Page 116 of Welcome to Fae Cafe
Cress’s jaw turned as hard as stone.
“Where is she?” he asked the humans, his brothers, the air of the realm, the sky deities themselves, anyone or anything that would listen.
His faeborn chest pounded. His hands became fists.
Bonswick would die by a thousand slashes if Kate Kole was dead.
39
Kate Kole and the Old Woman in the Pink Scarf
30 Minutes Ago
The camera feeds cut out one at a time, the talking reporters disappearing from the screen. The main feed returned to the news anchor who claimed they were having technical difficulties. The newsroom tried to contact someone on the scene to tell them why all the feeds cut out.
Kate fiddled with the sleeve of her sweater as she and Greyson watched from the café bistro chairs. She hadn’t been able to form a clear thought since the assassins left. There was no cell in her body that would survive if something happened to Lily.
“You think…” Greyson released a nervous hiccup. “You think your boyfriend can really save her, Kate?” he asked.
“I know it seems crazy to have sent the baristas, but they’re good at… certain things,” Kate said.
Neither of them looked away from the TV, even when the broadcast went to a commercial break.
“That doesn’t sound crazy,” Greyson said after a few moments. “I know there’s something off about them—it’s super obvious. You don’t have to tell me what it is. I’m just glad they’re here for this.”
Kate didn’t object to his observations, but she didn’t explain, either. “Yeah,” was all she said.
Lincoln and Tegan shuffled in through the café door and hung up their coats. “Sorry we’re late, we were watching the news! Grey, Lily is totally on the…” Lincoln stopped when he realized the news was on the TV. He slid into a bistro chair without another word. Tegan snatched a cookie and slid into the opposite seat; eyes glued to the screen as the feed flipped back to the ‘live on the scene’ reporters.
The restored news feed showed police officers emerging from the surrounded building. Kate breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized Cress in Officer Riley’s uniform. Lily was in his arms, and Kate could have cried.
“See?” she said to Greyson. “I told you they’d…”
Coldness crawled up Kate’s back. A faint shadow appeared of someone standing beside her.
“Wow!” Tegan said through a mouthful of cookie. “Where did that guy just come from—”
A cold hand grabbed Kate’s arm, and she was yanked backward against a hard chest.
“Hey!Notcool!” Greyson shouted and leapt from his chair.
Kate tried to pry the cold fingers off as a chilling voice whispered in her ear, “I’ve enjoyed watching the North Prince follow you around, Human. That’s what us fairies do. We watch. We wait. And then, when no one is looking, we grab what we want.”
The last thing Kate saw before she vanished was Tegan and Lincoln springing from their chairs and the look of horror on Greyson’s face.
Light and colour burst into being around Kate, sharpening into the lines of a new place. She gasped as she was dropped onto clean white tiles.
The air felt cooler.
The late afternoon light was replaced by artificial light.
The smell was different.
She looked up in dismay at a wide, curved staircase she didn’t recognize. Tall crystal windows with red silk curtains lined an enormous lobby, a giant chandelier hung overhead, and silver-and-brown-eyed fae stood around the room. They sneered as Kate stood and turned, taking them all in. She was in someone’s home. It looked like the mansion of a wealthy family. She didn’t want to imagine where that family was now.
Her mouth was too dry to speak. She watched the fae with black hair walk to a row of chairs at the side of the room. He grabbed one and dragged it back, filling the space with screeching echoes. It left marks on the tiles.
He tossed the chair toward Kate. “Sit, Human.”
