The café kitchen got warm in the spring. Shayne set up fans on the counter by the oven, but he seemed more interested in posing in front of them with his hair blowing and taking selfies than actually working.
Kate and Mor sprinkled chocolate shavings and gold pearls on the freshly iced red velvet cake Cress had spent the morning baking. They watched as the white-haired fae puckered up for the camera across the kitchen and poked the button a dozen times. His phone would run out of space soon. He’d probably ask Kate to buy him more storage.
“I’m sure he doesn’t realize we’re watching him,” Kate said in a loud whisper.
“I’m sure he does.” Mor reached to get the cake lifter from the top shelf.
“Mor,” Kate asked, brushing the sprinkles off her hands and turning to face him. The fae raised a brow. “What’s a forever mate?”
Mor fumbled the cake lifter, and it clattered over the counter into the sink. “I… um…”
Kate watched with wide eyes. She’d never seen Mor flustered. “You don’t have to tell me if it’s going to give you a heart attack,” she muttered.
“Well… Human… It’s a fairy thing.” He blushed—Mor blushed. “It’s when a fairy bonds to someone in a way that can’t be undone. It’s an unbreakable tether… It essentially means that a fairy’s heart has fallen for a person they will chase forever.” Mor shifted his footing as he plucked the lifter from the sink. “It’s exactly how it sounds. Forever-mate.”
“Hmm.” Kate tapped a finger against the counter as she thought about that. “How does it happen?”
Mor cleared his throat. “Well, it starts with a fairy crush—”
Cress marched into the kitchen, and Mor slammed his mouth shut. He didn’t move a muscle as Cress walked around the island. The Prince glared at Shayne taking pictures for a moment. Then he nudged his way into the shot, moving Shayne aside with his hip so they could both fit, and flashed a gorgeous smile for the camera.
“I guess that’s all you’ll tell me right now.” Kate smirked and lifted the platter of cake. “Time to go!” she called to the fae modelling at the fans. “Bring the Fairy Post!”
Mor grabbed the stack of freshly printed newspapers from the counter where articles with magic fairy recipes, warnings of common fairy tricks, and short folktale stories filled the columns, along with a News for the Fairy Folk section where he wrote messages to all the fae hiding in the human realm—if there were any others. Mor had even created his own crossword puzzle of fae words that ranged from deathtouch to pixie dust to handsome. “I’ll hand these out myself,” he said.
Cress and Shayne rushed around the island, meeting Kate at the same time. Shayne’s finger came dangerously close to stealing a lob of icing off the cake before Cress slapped it out of the way.
“Touch it, and I’ll cut your finger off!” Cress threatened.
Shayne grinned as he grabbed the kitchen door. He swung it open for Kate to carry the cake through, but Cress stopped her first.
“What is it?” Kate asked, noting his peculiar smile.
“I’m proud of this book we wrote together. I will ensure every human in this realm reads it.”
“You mean you’re proud of the book I wrote,” she corrected for the hundredth time. “You just fixed some things up.”
Cress’s smile turned slightly snarl-like, but he nodded. He planted a light kiss on her mouth. “I helped though.”
Kate headed out of the kitchen with a laugh.
When she emerged, camera flashes filled the café along with an eruption of cheers. Journalists, booktokers, and other book-loving social media gurus who’d received advanced copies of Kate’s book filled the bistro tables, sipping on items from the new spring coffee drink collection and becoming unsuspectingly enchanted by fairy spells. At the back window, a firefly-like being fluttered up the glass and sat on a high sill to watch, telling Kate that Freida was still spying on her via Gretchen. Or maybe her fairy godmother just wanted to know if Kate was doing well.
Kate placed the cake on the counter and turned to face the small crowd filling the café to the back corners. Cress slid into a bistro seat off to the side, sipping a mug of warm milk even though the rest of the staff—Lily, Greyson, Shayne, and Dranian—stood along the wall fashioning their new burgundy spring aprons with the Fae Café logo. Mor handed out the Fairy Post papers to the crowd and soon dozens of book lovers were flattening out their newspapers on the tables and learning about fae things.
“The Fairy Post is a newspaper we give out with every purchase at the café. You can also subscribe to get it in digital form, or for a low monthly fee, we’ll mail you a newspaper every season,” Kate explained. Someone at the front clicked a pen to begin working on the crossword puzzle. “It gets delivered by owl carrier magic,” she added with a wink, drawing a few chuckles from the crowd.
“Tell us how you wrote such a fantastic book!” one of the journalists called out, and Kate fought a blush as she pushed her hair behind her ear.
“Well, it’s a long story. No pun intended,” she said, and the journalists cackled.
“The greatness of the story is in the blossoming, delicious, irresistible words. And the Prince, naturally,” Cress mumbled from his table, not quietly enough.
