Welcome to Fae Cafe (High Court of the Coffee Bean Book 1)

“Where are my glasses…?” Grandma Lewis searched with a full spin before releasing an exasperated sound. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. I left them out on the bench!”

The silence was torturous. The air was thin. Neither Kate nor Cress moved a muscle as the old woman hobbled to the front entrance of her home, pulled on her coat with shaky hands, opened the front door with a squeak, carefully stepped out, and shut the door again.

Then they both moved.

Kate grabbed the nearest picture off the windowsill and held the frame up with its pointed corner aimed toward Cress. But he wrapped an arm around her to trap her, and used the other to tear the picture frame away before she could swing it.

“I’ll kill you if you touch her!” Kate shouted at him.

Cress tossed the picture back on the sill and slapped a hand over her mouth. “Quiet, Human! She’ll hear you!”

Kate tried to squirm from his grip. Her arm broke free and she snatched the mug of tea off the kitchen table. Cress barely grabbed her wrist in time to stop her from drenching his face with freshly boiled water.

“Queensbane!” he cursed when he yanked the mug away and droplets splattered his hand.

The front door squeaked open and the two split apart—Cress shoved her away, and Kate caught herself on the table, resting against it and wiping the hair from her face. She forced a smile as Grandma Lewis came in, glasses in hand.

Cress leaned back against the wall. He brought the mug to his lips and took a long, careful, slow sip of tea.

“I was just about to teach Cress how to make cookies. If you want to stay a while, Katherine, you can try them when we’re finished,” Grandma Lewis said.

“Of course, Grandma.” Her pointed stare flickered to Cress. “I won’t be going anywhere.”

“What about the café? Isn’t today your big launch?” Grandma Lewis opened the fridge and pulled out the milk.

Kate spoke through thin lips. “It’s well taken care of by three exceptional workers.”

Cress’s turquoise eyes flickered up to her, and he glared.

Grandma Lewis set an armful of cutlery that looked freshly washed on the kitchen table. The moment the old woman turned back around and headed toward the towel hanging on the stove, Kate slid a dull knife over from the pile and shoved it up her sleeve.

Cress watched from where he leaned on the wall. His mouth curled into a devilish smile like an invitation.

“Come here, Cress. I’ll get you to pour the flour.” Grandma Lewis waved him over and Kate watched in dismay as the fae Prince glided across the room and took the measuring cups from her grandmother. “Oh, and I forgot to mention, Katherine,” Grandma Lewis turned around, “Cress has taken over your room. Not that you need it, but I just wanted you to know in case you go in there and see… well. Boyish belongings. You know.”

Kate’s heart thuds doubled. “What? He’s been sleeping here?”

“Oh, relax, Katherine.” Grandma Lewis rolled her eyes. “I’m a good judge of character. You know that—”

“After what happened?” Kate interrupted with a shrill voice.

Cress glanced up from the measuring cups. He looked between Kate and Grandma Lewis.

“Are you fussing about that again? That was a long time ago, Katherine. You need to let it go—”

“That man could have killed you, Grandma!” Kate shouted. “How could I let it go?!”

Cress stole a look at the living room. His face hardened ever so slightly, but he pulled his attention back to the measuring cups.

Kate swept over to Grandma Lewis and whispered, “You’re too trusting. Not everyone is as good as they seem.”

“Oh heavens, Katherine!” Grandma Lewis huffed. “Even after all the therapy, changing your name, and turning your hair purple—”

“It’s not purple, it’s red!”

“—you still can’t seem to move on from those troubles of the past. Stop letting the few bad days ruin all your good ones!”

Quietness dragged through the kitchen as Kate stared into her grandmother’s eyes. She didn’t have the will to clear her throat—it felt like it would take up too much of the room’s space. Her voice came out cracked when she spoke again. “I’m cleaning out that stranger’s stuff from my room, and you’re going to send him away right now,” she decided, pointing at Cress.

