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“Sorry,” Natalie whispers in my ear, then wiggles her way back to her feet.
“Never apologize for showing me how you feel.” I press my lips to her crown, inhaling her scent until it fills every corner of my senses.
“I’ll show you in detail at home.” Bright pink floods her cheeks. “At your house, I meant. Obviously.”
“‘At home’ works for me.” Capturing her hand, I weave our fingers together, using them to point at the store before us. “Let’s stop in here first. You never got the pretty pink notebook you wanted.”
“To keep track of all the monster information I need to remember,” she says as I hold the door open for her. “Do you think me buying one will signal fate to work in our favor?”
I don’t get the chance to answer. The moment she crosses the threshold of Fae-vorite Things, the fairy who owns the shop makes a beeline—or more accurately, a fairy line—straight for Natalie.
Flora’s brilliant-green eyes widen as she hovers in front of Natalie, her iridescent wings moving fast enough to make a faint buzzing sound. She does a circle around Natalie, pausing at her back, then zips in close, lifting Natalie’s hair to inspect her ears. “You look fully human.”
“Um…because I am?”
“You’re part human, for sure, since you have no wings and your ears appear naturally round.” Flora settles in front of us, her wings stilling, but remaining open. “But there’s no mistaking that scent. Where in your lineage is your fairy family member? Or members? Can’t be too far back. It’s strong enough that I smelled it as soon as you stepped inside.”
“It must be my shampoo or body lotion you’re smelling. I don’t have any fairy family members.”
“You absolutely do.” Flora’s wings whir, lifting her off the floor again. “Come with me,” she says over her shoulder, “we’ll look them up in the registry.”
Instead of following, Natalie leans in to me and whispers, “Is this a joke she plays with new people?”
“Only if it’s a new joke.”
“She didn’t do this with Dela or Ro?”
“Definitely not with Dela. You’ll have to ask Rosetta next time you talk to her.”
“Let’s go do that now.” Natalie turns toward the door, only struggling a little when I wrap my arm around her waist and prevent her from escaping. An adorable hmph pushes through her lips. “I’m getting a weird vibe in here, and the only non-human I want to vibe with is you.”
I manage to contain the audible part of my amusement, but not the smile on my face. “We’ll go straight home after this, and I’ll give you all the vibrations you can handle.”
“Fine,” she says, grudgingly taking a step toward the rear of the shop, where Flora is waiting with a big smile. “Let’s get this crazy over with.”
Flora claps as we reach the counter. “This is so exciting. We haven’t had new fairy blood in Fate’s Falls in over four decades. I’m Flora, by the way.” She shoves one delicate-looking hand out. “Ooh!” Her pointed ears twitch when Natalie accepts the handshake. “Did you feel that little spark?”
“The static electricity shock?”
Fairy laughter has a certain lightness to it, and Flora’s practically floats. “No, sweetie, that was fairy magic!”
Natalie backs up tight to my body, tilting her head to give me a help me look. I wrap my arms around her, covering her hand with mine and squeezing gently.
“What’s your full given name?” Flora asks, fingers poised over a computer terminal keyboard.
“Natalie Aine Somers. Natalie is the basic spelling, nothing funky. Last name is spelled s-o-m-e-r-s and the middle name is a-i-n-e.”
“What a lovely Irish spelling. Is that from your human side of the family, I wonder, or the fairy side?”
There is no fairy side.
I bite back a chuckle at the words Natalie pushed to my mind. Even in my head, her frustration is clear.
“Of course there is,” Flora says, looking up from the computer. “I’ve got the information right here.”
Natalie goes stiff as a board in my arms. “Wait—you heard me? You—heard me?”
“Well, you did broadcast it, sweetie. Toward your mate, yes, but when in the company of fairies, anything you push his way might as well be through a loudspeaker. Something to keep in mind, so you can keep your private things private.” She winks.
