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He sighs and shifts his weight. “Fine. Her name is Elva.”
“Elva,” I breathe. The name is little more than a whisper as it leaves my lips, yet it sounds like fireworks in my mind. Everything at that moment feelsright.
Her name is Elva.
I say her name again and again, rolling it around on my tongue as though it were a fine winter wine. Crisp, chilled, and completely and utterly perfect.
The name suits her. I couldn’t imagine anything else fitting her better.
My employer growls at me, “Shut up. Don’t say that out loud. That name is dangerous. Now, get the hell out of here and wait at the docks.”
I nod. I want to thank him, but I know he’d get angrier. Somehow, his foul mood doesn’t phase me. It can’t. Nothing can bother me right now. I walk out of the apartment as though I am floating on air.
Today, I will see her.
Elva.
Hours feel like minutes, and seconds take an eternity to pass. Everything is off. I can’t concentrate. I can’t do anything. Waiting is my new reality. My only reality.
Her name is Elva, and I am going to see her today.
I don’t look at my FaePhone. I don’t read. I don’t listen to music. I just sit.
Waiting.
The time that she is scheduled to arrive nears. I am like a child waiting to unwrap their Winter Solstice presents. It can’t come soon enough. I pace the room, glancing at the window every few moments.
When the steel-gray of the ship finally breaks through the perpetual mist, my heart stutters. My entire body vibrates as I stare at the familiar boat.
At that moment, I can hear everything. Smell everything. The waves slapping against its hull. The shouts of the small crew as they pull the ship in. My ears even pick up the distant sounds of the gulls crying in the sea. The salty brine of the ocean assaults my nose as I give up all semblance of calm and rush out the door with the paperwork in hand.
My eyes are wide, trained on the boat, as I wait.
There is movement on the ship. My heart flutters. But the form... it’s too big. Too burly to be her.
A male Fae jumps onto the dock. Another quickly follows him. They turn and talk to each other, and I just wait. Where is she? My eyes are trained on the boat. Surely she will come next.
But one minute turns into five, which becomes ten.
My fingers feel like they’re about to fall off. I forgot my gloves. But I don’t light a flame. I don’t do anything.
“Where is she?” I murmur.
Then, there is movement on the ship. A form emerges from the fog, and my heart skips a beat.
It’s not her.
This last male strides towards me, the dock shaking with the force of his footsteps. He stops a few feet away from me, nodding his head. “Sprigg.”
My mouth is dry, and bile rises in my stomach. Something is wrong. I know it like I know my name.
“Elva…” I murmur the word.
The Winter Fae stiffens. “Frank, actually.” His voice drops, and he glares at me, stepping closer.
I hug my paperwork to my chest as if that will protect me against the burly Winter Fae’s wrath. “Have you seen her?”
Frank glares at me. “What do you know of Elva?” His words are laced with venom, and my spine tenses.