Kate marched up the stairs, listening to Grandma Lewis’s loud sigh in the kitchen. When she reached the top, she shoved the bedroom door of her teen years open.

She slowed her march as she scanned her room, finding everything exactly the way she’d left it. Not a single belonging was out of order; the bed was made, the books were straight, and there weren’t any traces of that fae Prince downstairs.

“How long has he even been staying here?” she mumbled to herself.

The door slammed shut behind her and she whirled to find Cress leaning back against it. “Over a week,” he answered.

Her hands tightened to fists. “I’ll kill you. I don’t care if you’re a fae or a prince or an assassin or whatever!” Kate promised. “You should not have come here.”

“You think you can kill me?” The corners of Cress’s mouth twitched up.

“I can do anything I put my mind to,” Kate assured.

“Yes, I know,” he said.

Kate’s mouth closed again.

Cress peeled himself off the door and stood tall. He folded his arms. “I know all about the lengths you’ll go to for your grandmother, and what you’ll do for a measly female neighbour you don’t even know, and the sympathy you’ll show an old woman crossing the street with her paper bags of human food, and the other things you do for others when you think no one will notice. I know everything about you, Katherine Lewis. I know all about Lily Baker, too. I know your grandmother’s real name, and your brother’s. And yours.”

Heat trickled into Kate’s chest. She stepped back, her shoes sliding over her bedroom carpet.

“I know why you’re afraid of the sky’s anger. I know why you changed your name. I know what you’ve lost, what you cherish, and each of your little habits. I know you enjoy the colour yellow, and that you scribble painfully adorable little notes in your books. I know that your favourite soap contains sweet, fragrant powders. Like I said, I know everything about you.” Cress stepped forward, and Kate’s back hit her bedpost.

“Why are you telling me this if you’re just going to kill me?” she scratched out.

Cress’s mouth twisted to the side. He glanced at her neck tattoo like he had the first day she met him. The butterknife warmed in Kate’s sleeve.

She held the fae’s gaze as she let the utensil fall into her fingers. Before he could say anything else, she thrust the butterknife at him.

His hand flashed up and wrapped hers, stopping the knife inches from his shoulder. Kate’s eyes widened as his fingers turned rough and white like pale stone, locking her hand to the dull blade.

“I’m not going to kill you, Human. I’m not going to kill your grandmother, either, or speak your real names in the way required to enslave you,” Cress said. “There’s no point now. Killing you will only prolong my suffering anyway with how preposterously wrong everything has gone since we met.” His hand softened back to flesh, and he shook her wrist until the butterknife fell onto the carpet. “So, stop trying to stab me with everything.”

Kate’s gaze followed the knife where it rolled beneath her bed, out of reach. “Why should I believe you? I know fairies love to play tricks,” she said.

“Yes, we do. We love to play tricks, and meddle in human affairs, and hand out enchanted kisses. Unfortunately, our tricks don’t always bring the results we want.” He glared at her mouth. “But what’s done is done. I have larger troubles to deal with than hunting a pesky, repulsive human. You should stay away from the fairies from now on if you don’t want to get dragged into it.”

“I can’t just stay out of fairy problems while three of them are living in my apartment. And what about my grandmother?” Kate asked. “Won’t she get dragged into your troubles if you’re living here?”

Cress’s jaw slid to the side.

“Cress? Katherine? I thought you two were going to help me with the cookies!” Grandma Lewis’s voice boomed up the stairs. “You might be adults, but this is still my house. No boys in your bedroom with you, Katherine! Don’t you dare get into any handsy business up there!” she added.

Kate fought a blush, but Cress smiled. “You’ll never be so lucky,” he promised. He reached back, swung open the door, and stood aside to let her exit first.

Kate took one last sidelong glance at where the butterknife had disappeared below her bed. Then she strode out the door on heavy feet. “You have to leave this house,” she said as she passed him. “I won’t let you stay here.”

Cress sighed. “I agree. And since you refuse to stay out of fairy problems, I suppose I should just move in with my brothers.”

