“When?”
Oh god, when? I don’t know, I can’t think. But then it comes to me. “When I drew from you.”
He takes me by the shoulders, eyes widening in wonder. “Your power’s getting stronger.”
He’s talking nonsense again. And he still looks like a faerie.
“How do you do that? How do you make yourself look like that?”
“I don’t. You’re seeing through my glamour. You’vebeenseeingthrough my glamour, that’s how powerful you are.” He waves a hand in front of his face, but nothing happens. He does it again and I see—Yes! There he is. Warm brown eyes, softened features. My Leo. “Do I look normal to you now?”
I nod, relieved. See? It was just a dream.
“This is a glamour. And this—” With a mere flick of his hand, he becomes radiant again. Gold in his eyes. Pointed ears. “—is what I look like without it.”
No.
No, no, no.
I heave in a breath, but it doesn’t quite fill my lungs. I have to be dreaming. Or maybe this is all some elaborate prank. Is it April Fool’s? No, it can’t be. It’s cold out. I think it’s February.
“Betts.” Leo gently takes hold of my head.
“Faeries aren’t real.”
“Most people think psychics aren’t real either, but you know they are.”
Why won’t he back down? Why does he keep on torturing me? I grab at his hands, trying to peel them off my face. “You’re not a faerie. You’re Leo.” My eyes swim with tears. “Just Leo.”
He replaces his glamour. “I’m the same Leo,” he insists, sensing my rising panic. “The one you sit and read with in the library. The one who understands your gift. The one who’s always tried to protect you.”
“No. Leo’s not a faerie.”MyLeo is human.
“Betts.” His eyes chase down mine. They’re merciless. Insistent. “I’ve glamoured myself invisible so Zander and your friends wouldn’t see me.”
I gulp as memories replay in my mind. Zander not seeing Leo when we came out of the O-Chi pantry. Lara’s double take when Leo and I were getting too close at the Halloween party. The fact that Zander didn’t see Leo last night in the library until Leo was close enough to grab him.
Leo’s voice drops to a strangled whisper. “I’ve healed you.” Hecradles the arm Zander bruised, brushing a thumb gently over the area that, thanks to him, is healthy and unmarred. “So why is this so hard to believe?”
Tears drop onto my cheeks. Glamours, healing, playing tricks on people’s eyes? How else has he enchanted me? What’s magic and what’s real? “It’s not that Ican’tbelieve it, it’s that I don’t want to.”
His thick brows dip, shadowing the anguish in his eyes. “Betts?—”
“Zander was right. You’ve been lying to me for months.” Philly? Oxford? Robin? Humiliation scrapes my heart raw. “I thought faeries couldn’t lie.”
“That’s a myth.”
“How am I supposed to know what’s true? Why should I believe a single thing you say?”
He groans my name and pulls me into his arms. “I made a mistake. I should’ve told you a long time ago. I wanted to, but I was so afraid of scaring you away. And then the closer we got—” He pushes back, desperately searching my eyes. “—the harder it was to tell you the truth.”
When he claims my mouth, my mind goes blank. But only for a heartbeat. Who—orwhat—is kissing me?
His eyes fill with pain when I push him away. “I’m a coward, Betts. I’m sorry. I was just so afraid of losing you.”
I tumble off the bed, somehow landing on my feet. “I can’t. I just—I can’t.” With my sleeve, I swipe at my tear-soaked face. Looking at that bed, looking at him, and thinking of last night—I can’t do it. My heart is imploding.
“Betts—” He makes one last attempt to hold me, but I twist out of his arms.