One of the girls turned in her seat, seeming to melt at the sight of the dazzling guy giving insight into a book he didn’t even write. Kate hid her smirk behind her hand and pretended to brush her nose.
“You must read a lot of books,” the girl said, smoothing down her summer dress and looking him up and down. Several journalists leaned to try and see him around the people in their way.
“Well, I do consider myself something of a literary genius in comparison to humans,” Cress admitted and flashed his beautiful smile at the room.
Everyone laughed like they thought he was making a fae joke as one of the café’s hired actors. But Kate’s smile dropped. She knew he wasn’t joking at all.
“Who is this other author you have listed at the bottom where it says, ‘Written with help from C. Prince?’” a journalist stood to ask Kate.
Kate yanked her gaze from Cress. “I made that up,” she decided, and Cress spat his milk. “I wrote the book by myself.”
Accusing turquoise irises turned Kate’s skin warm as the social media gurus asked more questions and snapped photos. Kate gave them the smile she’d practiced in the mirror before coming.
Cress stood and wandered over until he was beside where she posed. After a few photobombed pictures, he leaned over and whispered, “Human.” Kate felt her body go rigid as she waited for her orders. “Dig your hands into that faeborn cake and eat it. Make it nice and messy.”
Kate’s smile faded. Her big eyes took in all the cameras, notepads, and cell phones with videos rolling. Only Cress was smiling now.
“Un-real, Cress!” Kate mumbled through tight lips as her body turned and her hand went for the red velvet cake. “I’m going to ruin your life!” she promised. The eating part happened as terribly as she’d feared.
A moment later, she stared at an ogling crowd with icing and red velvet cake crumbs covering the bottom half of her face and stuck in all the cracks of her teeth.
Cress watched from the back with his arms folded and a satisfied smile on his face. Lily and Greyson suffocated through fits of giggles by the wall.
“I mean, I should intervene, right?” Greyson didn’t even whisper it, and Kate glared over at her brother. His cheeks were red. “I should stop Cress… but this so funny!” he said.
Lily was no help, either. She put a hand over her mouth and turned her head away, but it didn’t hide her giggle-snorts at all.
“Lily,” Kate tried, but opening her mouth only made the journalists snap more pictures with her horrid, cake-filled teeth showing.
“I’m worried that once people read her book, they’re going to remember how she attacked that cake and realize that everything in the book is true,” Greyson whispered to Lily, avoiding Kate’s pointed gaze.
Lily sighed when she got a hold of herself, and she shot Kate a smile. Kate did not smile back.
“No, they won’t,” Lily said. “No one would ever believe any of this was real.”
Shayne bit his lip over a ridiculously wide grin. He was the only one who cast Kate a somewhat sympathetic look. Moody Dranian sneered like this moment was the revenge he’d been waiting for his whole life.
Kate’s hands were clasped tightly when Cress sauntered through the journalists and joined her at the front again as if he just couldn’t stay away from the spotlight.
“I’m sure you’re all wondering why this scribe made such a mess.” He addressed the crowd like he was the natural born ruler of Toronto. “Well, I asked her to, and she can’t resist me.” He turned to Kate with a wicked smile and flicked a spongy lump of cake off her chin before leaning to plant a light kiss on her sugary mouth.
Kate grabbed his collar before he could pull away, holding him there, and Cress’s eyes flashed open as their lips fought for a split second.
The Prince tore back, staring at Kate with round, turquoise eyes. His hands were balled into white fists at his sides.
Kate’s red-toothed smile was real this time.
“Cress,” she said in her sweetest voice, “don’t let me have it all. Please—” she shoved the platter of destroyed cake in his direction, “—let’s enjoy it together.”
“I don’t want to,” he said through his teeth.
Kate batted her eyelashes. “Please?” She pouted and watched the Prince’s face turn anguished with the sort of spellbinding, enchanting love that wouldn’t wear off for at least seventy-eight hours.
Mor took Shayne’s phone and raised it to take a video. Dranian leaned over to watch the screen.
Cress took in a deep breath, gazing at Kate like she was the glory of the sun itself. His mouth twitched as an internal battle seemed to rage in his mind, but…
He grabbed a large handful of icing off the platter.
Bellowing laughter broke out from the staff—even Dranian cracked a decent smile. Jaws dropped in the crowd; journalists let out horrified gasps. Some of the social media influencer girls got up and left with repulsed faces as Cress joined his lovely forever mate in cake-splattered disgrace before three dozen sets of eyes.
It went on for several glorious minutes. Then Kate heard Shayne sigh by the wall. He swooped in to address the journalists himself, and in a loud announcement, he said,
“Welcome to Fae Café!”