Kate whirled back to find a smirk on the Prince’s face.

“Thank you for the invitation,” he added.

“That was not an invitation—”

“Ah. Unlike my brothers, you haven’t enslaved me, Human. I don’t have to obey you. I do, however, have all the means necessary to enslave you if I wish it.” His gaze cut over to Kate as he reached the stairs. “So be very careful.”

The snow picked up as they left, and Kate stole a look at Cress’s t-shirt every few moments, visible beneath her late grandfather’s unzipped hunting coat. Tiny flakes tumbled down the thin fabric, melting at Cress’s collar where they touched his flesh. Finally, Kate huffed and passed the paper bag of cookies to her other hand. They walked through a quieter part of the city.

“You should zip your coat. Don’t you have a sweater or something?” she asked.

“Not anymore.” Cress stole a glance at the bag of cookies. “You’re going to share those, right? I helped make them, too.”

She released a grunt. “A fae with a sweet tooth. Interesting.”

“A human with a resistance to enchantments.” He glanced at her, turquoise eyes pointed. “Far more interesting.”

Kate stifled a snooty response, not coming up with anything good enough to say aloud. She chewed on her lip as they approached Hanes Street. “Your fae friends might not be at the café when we get there. I told them they could leave if they wanted,” she said instead as they rounded the corner.

Kate skidded to a stop in the snow and nearly choked when she saw a new, large wooden sign above the café door that said, FAE CAFÉ, in bold, burgundy letters.

People headed in and out the door, sliding past each other with to-go cups. From where she was, Kate could see notes written across the paper cups in swooping, artistic handwriting.

“My brothers won’t leave,” Cress assured. “It’s an excellent hiding place from…” His voice trailed off, and Kate glanced over at him when he didn’t finish.

“Hiding place from what?”

Cress didn’t seem to hear. His gaze darted over the street, and he did a slow, full turn. Kate tried to spot what he was looking for, but only the snow-dusted storefronts and nodding neighbours were around.

“Come with me.” Cress’s hand slid into hers, and Kate found herself being guided to the opposite sidewalk. “Don’t glance at your building as we pass it. Just keep walking like you don’t know it’s there.”

“Why?” Kate clutched the bag of cookies, expecting him to run. But he didn’t—he walked along casually, his hand in hers, swaying their arms a little. It might have been sweet if he wasn’t a cold-blooded fae assassin.

“We’re being stalked,” he told her.

Kate craned her neck to see behind them, but Cress tugged her arm, turning her back. “Don’t look around, Human. We’re going to pretend we don’t know.”

Kate held the cookies tighter against her stomach. “Well… what are we going to do, then?”

“We’ll go on a date. Like normal humans do on that Dating Tonight show Thelma watches in the evenings. We’ll bore the stalkers to death if we must. But we cannot return to your dwelling where my brothers are hiding while we’re being followed.” Cress glanced into the storefront window of the sweets shop, seeming to eye the candy apples. He shoved his free hand into his pocket.

“Okay…” Kate tried to see the street behind them in the reflection of the window. “Then let’s go to the mall.”

Cress raised a brow.

“To get you another coat. And a sweater.”

“But I have a coat. And you have my sweater,” he said.

“This coat is probably forty years old.” Kate poked her grandfathers hunting coat with her elbow. “And your assassins are making a lot of money for me today. Just think of it as a thank you gift.”

Cress seemed to think about it for a moment. “Fine.”

Snow sprinkled the toque barely covering his pointed ears. Kate watched him study stores, nod to people passing by, and cast an only semi-cruel smile at a toddler and mother racing past.

He still held her hand.

They got to the subway station, and Kate pulled out her wallet and paid for them both. The subway cars swished to a stop moments later, filling the tunnel with wind, and the doors slid open. Cress hesitated when Kate stepped into the subway car. She reached back and yanked him in right before the doors closed.

“You can find a seat—”

“I’ll stand,” Cress announced. He folded his arms and waited for something to happen.

