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Kit frowned. “Is that what happened with you?”
Coffee grimaced. “Get me out of this, and I’ll join Gambler’s Anonymous. I swear.”
He was going to do more than that, but first things first. Kit tested out the true/false machine. He thought about simple stuff like whether he’d eaten breakfast this morning or not, then more complicated things like how he desperately wanted to retire (mostly false) and how he was going to get blamed for losing the helo (mostly true) but that he wasn’t going to get penalized for it (straight up in the middle because he really didn’t know). And then, just to be sure, he tried out this silently.
I love Yordan. It’s still early, but I’m sure we can make it work.
The arrow pointed right at TRUE.
Okay, then. Given that he wouldn’t trust a single thing Gamfay said—and he was sure Yordan wouldn’t either—they should be fine. He looked back at Yordan.
“I’m ready to risk it. You?”
“Yup,” Yordan said. Then they stepped together, shoulder to shoulder, and faced the creepy elf.
Kit summarized. “You get to say one thing, and then we’ll say that our love hasn’t died. Once that’s done, Coffee is free.”
“Assuming,” Gamfay corrected, “that your love hasn’t died. If what I say ends it…” He held up the two empty leashes. “Then you’re mine forever.”
“Nope,” Yordan said. “You get us as slaves for a day.”
“Forever,” Gamfay countered.
“Bullshit,” Kit said. “A week.”
“Are you telling me your love is worth a week? Come on.” Then he waggled his bushy eyebrows. “A fairy week.”
“Never,” Yordan snapped.
“Very well,” Gamfay said with a dramatic sigh. “A human year.”
Coffee spoke up. “He can make that feel like an eternity.”
“Whine, whine,” Gamfay mocked as he tugged on Coffee’s leash. “It’ll feel like a human year, all right? Can we get on with this now? I’m growing bored.”
“No, you’re not,” Coffee shot back. As if for proof, he pointed at the arrow which, weirdly, had been moving back and forth without their hands on the button. And right now, it pointed straight to FALSE.
Gamfay chuckled. “Clever wolf. Now, are the parameters set? We have a deal?”
Yordan opened his mouth to answer, but he abruptly waited as he turned to look at Kit. “Ready?” he mouthed.
“Yeah. You?”
He nodded. Then together, they looked back at Gamfay.
“Let’s have it. What’s your big reveal?”
Gamfay grinned. He clearly relished his moment. He moved to the big red button and put his gloved hand on it. “Here it is, kiddies. There’s a love spell on your HQ. That’s why you’ve had people falling in love left and right. Nero and Josh, Laddin and Bruce, Walter and Bai.” He pointed a long, fat finger at them. “You two.” He grinned. “Love spell.”
Then he pressed down on the button. The arrow banged straight over to the TRUTH side with a much too cheerful Ding!
Kit nearly snorted at the ridiculousness of the statement. It was obviously bullshit, no matter what the arrow pointed at. What Kit felt for Yordan wasn’t induced by any fairy spell.
But then logic started slipping through his thoughts. He started listing in his head the number of couples that he knew about. The number was dauntingly high. Not just the three Gamfay had listed, but others, both likely and unlikely. In fact, Pee had made that joke the other day when two of the motor pool crew had been caught making out. She’d even said, “Geez, is there a love potion in the water or something?”
Not a love potion. A fairy spell. That made sense.
Fuck. That made a lot of sense.
