Fortune’s was different, though Faye still liked it immensely. She could feel the long, complicated rituals that had been performed here, the invocations to old gods, the strange incenses burned and spirits summoned.
‘Of course you will!’ Gabriel reassured her. ‘We told Ruby she had to ask you back. I mean, we were all a bit freaked out, sure…’
Gabriel was being kind, she knew.
‘Come on. More than freaked out. I saw their faces. They were terrified. So was I.’ Faye traced her fingertips around the brass buttons that held the turquoise-blue leather of her chair in place.
‘Well, it was…errr…remarkable. I’ll say that. But don’t worry about it.’ Gabriel pulled up a straight-backed, black leather easy chair from behind the shop counter and sat next to Faye. ‘Come on. No one who stands up to a faerie king like you did should be apologising to a measly bookseller. I mean, you’re…half faerie? Am I right in saying that?’
Faye nodded. ‘Yes. Though sometimes I think it’s a poisoned chalice.’
‘How so? You should be firing arrows of flame from your fingertips at minions in a castle somewhere,’ he consoled her. ‘We should thank you.Ishould thank you, anyway. I’ve never seen a faerie king before. It was…yeah. Wow.’
‘The arrows have gone in for their annual service,’ Faye joked, but she still felt mortified. She hugged the book to her. ‘It’s…complicated.’
‘I imagine. But a source of great power, surely.’ Gabriel raised one eyebrow.
‘Yes. When I was in the park just now…that was…interesting.’ She blinked. ‘I connected with something there.’
‘Oh, in the rose garden? Yes, you would do. A very fae place.’ Gabriel nodded. ‘I didn’t intend to go there today, but I was called there. Isn’t that strange? And then, there you were.’
‘There I was.’ Faye smiled. ‘I saw the faeries there. Circling me, as if they were raising power in a circle. I felt so connected to the earth, to the stars. This huge burst of power…’ She shook her head. ‘It was amazing.’
‘You should spend more time there. Connect to the earth realm. It’s strong here,’ Gabriel mused. ‘I’ve had some experiences there, but nothing particularly epic. I would think that being half fae, you would be able to connect to the energies much more profoundly.’
‘I’m tempted, now I know it’s there,’ Faye agreed. ‘Falias is the realm of earth, though. I don’t know how I feel about connecting to that after what happened at the ritual.’
‘Hmm. I can see that you would have conflicting feelings.’ Gabriel nodded.
He was right; shewasconflicted about her feelings when it came to Lyr, Falias and her burgeoning faerie power.
‘You’re very…do you dress this smartly every day?’ Faye smiled at his well-cut clothes and precise black hair.
‘I try. Sometimes, days pass and no one comes in here. All dressed for the ball and no one to waltz with.’ He stretched out his arms and pulled at the deep cuffs of his tailored shirt; Faye noticed he wore monogrammed cufflinks.
‘You never know when a faerie queen will drop by.’ He gave her that inscrutable smile again, and she looked away, not sure what to say. ‘Don’t change the subject. You can’t invoke the elemental king of earth and not explain yourself.’
‘Ugh. Where to start…?’ She sighed. Did she really want to tell Gabriel the whole story? He was a stranger, and Faye was used to keeping her business to herself. A life in Abercolme had left her with few other options outside of Annie.
But if she was to have a life here, she’d have to open up sometime. And, she admitted to herself, she needed a friend. Especially one that didn’t think she was crazy if she talked about magic. Not that she could tell him everything; her hand went to her throat again, fearful of the choking sensation.
Faye chose her words carefully. ‘Rav and I moved to London because some bad things happened back in Abercolme. In the faerie realms, and in the village. He…he was badly injured.’ She met Gabriel’s gaze, expecting to see ridicule or disbelief there, but his black-brown eyes showed only interest. ‘He wants us to…I don’t know. Have a normal life here. Be normal people. But I’m…’ She trailed off, aware that she sounded crazy.
‘But you’re not normal,’ Gabriel finished for her. ‘You’re half faerie, a hereditary witch, and Lyr of Falias’s daughter.’
‘Yes,’ she said, and it was both a relief and a kind of dread to hear someone else say it. Her faerie half was like a dirty secret; it was the shadowy side of her. In faerie, she’d done things she would never do in her normal, ordinary life. And yet, now that she’d opened herself up to the shadow, she missed it.
Gabriel stared at her with a dark intensity.
‘He’s right. You’re not normal, and you never will be,’ he continued, his eyes never leaving hers. ‘You’re more magical than most people will ever be, Faye. If he can’t stand in your light, then he deserves to live in the dark. And you deserve someone who knows how to walk in the shadows with you.’
16
Gabriel leaned towards her. His eyes were intense, staring at her, but not in an unpleasant way.
Close up, he smelled of sandalwood and frankincense – a subtle, woody scent that went alongside something else, something that was just him; under his slightly foppish ways, there was a quiet, strong masculinity.
‘So…this Lyr thing. Aren’t you in the least bit curious about what he wants with you?’ he murmured.
