lining the windows and only three square tables. The smell of roasted coffee beans and sugary syrups filled the air. A single barista stood across the counter, serving another customer. Most students weren’t sticking around––just grabbing their coffee and heading off to class––but all three of the tables were occupied, leaving only the barstools by the window.
“Would you like something?” Arden asked, stepping into line. Since she was here, she might as well grab breakfast. She ordered a latte with a shot of white chocolate and coconut, and pointed to a large, mint, dark-chocolate-chip muffin, while Brix puzzled over his choices. Wordlessly, he lifted a finger to the menu stuck to the wall in the back, just over the barista’s shoulder.
“We’ll take one strawberry smoothie with a shot of marshmallow flavoring as well, please.” Arden smiled at the barista, also a student on campus. She didn’t recognize her from any of her classes.
The girl kept sneaking glances at Brix, even when the two of them stepped off to the side to wait in the serving section. The faerie had yet to drop the material pinched between his fingers, and the girl’s eyes kept trailing to where he held Arden, lips pursed in a questioning frown.
“Couldn’t you have turned into someone less attractive?” Arden asked, trying to keep her voice down so the barista couldn’t overhear.
“Why?” He raised an eyebrow, bemused.
“You’re drawing too much attention,” she told him, and he swiveled his head around to take in all the occupants of the room. The barista wasn’t the only human staring at him when they thought he wasn’t looking.
“Am I?”
Arden sighed. “Damn fae.”
“You’re a fae too,” he said, and by his tone Arden understood it wasn’t meant to upset her.
“What’s with you today?” Their order arrived just as she got the question out, and she reached for both of their cups, blinking when the barista quickly pulled the smoothie back.
“Here you go.” She batted her eyelashes at Brix, who didn’t seem to notice. He took the cup and tipped his head, already turning toward the empty window seats that overlooked the center of campus.
“Shall we sit?”
“Let’s.” Arden snatched the paper bag holding her muffin off the counter and tried not to glare at the barista.
“Since I accepted the role of Autumn Prince,” Brix began a moment later, once they were both seated at the corner, “this form is the easiest for me to hold. It is recognizable, and recognition is key when in a position of power.”
“That’s true,” she agreed, breaking off a chunk of her muffin and offering it to him.
He frowned, but ended up taking it, slowly putting it in his mouth, as if he feared it would explode. “It’s good.”
“Also true.” She took a bite herself and then sipped at her steaming coffee. The muffins were a favorite of hers––not too sweet. “So, what’s this secret?”
He stuck the straw of his smoothie in his mouth, eyes lazily tracking a male student with a bright white backpack as he walked by the windows. Once the student was out of sight, he finally placed his plastic cup back on the table. “Someone who was once important in my past has returned, and I’m not sure how to deal with it.”
Arden gaped at him. “I’m sorry… Are you asking me for… relationship advice right now?”
“Is it still advice if the relationship has ended?” Brix tilted his head. “We haven’t been in contact for many years. The last time was soon after Everett’s death.”
“What? Why?” It seemed odd that his ex would show up after the murder of his current boyfriend.
“He helped lessen my punishment,” he explained. “There was something that the Erlking wanted that only Krit could provide. It was a gamble on the Erlking’s part, a hope that the King of Wonder still held some form of affection for me. It worked in his favor, and mine, I suppose.”
Arden hadn’t heard the name Krit before, but she recalled the faerie at the crowning ceremony, the one who’d placed the circlet of bronze atop Brix’s head. He’d called himself the King of Wonder. He also hadn’t seemed very pleased to be there.
“Why’s he sticking around?” she asked. “Shouldn’t he be going on his way now that the ceremony is over?”
“Why are any of them sticking around?” he countered. “Something’s happening, but I’m unable to understand what that is. Your situation is very fascinating, but hardly worth all this trouble. Why are so many Unseelie in town? No one seems to have a definite answer.”
“Anyway,” she said, realizing that her time was almost up before she had to rush off to class, “if you don’t want to see Krit, don’t. Just avoid him. If you do…”
“That is unclear. That’s why I came to you.”
“I don’t follow,” she admitted when he grew silent once more.
“You’ve been managing your feelings for the Midnight King. How? Resisting… I’m not very good at that, but logically I know getting involved with Krit again isn’t wise. For either of us.”
“That’s not…” This time, Arden was the one who wasn’t sure what to say. “Does it even matter if everyone can tell I still have feelings anyway?” She thought, realizing too late that she’d also spoken the words aloud. She glanced up and caught Brix staring, a strange look on his face. “What?”
“Last time, I came to you with fear for Thomas,” he began, “This time it’s for you. Don’t make my mistake, Arden Archer.”