“Suit yourself.” Kate stifled a smile as she found an open seat.

The moment the car jolted forward, Cress grabbed the back of Kate’s chair to steady himself. Kate’s raspy laugh filled the subway car.

The mall smelled of sticky cinnamon buns and potent perfume. Cress eyed the crowds and read aloud the names of each store he saw. “Shayne would have his pockets stuffed full in a place like this,” he remarked.

“You should see my apartment. I’m going to have to buy him a shipping container soon to store all of his trinkets,” Kate said. She spied Cress fight a smile before he turned his head away.

“The outerwear store is this way.” Kate took his arm and tugged him to the shop of winter coats and accessories. Soft music filled the store, and salespeople snooped from a distance. Kate lifted a coat from a sale rack by the entrance. “How about this one? It’s only eighty bucks!”

Cress’s face fell. “It’s ghastly!” he shouted, and Kate quickly slid it away.

“Wow, take it easy,” she muttered. “The salespeople are going to hear you.” She tried another one, and Cress looked at her like she was crazy. He slid past and marched to the back of the store where a long, camel-coloured dress coat hung on a mannequin. He pointed at it.

“I want that one,” he decided.

Kate sighed and hurried her feet to catch up. “Of course you do.”

Six hundred and thirty-four dollars later, Cress paraded out of the outerwear store like he was in a fashion show. Kate’s grandfather’s coat was rolled into a ball under his arm. Cress had decided he needed the scarf the mannequin wore, too, and the exact pair of sunglasses.

“So much for a profitable day.” Kate slid her wallet away.

“Well, you wouldn’t let me pay with fairy gold,” Cress said. “It’s your own fault, Human.”

“You can’t just pay for something with a handful of rocks! There are rules here, you know.”

“You’re too kind-hearted,” he stated. “It’s weak.”

“You’re still a monster. It’s scary.”

He glanced at her, but she couldn’t see his eyes past his sunglasses. A laugh escaped her as he seemed unable to come up with a response. Cress reached over and took her hand again. “I like your laugh. It’s harmless in both an irritating and infatuating way.”

He began looking around again—up at the mall chandeliers and the two-story-tall banners. Kate took in his relaxed walk and his almost-smiles to passing people. He didn’t seem dangerous. But Freida’s words rang through her mind: “Unfortunately, almost all fairies are tricky, manipulative, cruel, and would jump at the opportunity to torment a human…”

So, there was that.

“Why do you keep holding my hand?” Kate asked.

“They’re still watching us,” Cress said immediately. “And isn’t this what humans do on dates?”

“This isn’t a real date though,” she pointed out. She stole a glance over her shoulder when he wasn’t looking, but she still couldn’t see anyone following them. It was the first moment she wondered if he was making it all up.

Cress sniffed the air when the mall’s coffee shop came into view.

“I know what we should do next.” Kate tugged him toward the hole-in-the-wall coffee shop. “You should try your warm milk this way. Your assassin friends can’t get enough of it.”

Five minutes later they sat at a table in the mall aisle, and Cress sucked the foam off the top of a latte. He stuck his tongue into the liquid first, then smacked the tabletop and growled. “It’s hot!”

Kate slapped a hand over her mouth to keep back a burst of laughter. “Give it a minute.” She dragged the latte over to herself and blew on it lightly. “You’re so impatient,” she added. When she was satisfied it wouldn’t send him tearing through the food court, she slid it back.

Cress finally took off his sunglasses and set them on the table. He eyed the latte for a moment. Then Kate. Then the latte again.

“Try it!” Kate chuckled.

He reluctantly brought the cup to his mouth and took a small, careful sip. His eyes widened. He began to chug. Kate’s face changed as he kept drinking and drinking and drinking.

“Um… maybe you should take a break—”

Cress slammed the empty paper cup on the table between them and shouted, “That is the best warm beast’s milk I have ever tasted in my entire faeborn life!”

