Page 11 of Welcome to Fae Cafe
“He crossed the gate against our laws. He would have likely been killed when he came back anyway.” The Queene glanced at her silver nails. “Thankfully, I had a spy following him who cleaned up the mess.”
The sky seemed to fall around the Crimson Glass Tower. Red pooled into Cress’s vision.
“Let me avenge him,” he begged through his teeth.
“No.”
“Pleasegive me your blessing, Queene.”
“You don’t have it. You are my future son-in-law now, Prince. I forbid you from breaking the law and crossing the gate.Thatis why I came to tell you myself.” The Queene’s cruel lips tipped down. “Lord Gwess’s second son was hardly worth having around to begin with. He had measly half-power and an obnoxious laugh.”
Something snapped in Cress’s chest. “The High Court will demand that Whyp be avenged!” he shouted. “How can I come into power over the North before that human is killed and justice has been restored in our court?”
The Queene looked back and forth between his eyes. “That sounded dangerously close to defiance,” she said.
“You’ll sendthemto hunt the human, then?” Cress nodded toward the triad of kneeling males waiting beneath the lantern light. “I have been the North Court’s greatest assassin for over a decade,” he objected. “Can I not be granted this one request?”
“You attacked a lord of the East yesterday!” Her voice blasted through the room with the volume of a horn, and frost crawled up the walls. Cress and Thessalie slammed their hands over their ears; the kneeling assassins by the lanterns went rigid.
The Queene’s eyes narrowed. “The High Court will conspire against you if you disobey me. And no, I will not be sending your brother assassins after the human, either. There are more important things approaching in the new faebornyear—like the wedding. As I said, we will send an assassin to kill the human for breaking a fairy law in due time.”
Cress shook his head in disbelief. “Don’t do this to me—”
“Don’t youdaretake a step toward that gate,” the Queene cautioned. “I will only give you one warning.” The Queene turned to leave, and the triad of assassins stood and bowed at their midsections. “Also… my crafters will be cutting your hair today, Cressica,” the Queene called back. “You cannot marry my daughter with hair that’s longer than hers.”
A muscle feathered in Cress’s jaw. “Do you know how long it took me to grow this hair?” he growled.
Groomers entered through the open study door carrying embellished scissors. The Queene cast him one last terrible smile before she left, leaving the assassins behind without giving them permission to stand. Her footsteps faded down the hall, and Cress fought the impulse to shout something horrific after her.
After a moment, the trio of assassins stood. Mor wandered over with a sigh. “Don’t mourn your hair, Cress,” he said. “With your pretty face and soft skin, it makes you look like a female anyway.”
Cress’s wide, deadly gaze slid over. “I’ll take your tongue—”
But Mor’s tongue was already stuck out, waiting.
Cress released a low growl and marched out of the study, shoving one of the crafters into the wall as he passed.
“Don’t do anything foolish, Cress!” Mor called after him.
“Killing a human can’t be that hard!” Cress shouted back. “I just need to speak her real name and command her to die!”
His boots thundered down the hall until he reached the crystal spiral staircase. He travelled down three levels into the dark pits of the Silver Castle where the cold morgue prepared faeborn bodies for candlelight ceremonies.
When Cress burst into the room, he found it empty of servants. But he saw Whyp. He saw the body of the golden-eyed fairy. His brother assassin.
Mor jogged in behind him. “Cress—”
“Steal his memories for me,” Cress said. “Just this once, Mor. Do this for me.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
Moisture filled the Prince’s turquoise eyes when he looked at his friend. “Have you ever done it before?” he asked, and Mor looked like he’d turned to faestone.
“Yes. Once,” he said.
Cress nodded and marched over to Whyp. “Good,” he said. “Do it, Mor. Please. I’ll never tell a soul that you used your Shadow Fairy gift. I want to see Whyp’s last moments. I want to feel what he felt as his faeborn heart stopped.”
“You can’t do anything about it, Cress,” Mor said quietly. “Promise me.”