“What mistake?”
“I thought to chase away my faerie feelings with Everett’s love; that ended well for no one.”
Was he implying that she was using Eskel? She wasn’t. Sure, there were still too many mixed emotions when it came to Mavek. Arden wanted to be sure before she pulled Eskel deeper into her life.
“I’m being careful,” she sighed, because really, there wasn’t anything else she could say. She didn’t need to explain her reasoning to him, and talking about her and Eskel’s relationship… It still felt private and taboo.
“I thought I was careful too.”
“Look,” if she didn’t leave now she’d be late for class, and thankfully that was a good enough reason to put an end to this uncomfortable conversation, “if you don’t want to get involved with Krit again, then just ignore him. Eventually, he’ll take the hint and leave.”
Brix canted his head. “You can’t really believe that.”
She frowned.
“Will the Midnight King ‘go away’ if you ignore him, Arden Archer?”
“Our situations are different,” she said, although she wasn’t confident in the truth of her words. It hadn’t seemed like the looks Krit had given Brix at the crowning were
of the romantic variety, but then again, she hadn’t been looking for it.
“We are not as different as you’d suppose,” he said cryptically, then gestured toward the stairs. “You should get going. Thank you for your time.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll remain here for a while longer. Don’t worry,” he added when her eyes narrowed, “I do not intend to cause any trouble.”
“That’s the thing I’ve come to realize about you fae,” she said, even as she stood and collected her things, “you so rarely intend to, but it always happens.”
Brix flashed her a smile for the first time since meeting outside.
Brix’s wolfish grin haunted her the whole way to class. But it was erased and replaced by Eskel’s boyish smile greeting her across the classroom. He was waiting for her in the far back in their usual seats.
Everyone kept telling her that they understood how she felt, but how was that even possible when she didn’t understand it? Too many competing variables warred between her head and her heart, each one pulling her in the opposite direction. How much of that had to do with turning into an Unseelie?
“You’re cutting it kind of close,” Eskel said as she approached, watching curiously as she dropped down into the empty desk next to him and robotically began pulling out textbooks and a notebook. “This isn’t Calculus.”
She glanced down at the math book she’d removed and shoved it back in. There was too much swirling around in her head to try and mask how distracted she was. If she could have afforded to, she would have skipped this class altogether after her talk with Brix. The fae had an uncanny ability to step into her life at the worst possible moment and stir things up—half the time without meaning to.
“In your research,” she asked, “did you read anything about someone called the King of Wonder?”
It was a title she’d never heard of, and when she’d originally signed up to be Mavek’s Heartless, she’d done a ton of Internet searching to try and figure out who all the main players were. There were loads of information on both Titania and the Erlking, even stuff about seasonal fae royalty like the Autumn Prince, but King of Wonder was new.
“I might have read something,” Eskel pursed his lips, thinking. “He’s in charge of pixies and smaller, mischievous fae, like house gnomes and brownies. Why?”
“I met him at the crowning—” then their professor walked in and they both swiveled around to face the front of the class— “and Brix was involved with him in the past, I guess.”
“You shouldn’t get involved,” he said, lowering his voice to a whisper so they wouldn’t get caught. “If he’s anything like the rest of them, nothing good will come of getting to know the King of Wonder. Unless, do you think he might know something about turning you—”
“No.” She picked up her pen and started diligently copying the notes being scribbled up on the board, hoping he’d take the hint and leave it at that.
Fortunately, the lecture began then and he didn’t really have a choice but to. For the next hour and fifteen minutes, they both threw themselves into focusing on the lecture, letting the rest of their crazy lives fade into the background.
Of course, it couldn’t last. As soon as the clock struck eleven-thirty, Eskel was standing next to Arden’s desk, patiently waiting for her to collect her things. When she quirked a brow up at him, he smiled.
“Let’s take off,” he suggested, adjusting the strap of his backpack on his left shoulder.
“And go…?” They usually spent lunch together after class, but he was clearly asking to leave campus.
“Stop trying to avoid being alone with me,” he suggested. “Isn’t there enough you’re stressed about? Why add me to the list?”
“Eskel—”
He reached forward and took her hand, lacing their fingers together loosely enough that she could easily pull away if she wanted to. “Let’s go on a date, Arden. A casual, no-strings-attached date. I promise, at the end of it, I won’t do something selfish like ask you to choose.”
How many times did he have to tell her he understood her feelings for Mavek before the guilt she always felt subsided? Having him bring it to light always made her feel flushed and messed up. What did caring for a monster make her?