Kate covered the blush on her face with her hands as people’s heads turned. “Seriously, how did you fool an entire police department into thinking you were one of them?” she asked through her fingers.

Cress reached across and pried her fingers away. She realized he was grinning, and her heart performed a strange flip. His mouth curved sweetly over his shapely teeth. It was the first full smile he gave her. “I’m putting on a show, Human,” he said. “For the stalkers.”

Right.

The ‘stalkers’.

Cress leaned back in his chair, his beautiful smile not budging an inch, and Kate could have smacked herself. He was trying to embarrass her.

“Wow. You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” She pointed to her red cheeks.

“Very much.”

“You’re seriously evil.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

“What’s your plan? To embarrass me to death?” Kate folded her arms, trying to calm the flush in her face.

Cress tapped the brim of the empty latte cup. “If I make you like me, Human, maybe my next enchanted kiss will stick.” He reached for the paper bag of cookies and pulled two out. He passed one to Kate first, then took one for himself.

“Ah. So, you’re trying to make me like you by forcing me to buy you a ridiculously overpriced coat and shouting random things in public while people are watching?” Kate asked doubtfully.

His crisp smile returned. Kate couldn’t have looked away if she’d tried.

“Well, I don’t need you to lose your whole human mind over me. I just need you to become smitten enough to make you want to do as I wish. Smitten enough for me to convince you to leave this city forever if I decide you must.”

Kate’s smile faded. “I’m not leaving Toronto.”

“You might have to, Katherine Lewis.”

“I won’t. And why don’t you just speak my name in the way needed to enslave me since you know it so well now?”

Cress’s jaw slid to the side. “It’s forbidden and cruel to enslave another living being. You should not have done it to my brothers, and I should not do it to you.”

“You were going to before.”

“When I thought you were guilty.”

“I am guilty. I killed a fae.”

Cress looked back and forth between her eyes. “You’re innocent, Katherine. You wouldn’t hurt a moonbug if it landed on your food.”

Kate chewed on her lip. “Don’t call me that. My name is Kate Kole.”

He almost smiled again. “I’m quite positive by now that it’s not.”

She dropped her eyes. After a second, she broke a piece off the end of her cookie. “You’re not a monster at all, are you?” She stared at the cookie chunk for a moment before eating it. “I think I finally understand why your assassins’ life stories all include you.”

“Not all of them,” Cress said. “Mor’s, maybe.”

“I don’t know much of Dranian’s story, but it seems like you saved Mor and Shayne from bad lives. I’m starting to get the feeling you may have saved more than just them, too.”

Cress pulled his hands below the table. He still hadn’t taken a bite of his cookie. “Don’t mistake me for a hero like the fairy folk in one of your books, Katherine. I’m the devil in most people’s stories. The last, terrible monster they see.”

“Kate,” she corrected. “And no one wants to tell me Dranian’s story. Even you changed the subject when I just brought it up.”

Cress tilted his head, seeming to think about that. “Dranian has an illness,” he explained. “He seizes up unexpectedly, trembles, and can’t breathe properly or think straight. His blood relatives meant to toss him away for it, but instead they tricked a noble family of the North into purchasing him as a childling guard to keep their son out of trouble,” he said.

Kate’s shoulders dropped. “Do you mean Shayne’s family?”

Cress nodded. “Shayne’s father should have cast Dranian out the moment he realized Dranian’s illness. But Dranian was determined to prove he could do what other fairy guards did so he wouldn’t get thrown to the wicked faeborn forests.” Cress flicked a crumb off the table. “Shayne gave him a hard time in the beginning. He stole things, started fights, flirted with the wrong High Lords’ daughters… Dranian couldn’t keep up. But one day Dranian followed Shayne to the childling academy, and the other noble faeborn fools there began beating Dranian when he seized up, forcing his face to the dirt and demanding he kiss their filthy shoes before they would allow him to stand again.”

