Page 108 of Welcome to Fae Cafe
“I’ve been thinking,” Shayne said.
“How horrifying.”
“We’ve been trying for days to come up with a way to undo that bargain with no luck. Accepting our failure to save you is one thing, Cress, but the Dark will come back for Kate once you leave. I’ll do my best to protect her, but you saw how fast things turned around in the cathedral yard.”
Cress sighed. “I have one last option with Kate Kole. I’ll send her far away from here where no fairy can find her. You must all leave with her. Establish a coffee tavern like this one,” he twirled his finger around in the air, “somewhere else.”
“How will you get her to do that, Cress? Are you going to utter her real name?” Shayne guessed. “It seems rather cruel of you to enslave her now, but maybe it’s best.”
“I told her I wouldn’t enslave her. Which is why I’ll try one last time to enchant her with a kiss before the day of Yule celebration comes. And then I’ll kindly ask her to leave this human city.”
Shayne was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees when Cress opened his eyes. The fairy dragged a hand through his silken white hair. “Why enchant her instead of simply enslaving her? Only enslaving her will guarantee she obeys,” he said.
“She’ll forgive me if she’s enchanted. She won’t if she’s enslaved,” Cress said. “By the time her enchantment wears off, she’ll be long gone and can continue her happy life somewhere else.”
Shayne tapped a finger against his knee as he thought about that. “Make sure the kiss lands right this time, Cress. Make sure she can’t pull away when you roll the enchantment off your lips. She likes you now, so it might actually work.”
Cress swallowed and glanced at the fire one last time. “Yes. I think it will,” he said.
36
Kate Kole and The Other Enchanted Kiss
The café was gold with early light and glistening with fresh, powdery snow clinging to every shallow ledge when Kate came in. She glanced at Freida’s red scarf hanging on the coat hooks, unused since the day Kate had visited the knitting club. She walked over and covered it up with her coat, then headed for the counter.
Cress stepped in to cut her off. Two steaming, full-to-the-brim mugs of coffee were in his hands. He handed them to her.
“Would you hold these for a moment, Human?” he asked with an odd smile.
Kate took them carefully, her eyes darting back and forth between the mugs while she tried not to spill any. “Why’d you make them so full?”
Cress’s fingers drifted from the mugs to her wrists. Kate’s eyes fired up to his when his light touch moved up her arms, over her shoulders to her neck, and then slid gently back into her hair. The coffee sloshed overthe mugs’ brims when she took a small step back, and she froze again before they spilled.
Kate’s eyes were wide as Cress brought his mouth in and kissed her softly. It was sweet, and careful, and deep, andnotcasual at all. He held her head still, keeping his lips firmly on hers as the seconds sped by. Kate’s mouth was left parted when he pulled back. She was sure she hadn’t blinked since the second he handed her the coffees.
Cress studied her. Like he was waiting for her to say something. But she had no idea what to say after that.
“What are you doing?” Kate demanded. Coffee rolled over the mugs’ edges and dripped to the floor as she failed to hold still. “And don’t lie and say you did that just because you think I’m pretty or something stupid like that.”
Cress tilted his head, seeming more frustrated than anything. “You’re notthatpretty. You’re just adequate,” he said. Kate’s jaw dropped a little, and he raised his hands as if she’d misinterpreted. “I mean, you’re quite pretty for a human, of course. But you’re nothing compared to a fairy female. My betrothed is far more beautiful.” Then he muttered, “Even if she has the ugly soul of a hungry hogbeast.”
Kate blinked.
Two full cups of coffee were splashed into Cress’s face. He grimaced as the liquid rolled down his neck and soaked his shirt.
Kate walked over and slammed the mugs down on the counter before storming up the stairs to her apartment. She tapped a fist against her heart to make sure it was still working. She felt hot.
Mor stood before the full-length mirror in her room, tying his apron.
“Cress is engaged?!” Kate shouted at him when she barged in.
Mor raised an eyebrow. “Yes. To the High Princess of the North.” He went back to smoothing his apron.
Kate gaped. She tried to smack his arm.
Mor buckled and raised his hands as a shield, so Kate grabbed a novel off her bookshelf and tried to smack him with that, too, but he darted out of the way too fast.
“You don’t see a problem with keeping that from me?!” she barked.