“What type of person still thinks about someone after he’s turned into a dragon and tried to burn down the village?” she murmured, searching his icy blue eyes for an answer, knowing it wasn’t a fair question to ask. Just because he kept saying he understood, didn’t mean he deserved to have it waved in his face.
Instead of getting angry or hurt, however, Eskel’s smile softened around the edges, and he stepped in a bit closer, crowding her. He untangled a lock of her hair from the button on her jacket, careful not to hurt her while he did. The last time they’d been close like this had been behind Willow’s, the night of the Tithe, when they’d kissed for the first time and he’d confessed his feelings.
“If you’ve got thoughts like that,” he practically whispered, the warmth of his breath tickling her cheeks, “then what must you think of me?”
She frowned, and he brushed the pad of his thumb over the crease between her brows, tracing the line of her brow, eyes following everywhere he subtly touched.
“What type of person doesn’t care that the girl he likes is too busy thinking about dragons to bother glancing in his direction?” he asked, and when that caused her spine to stiffen, his smile returned. “What type of person doesn’t care that the girl he likes is turning into one?”
She opened her mouth, but no reply came out.
“Go on a date with me, Arden,” he said. “Let me prove to you that it really doesn’t matter to me.”
“How can you say that?” When she’d first realized her feelings for Mavek were deeper than mere friendship or the need to survive, she’d freaked. Days had gone by where she’d refused to see him, making up one excuse or another about why she was so busy. She’d known what he was, and being attracted to him romantically had terrified her. “How can you be so sure about any of this? Did you even consider leaving?”
“You mean go back to California?” His free hand finally pulled away from her, and he ran his long fingers through his pale blond hair. “To be honest, yeah, of course I did. I came here to find out what happened to Everett, and I did that. Thanks to you.”
“So this is about debt.”
“No,” he shook his head. “Not everything has to be part of some grand ploy. I’m here because I like you. I think you’re funny, and smart, and kind. Even though you shouldn’t have, you let me in when I first arrived, helped me understand things about the world I was only guessing at. The second you found out I was here because of the Unseelie, you could have called me crazy and shunned me. But you didn’t.”
“And look where that got you. Kidnapped by a faerie queen. Almost sacrificed to the Underground.”
“You saved me from all that,” he reminded her.
“I shouldn’t have had to. If it wasn’t for me, you never would have been there in the first place.”
“I make my own choices,” he told her, sounding annoyed for the first time since they’d started this conversation. “Don’t insult me, Arden. If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t be.” His hand tightened around hers. “If I didn’t want to wait for you, I wouldn’t.”
“I’ve got a lot to figure out right now,” she said tentatively, not wanting him to get the wrong impression. “Even if Mavek wasn’t in the picture, I don’t think I could—”
“I’m not asking you to become my girlfriend overnight,” he cut her off, easily picking up on what she meant. “It’s just one date.”
The rest of the students had left minutes ago, and now they were the only people in the empty classroom, having a ridiculous conversation about fae and deceased siblings. She wasn’t the only one who had a lot going on. If he was willing to try despite all of that, shouldn’t she stop being so stubborn about it?
She liked him. A lot. Sh
e still had to sort out her lingering feelings for Mavek, and she meant what she’d said about not being in the right place to begin a new relationship, but… Why couldn’t they go on a date? He’d said it’d be casual, hadn’t he?
“Alright,” she told him, before she could change her mind.
“Yeah?” He grinned at her and grabbed her backpack off the desk, already stepping toward the door. “Let’s go.”
“Where?” She didn’t stop him as he dragged her down the hall, or out the door of the English building and down the stone steps to the parking lot.
“You’ll see.” He glanced at her over his shoulder, a teasing glint in his eyes.
His white jeep was parked near the front. He tossed their packs in the back seat and then unlocked the passenger door for her. Arden climbed in, pretending not to notice Brix standing across the parking lot, watching them from beneath two large oak trees.
They drove out of town and as they crossed the town line, Arden let out a breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding. It’d been close to a year since she’d left Thornbrooke, too caught up in preparing for the Tithe and being a good Heartless to bother much with traveling.
Eskel took them down a long, winding road, the windows down to let in the warm afternoon air. Above, the sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky in a rare blast of heat for early December in upstate New York. Lining the roads were thick firs, trees born to survive the winter––their adaptation to the frost and the bitter cold an evolutionary solution to escaping demise. Sturdy, they could survive even the harshest conditions.
The trees blurred into one as Eskel sped down the empty road, and Arden let her thoughts drift back to what Cato had said at the coffee shop. After the death of her dad when she was a little girl, her mom had been forced to sell the only home she’d ever known for all her young life. But Arden had easily let it go. She’d packed her things quickly, had helped Ainsley do the same, and had gone with barely a second glance over her shoulder.