Kate’s fingers pressed lightly over her mouth, thinking of the look on Mor’s face at the fundraiser when she made Dranian kiss Lily’s shoe…

“So, Shayne went back and broke each of those noble fools’ ribs,” Cress said.

Kate’s jaw dropped. “Shayne broke their bones…?”

Cress lifted his shoulder into a shrug. “The healers snapped everything back and the bones melded. But Shayne’s father was so angry, he put cold iron in the bottom of Shayne’s boots and strapped them on with locks so Shayne couldn’t get them off. His feet were bound in them for three days. It’s why Shayne hates shoes now.” His eyes darted back up. “So, you see, Dranian’s story has nothing to do with me.”

Kate wasn’t sure she was still breathing. She’d made the fae assassins wash mugs and mix fall drinks in the café. Suddenly she was sure the only monster here was her. She rubbed her eyes, promising herself she’d never tell the fae to do anything again. “How did Dranian end up with you then?” Her voice was dry.

“He followed Shayne when Shayne’s father sent him off to serve the High Court. Dranian didn’t know I recruited Shayne to the Brotherhood of Assassins. All he knew was that the male he spent his whole faeborn life protecting was on his way to challenge the dreaded Prince of the North to a deathmatch. That moody fool sprang out of hiding and nearly stabbed me through the neck, thinking I’d slaughtered Shayne.” A smile broke across Cress’s face. “Fool.”

“Unreal,” Kate whispered, trying to imagine that. She tapped the table with her fingers. “I think what Dranian has is called panic attacks to us humans. But I haven’t seen him have one yet.”

Cress adjusted himself in his seat. “He hasn’t had one since he’s been here.”

Two men drifted into view across the mall aisle, lingering by the entrance of a clothing store. Their hair was thick enough to cover their ears. There was something slightly off about them; a strange, silent power Kate had seen in only a few guys this last month, including the one sitting across from her.

“Can I confess something super foremost?” she said to Cress in a quiet voice.

“If you want to.”

Kate wrung her fingers as the men’s unusual silver and brown eyes took her in. They looked away like they were pretending to not be watching.

“I totally thought you were making the whole ‘We’re being followed’ thing up,” she said.

A funny smile touched Cress’s mouth. “I try not to utter falsehoods. Also, your use of the term foremost is improper and unusual. I know because I write a lot of excellent letters.” Cress glanced at her shaking hands. He reached over, lifted one off the table, and swept to stand in the same motion.

“Let’s keep walking,” he said, grabbing the hunting coat and cookies. “You haven’t shown me how to use those mysterious moving stairs yet.”

Kate followed numbly as Cress headed toward the escalator. “Who are those guys?” she whispered. “The ones following us.”

Cress’s grip tightened. “You would needlessly worry if I told you,” he said.

Kate stepped onto the escalator, and Cress took her waist to balance as he hopped on after. The ride to the second floor seemed to drag on for hours. Kate fought the impulse to look back and see if the fae were following them up.

“Your hands tremble when you’re afraid,” Cress said from behind her. “They’re trembling now.” A pause. “Also, these moving stairs are terrifying.”

They reached the top and Kate turned to face him the moment she stepped off. “I want to go back to the café.”

Cress looked her over. “Why?”

“Because Mor, Shayne, and Dranian are there.”

“You don’t think I’ll keep you safe?”

“You’re not compelled to protect me. They are,” she said. “It’s just common sense.”

People grunted and swerved to walk around them as Kate and Cress crowded the space at the top of the escalator.

Kate expected him to refuse to lead the stalkers to his brothers again, but instead Cress nodded.

“You go back to them. I’ll lead the Shadow Fairies off.” Cress took her hand again and turned back toward the escalator. Kate’s eyes widened as he stepped onto it and began shoving people aside as they rose up.

“Um… hold on…” Kate started mumbling apologies as Cress pulled her down the ascending escalator. He nudged and shoved to make a path. It took way longer than the ride up.

“The magic stairs want to trap us here,” he muttered when they finally leapt off. “How outrageous.” He slid his sunglasses back on.

