Page 2 of The Autumn Prince

I opened my mouth to tell him… Warn him? I wasn’t sure, but then he dropped to his knees, both arms on the bed, and his head resting on the backs of his hands. Was he…crying?

“Thank the gods,” he said when he looked up at me with tears trailing down his cheeks. “You’re finally here!”

With that cryptic statement, the flames covering him petered out until there wasn’t even a wisp of smoke left.

And I was so confused. “Were you…waiting for me?”

He blinked a few times, long dark red lashes practically fanning me. A blush hit his cheeks and he gulped.

“No.”

Oh, somebody was lying.

But why?

I tried rephrasing my question. “Did you know I was going to land here?”

His eyes were flicking back and forth between mine like he was trying to figure something out. His next lie?

“No.”

Creative fellow, this one.

“Okay,” I said with a smile, “I’m going to ask you three questions really fast. Don’t think about your answers, just say whatever comes to mind first. What’s your name?”

“Incendis.”

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Raspberries.”

“Why am I here?”

“To save us.”

Worked every time.

I frowned at him, though, because what? “Who’s us and how am I supposed to save us?”

His eyes were huge—he knew what he’d done—but then he seemed to realize he was naked. I knew he was using that as an excuse not to answer me, but he wasn’t using it to distract me. Like, he didn’t stand up, show off, and attempt to get me drooling as was entirely possible. No, he acted like this was the most embarrassing situation of his life as he fished for the duvet cover and then tossed it around himself like a toga.

Which was when he turned around and gave me a look at the folded set of wings on his back. Real wings. They looked like a moth’s with four sections, in burnt orange and dusty brown colors, and when he lifted them to get them out of the way of his makeshift clothing, they dropped sparks all over the floor. While nothing ignited from that, I realized I’d been one hundred percent right.

“You’re a fairy!”

Incendis turned back around, checking that the duvet covered all his bits properly—sexy prude—and shook his head. “No, I’m fae. Fairies are entirely different.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” I knew that. Sort of. I was getting dumber the longer I stared at him because now I could see his ears were pointed. I kind of wanted to lick one.

“No, I’m sorry. I haven’t handled any of this admirably at all.” He came over to the bed and held one hand toward me while pointing to the nearby round table with the other. “Please come sit, and we can discuss what’s happened.”

I bounced myself off the bed and took his hand because I wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to touch him. He flinched a bit, but I held on because his hand was so delightfully toasty. I had to resist the urge to tuck my other hand inside his toga to find out if the rest of him was as warm. As someone who was perpetually cold, I loved a nice person furnace to cuddle up with.

Reluctantly, I let his hand go when I sat at the table but I made sure to pet his skin as I did. Pretty sure I made him shiver. I didn’t mean to flirt exactly, but sometimes I just couldn’t help myself.

He cleared his throat. “Despite my attire—which I do apologize for—I should introduce myself more formally. I’m Prince Incendis of the Autumn Court.”

I didn’t want to break the rule of giving my real name, but I thought maybe first name only might be okay. “I’m Zalman of Downtown Chicago.”