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Resha glares at me. “I think it’s fair to say that I can add dishonesty to your list of attributes.”
“Did I say barely? I meant that I do impromptu cupid training once in a while,” I quickly amend.
Sev notices me and saunters up, the trainees following behind him like little ducklings. “Hey there, boss. Fancy place, aye?”
“What are you doing here?” I hiss.
“Cupid shiteheads gotta eat, get it? This place looked the fanciest. Told the prickler upstairs to put us on your tab, since you’re the fooking boss, and all,” he says with a grin. “Figured, if you’re gonna teach ‘em how to shoot their fooking arrows, you can feed ‘em, too.”
I swear, there’s no way I have proper karma or lady luck magic because this shit would not happen to me if those powers were working correctly.
“Sev, go find a table, and make sure you and all of the cupids behave yourselves.”
Sev buries his hands in his pockets. He’s wearing super tight leather pants, too, so it’s a feat. “I was thinkin’ I’d start a bit of an or
gy in this place. Call it homework.”
My eyes widen. “Don’t you even think about it.”
He laughs. “Relax, boss. I’m only yankin’ ya.”
“Don’t yank my mate,” Evert snaps.
I clap my hands to disrupt them before Sev can spout off something else that will piss Evert off. “Okay! This is fun. Let’s all go to the fair. I’m ready, who’s ready?”
I start hefting myself up out of the seat, but Ronak takes over and lifts me with one arm. This time, he doesn’t even let me try to walk the stairs by myself. He just scoops me up and carries me up, and doesn’t set me down until we’re out of the restaurant and on the street.
I catch a whiff of something that smells sugary and delicious, and see that now that night has fallen, the street fair is in full swing. There’s music echoing around us, lanterns, genfins buying trinkets and watching street performers, and more delicious food smells that keep wafting toward me.
“I love street fairs!” I beam.
“The last time you went to one, you drank too much fairy wine, and you tried to do something called twerking on the knife-throwers stage. You tripped, and when the knife thrower tried to catch you, he ended up with a blade in his neck for his troubles,” Sylred reminds me, his brown eyes sparkling with humor.
“The stage was slippery,” I defend.
Evert snorts. “That’s because you grabbed a full bottle of wine and dumped it on the stage, claiming you were “marinating the wood.’”
Yeah. I did it.
“Maybe the fair isn’t such a good idea…” Sylred’s father says, looking worried.
“Oh, don’t worry. No wine for me until after the baby is born. Let’s go!”
I start leading the way, and to my surprise, all of the parents follow, even Ronak’s. It’s the longest I’ve been around Resha to date. I hang back and loop my arm through hers. She tenses at the touch, but doesn’t immediately fling me off, so I take that as a win.
Ronak looks at me like I’m crazy, but I just wave him off. My other mates start talking with their parents, and pretty soon, we’re right in the thick of the fair, surrounded by genfins.
Lined up and down the street are food carts, trinkets for sale, dancing, acrobatics and flight shows, fortune tellers, and some genfins putting on a magic fire show.
“So. Resha. How many years have you been mated?” I ask, going for friendly conversation.
“One hundred and seventy-three years,” she answers.
“Wow. That’s a super long time. How’s that going?”
“My covey is honorable, and all of my mates have high ranking genfin blood. My parents arranged us, and it was the perfect match.”
My mouth drops open, and I yank her to a stop. “Oh my gods. That’s why you’re so grumpy. You guys don’t love each other!”