“Should we split up?” Kate asked.

“Not yet, Human. I’m planning a large distraction. You’ll know when it’s best to run.” He pulled something out of his back pocket, and Kate recognized the sword handle with the tiny gold and silver wings. She blanched.

“Not here—Cress!”

But the blade forged out of nothing, sending a buzzing sound through the mall aisle. He turned himself toward the pair of stalkers by the clothing store.

The two fae looked him over, icy expressions donning their faces. They drew weapons, and soon three long swords were shining beneath the mall lights. Bystanders stopped what they were doing. Some people clapped and cheered like this was part of a theatrical performance. Shoppers pulled out their phones to film it.

“Aren’t you worried you’ll get hurt?” Kate whispered as she backed away.

Cress grunted. “I’m insulted you’d ask.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s only two of them. Run now, Katherine.” Cress tossed over her grandfather’s coat and the bag of cookies.

Kate bumped into someone as she scrambled away. She couldn’t take her eyes off where the fae stalkers marched across the mall aisle toward Cress who waited, staring back at them through his expensive, brand-new sunglasses.

The stalkers split up and prowled around the Prince. They leapt from both sides, and Cress spun—his sword sliced the air, catching them both in one swing. Kate shrieked, but the crowd gasped and clapped.

Kate didn’t stay to see the rest.

She raced from the mall, bursting into the frigid cold and leaving footprints in the snow. It took her minutes to reach the subway. She was out of breath as she scurried on—a second before the doors swished closed. Nothing followed her in.

Her chest pattered the whole ride.

At her stop, she slipped out of the subway car, jogged up the station stairs, and rushed through the streets to the café with her grandfather’s coat in her arms.

She was panting and covered in snowflakes when she got there. She waited, trying to wipe the worry from her face as a few customers came out with drinks nestled between their fingers.

Kate grabbed the door before it closed, and another hand came above hers on the glass, holding it open. She nearly screamed when she looked up and saw Cress there. His sunglasses were broken in his other hand.

“How did—you get here—so fast?” Kate asked through pants.

“What do you mean? What took you so faeborn-cursed long?” he said back.

Bloodstains covered his new, overpriced coat, along with a large cut through the fabric, and Kate glared. “Seriously?!”

“I’m fine, thank you dearly for asking. It was just a regular midday squabble,” Cress said with ample sarcasm. But he snatched her fingers and dragged her inside like he had something important to say. The café door slammed shut behind them. A few people filed nearby tables—some of them set their coffees down to stare.

Cress cleared his throat. His nostrils flared as he inhaled to catch his breath.

Kate waited.

He released his heavy lungful of air. He opened his mouth, but he took in another deep breath instead of speaking, and Kate made a face.

“Seriously, just say it,” she said.

“All right.” Cress cleared his throat and stood tall again. His hand tightened ever so slightly around her fingers.

She sighed and scratched her head as he took an absurd about of time to collect himself. People were still watching.

“I need a new coat,” Cress finally said.

Kate gaped.

He held up the hem of his coat where the rip was like he thought she didn’t believe him. He waved it a little.

A mug fell to the floor by the counter, smashing into a dozen pieces. Dranian stared with round eyes at Cress’s and Kate’s hands. Coffee pooled at the fae’s shoes.

“Aw, Cress!” Shayne ripped off his apron and hurtled it onto the counter. “Why’d you have to do that in front of us?!”

Cress tossed Kate’s hand away with a moan-growl. “Oh, for the love of the sky deities!”

Kate huffed in disbelief, still glaring at him for the coat comment. “I’m going to take a shower,” she stated, shaking her head as she marched off, leaving them to sort out whatever fae nonsense they were freaking out about. She strode up the stairs, into her apartment, and went straight into the bathroom. The lock of the door clicked behind her, and she rested with her back against the door until she could think straight again.

“What a crazy grand opening day,” she muttered as she went to the shower and cranked the lever for hot water.