Cade grabbed the sword by the handle and the orb’s color glowed aqua. “Fae magic makes it faster and more powerful.”
As Cade played around with the sword, Scarlett gripped the handle of a dagger. Its orb flickered violet. She dropped it. It shouldn’t have changed colors. She didn’t have magic.
Or did she?
Cade picked up the dagger for Scarlett and put it back on the wall. “Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.” As he laughed, his eyes squinted. Sometimes Cade looked like a Norse god or an angel, but, every once in a while, he looked nearly human. A gorgeous human, of course. That’s what made him so dangerous. He could put on a pair of jeans and a band t-shirt and have a whole sorority swooning over him at a frat party. He wouldn’t even need to use any of his fae power. But if he did, no girl had a chance. He could make Scarlett forget her own name when he kissed her neck.
Why did Scarlett melt so easily to Cade’s will? Was it just his fae super ability, or was she just weak?
After the training room, Cade took Scarlett to the courtyard. When Scarlett was there last night, it was dark and empty. Everyone was enjoying themselves elsewhere after the feast. Today, people strolled through hedgerows and around bushes. Women dressed in gowns. Little girls and boys running around. On the far side of the courtyard was a market. They passed through the tents. There was a store that sold fruit that Scarlett had never seen before, one that sold wooden toys shaped as unrecognizable animals, another with swords, daggers, staffs, and other weapons. Cade stopped at a store with clothing and accessories. He grabbed a headband made of tiny lilac colored flowers Scarlett had never seen before.
A silver haired woman dressed in a gray dress that was torn at the bottom sat in the corner of the tent. “Only nine silver coins for a handsome man like you,” she said. She must not know who he was. Scarlett wondered how many fae had never even met the people who lived in the castle. In the human world, everyone knew who the president was but he didn’t know most of them. In a world without television, people probably never saw the royals.
Cade tossed her a gold coin. “Keep the change.” He put the headband on Scarlett’s head like a crown. She felt like a hippy. All she needed now was some weed and a peace-and-love attitude. Cade grabbed her hand and tugged her along. When their fingers touched, she felt a surge of emotion hit her like when the servant spilled the drink on Kassandra. Nervousness swirled with determination, topped with lust. Were those Cade’s feelings or her own?
Something was happening to her, she just wasn’t sure what.
They meandered through more of the shops. No one seemed to recognize Cade. A lot of girls stared at him, but no one treated him like he was fae royalty. People eyed her as if she were a black cat there to bring them a thousand years of bad luck.
Scarlett wanted to think it was because she looked so awesome in her dress and flower-crown, but she was pretty sure it was because she was human and was waltzing around hand in hand with Mr. Gorgeous. All the fae around had a certain beauty, an inhuman quality to their skin, hair, and eyes. Scarlett was flawed by comparison, but she was the one with Cade, not them.
“How come no one recognizes you?” Scarlett asked as they neared the end of the shops.
“I’ve glamoured myself to look different,” Cade said. “To them, I look like someone who might work at the blacksmith’s shop. Just an average Summer Fae.”
“Then why are they all staring?”
“Ahh, because they sense you’re human.”
Just as she suspected. Only, she wasn’t sure she was human. At least not a normal one, or else the orb on the sword wouldn’t have changed color when she touched it. But Cade could be wrong. Surely, it was some weird coincidence. Scarlett was just looking into things too much.
Once they had visited all the shops, they turned back and walked down the street toward the palace. A group of fae women watched Scarlett, their bright eyes scanning her up and down. Scarlett linked her arm with Cade’s and pulled him closer so they’d really have something to stare at.
Her mood was surprisingly good today. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this alive. She thought of home—of her mom, Ashleigh, her friends. Pressure built in her chest, threatening to burst. Then slowly, as if being syphoned out, the heaviness dulled and her cheerfulness returned.
Scarlett took in the world around her. The bright colors of the fae clothing, the rich azure color of the sky above—much deeper than the sky in the human world. Even the weather was perfect, the temperature pleasantly warm with the softest of breezes. Like a dream world. Why rush home? She was happy here, much happier than she’d been in such a long time. For once, the only person she needed to worry about was herself. For as long as Scarlett could remember, she’d felt like a parent to an unruly child. Her mom tried to mother her, and at times—when she was on her medication—things were great. But the cycle always continued. Her mom felt great. She didn’t need her pills. Normal people didn’t take something that altered their mind and her mom was normal.
When Scarlett tried to remind her that she felt good because of the pills, her mom would freak out, throwing things across the room, threatening to kill herself—because that was totally normal behavior.
And off the pills, things were worse.
She wasn’t fooling herself. Cade wanted her for what her emotion could do for him. So what? She wasn’t here to fall in love with a prince.
As they approached the castle, the guards eyed them. Cade nodded. The gates opened. He must have removed his glamour.
“Could someone use their glamour to pretend to be you?” Scarlett asked.
“Yes, but our guards have a gift that allows them to see through glamours.”
Scarlett stored the tidbit away with everything else she’d learned so far. She’d taken Peony’s advice to heart. Even if she’d decided to enjoy her time here, she needed to be prepared for whatever came her way. The more she could learn, the better.
Rather than going inside, Cade led Scarlett around the castle. Along the fence that surrounded the grounds, Scarlett looked for the gate she went through the night before but it was nowhere to be seen. Had she dreamed it?
Last night, she hadn’t noticed all the roses that hedged the outside of the courtyard. She admired the flowers as they passed—the tips of the buds faded into a new color. Fuchsia roses turned orange on the ends, red to violet, yellow to white. After a bit of a walk, they made it to the back of the castle.
The fence continued around, trees towering on the other side. Why had Cade brought her here? There was nothing to see but grass. Then an iron gate appeared in the fence.
“How…” Scarlett asked as Cade, arm still linked with hers, led them through the gate.
Chapter Thirteen
Cade couldn’t help but chuckle as surprise covered Scarlett’s face. He inhaled the fresh smell of the salty sea. The boom of waves crashing roared as he and Scarlett left the shadow of the tress. The sand sank beneath their feet. As quickly as footprints had formed under each step, they disappeared with the next.
Since Scarlett’s trip outside with Raith, Cade worried she might demand to be taken home. With his father’s rule—fae weren’t allowed to keep mortals against their will—he’d have no choice but to obey her request. He could keep threatening her with the pain she felt, but maybe a different approach would be better. The fae world offered many luxuries, and, as a prince, he could give her almost anything. Much more pleasant than the alternatives. So here Cade was, showing her all Faerie had to offer.
But he made no mistake; he would do whatever it took to keep her.