The last thing I wanted to do was spend the day talking to people. But I really, really needed face to face time with James and Mary. Well, just James. And, I couldn’t get the latter without the former, so I’d just need to suck it up for a day. No problem.
An hour later, hands tucked between my knees to hide the trembling, I questioned how badly I wanted a drink as I listened to this new girl whine about her roommate.
“It’s not that he’s doing anything bad, really,” she said. “It’s all the creepy watching.”
She glanced through the patio doors to where the fey stood on the deck, doing the creepy watching thing she just mentioned.
“Curtains,” I said with a smile I didn’t feel. “Everything that’s see-through needs them.”
She shook her head slightly.
“I think he watches me sleep. Listen, I like the food and all, but since the infected got in here and not in Tenacity, I think I’m changing teams again. I don’t feel safe here, anymore.”
I snorted softly, and Emily gave me a quick, censuring look before taking the girl’s hand.
“The fey aren’t mind readers. You have to set clear boundaries with them. If it’s bothering you that he’s watching you while you sleep, tell him. Warn him that you’re considering leaving because his obsessive hovering is stifling. I haven’t met a fey yet who wouldn’t adjust what he’s doing to be more accommodating. Especially if his actions might risk a female leaving.”
“What she’s saying is that he wants you here and will do anything you want to get you to stay. The one thing fey don’t do is force,” I said. “They don’t have the balls for that.”
Emily cut me another warning look.
“What? You know that’s true.”
I looked at the fey on the patio. Since the girl had said she wanted to leave, he’d gotten that slumped-shouldered, defeated look of rejection. Seriously, how could Emily think he had balls?
Shaking my head a little and wishing the visit over, I refocused on Emily as she coached the girl on how to have the conversation with her roommate.
Five minutes later, we let ourselves out, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“I really hope they aren’t all going to be that whiny,” I said.
“Talking about your feelings isn’t whiny, Hannah. It’s healthy.”
“Then why do I feel sick after listening to it?”
She rolled her eyes at me, and I tucked my hands into my jacket as we trudged to the next house on her list.
“What’s the point to these visits?” I asked as we neared Cheri’s house. “We’re telling everyone the same things we told them when they first moved here.”
“Change is hard. Sometimes a friendly face and a little advice, even if it’s a repeat, can go a long way. Besides, it’s in our best interest that these girls stay.”
I frowned in confusion.
“Why’s that? They’re taking up the supplies.”
“They’re also taking up the attention. Unless you’ve changed your mind and want—”
“Nope,” I said quickly. “No fey; no way. That’s my campaign slogan. Seriously, look at how miserable the last girl was. Who, in her right mind, would want that?”
Emily shrugged slightly and knocked on the door.
“Hey, Farco,” she said to the fey who answered. “Is Cheri here?”
He grunted and let us inside where we found Cheri sitting in the living room. Curled comfortably in a chair with a stack of books on the floor next to her, she looked up from her reading as we entered.
“Library time?” I asked.
She grinned.
“Farco went out and found a bunch of books for me when I wasn’t feeling well after the party.” She glanced at him, her smile warming. “I mentioned how much I like reading.”
“When you read those, I will find more,” he promised.
I could see it in her eyes. She was falling for him. It wasn’t a complete shock. After all, she wasn’t the first human female to fall for a fey. But over books? Come on. She could have asked for anything, like a remodel of the basement to include a bowling alley. Instead, she was giving in to a life of breeding for books.
“Farco, would you mind going somewhere else so we can have a private girl talk?” I asked.
He grunted and looked at Cheri.
“I will find some chips for you.”
Cheri’s adoration grew three times too big for my cynical heart. The door had barely closed when I opened my mouth to tell her the truth.