“It’ll be fine.” He nodded once, as if saying it would make it so, then he glanced down the trail where Charles and Jane, disguised as Darcy and me, walked hand in hand.
A brisk wind blew across the park and caught one of Jane’s curls, darkened to look like my hair. Charles caught it and tucked it behind her ear, and she gave him a soft smile.
I sighed. I should’ve reminded Jane not to act so lovestruck. Darcy and I never looked at each other like that. Hopefully, the killer wouldn’t notice.
“See anything?” Darcy dropped his voice.
I looked away from the sight of the fake Darcy and Lizzy being too friendly and scanned the people around us: a dad out jogging with his baby in a stroller. A group of teenagers tossing a frisbee in the middle of the park. A few kids swinging on a swing set that was enchanted to push them with wind currents while their moms chatted on nearby benches, sipping from thermoses.
“Not yet.” This area wasn’t as crowded, but there were still enough people that Jane and Charles wouldn’t be in danger if the man appeared.
A few women ran a bake sale near the parking lot, and the scent of apple pies drifted toward us on a crisp breeze that promised a drop in temperatures. My mouth watered, but I ignored it and focused on our surroundings.
The kids on the playground. The bench moms. The frisbee group. A couple kissing on the path ahead of us. The jogging dad. A man walking down the path about fifteen yards ahead of us.
The man turned his head to the side, giving me a clear glimpse of his sunglasses and a cleft chin.
My hand tightened around Darcy’s. “That’s him,” I whispered over my pounding heart.
Darcy stiffened. “Where?”
Just barely, I tilted my head toward the man walking down the path behind Jane and Charles. “In the red blazer and hat.”
“You were right. He is a fae.” Darcy touched his ear and repeated the description in a low voice, alerting the bodyguards.
Charles’s carefree posture didn’t change at all, but next to him, Jane stiffened. Charles pulled Jane into a hug and whispered something in her ear, and she relaxed.
The man drew closer.
“It’s okay.” Darcy squeezed my hand. I hadn’t even realized I was holding him so tightly.
The fae glanced over his shoulder, his familiar scowl obvious in the tightness in his mouth. Did he know we were onto him?
My heartbeat pounded with nerves.
He was only thirty feet behind Charles and Jane now. If the guards were going to act, they needed to do it soon. I didn’t want the fae getting any closer to Jane.
A man from the security team left his post on a bench and approached the target.
Nothing gave the agent away, but the fae still stiffened. It was impossible to tell exactly where he was looking with his sunglasses, but he walked a little faster.
“Darcy?” I bit my lip, watching everything unfold.
“It’s fine. We’ve got enough men to handle this without a scene.”
A woman stepped off the path ahead of the man, her body language relaxed but her expression serious. Another agent.
The fae stopped, his sunglasses flashing in the light. He waved a hand in the air, and a sudden gust of wind whipped through the park, picking up a tornado of autumn leaves and small twigs.
Darcy yanked me against his chest and ducked his head against mine, protecting us both from the gale. For a long moment, his heartbeat thudded against my cheek. The wind died a few seconds later.
I pulled back to scan for the fae, who sprinted down a side path. “He’s getting away.”
Darcy grew still next to me and closed his eyes.
I glanced between him and the fae. “We have to do something! This might be our only chance.”
“I am doing something,” Darcy grunted.
