her tone still easy. “Are you just the grouch who lives to fight and hurt people?”
“Stupid question,” I said, then headed toward the academy.
“Just because you’re afraid to answer it doesn’t make it a stupid question,” she called after me.
I faced her. “You know I can ruin whatever the hell you’re up to. Why would you antagonize me?”
“Because I’ve decided we’re friends,” she said, “and so I’ve decided we can trust each other.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Yes,” she admitted. “But you’ll learn to love it.”
Side-by-side, we headed back toward the academy. Whether I’d wanted to walk next to her anyway, we were going in the same direction.
And there was no escaping the summer princess.
Chapter Seven
Alisa
Present Day
When Azrael and Tiron returned to our room, we headed downstairs to the pub to eat.
“Let’s enjoy four walls and a hot meal while we can,” Azrael reminded us. “Once we cross into spring territory tomorrow, we need to keep to ourselves. Alisa’s family has enemies.”
I barely had time to register that bit of news, because Tiron bumped my shoulder with his. “Brace yourself. You’re a hero now.”
Tiron’s eyes sparkled at me. Duncan added, “One village at a time, and you can wrestle the crown from your brother in two hundred years, easy.”
When we walked into the pub, it was full of people. They cheered as they knelt, and even though there was a table for us—laiden with food, surrounded by four empty chairs—it took me a long time to work my way there. Everyone wanted to meet me and talk to me.
I wanted to talk to them too—this was the first time I’d really gotten to know normal Fae. Unlike in the city, where high and low Fae seemed to stay far separated, here they intermingled, living as one community. Jori attached herself to me; she told everyone about how she’d discovered me, and I laughed.
“You should stay inside for nightfall and leave in the morning,” a Fae woman nursing an older baby told me. Both of them watched me with bright amber eyes, although it took a bit of effort on the tot’s part, since he seemed determined to keep the nipple in her mouth. It looked painful to me. “It’s dangerous at night, all the monsters.”
“There are more?” I asked.
“No, Alisa,” Duncan called, without even turning around.
I pulled a face, and she smiled.
“You’ll do good things for our people,” she said warmly. “There’s no rush to do them all tonight.”
I felt the heat of Azrael’s presence behind me, even before he rested his hand on my shoulder. His warm, sexy voice felt like a rumble through my body when he said, “Thank you. I think we will take your community up on your hospitality tonight—we could all use some rest before we get on our way.”
“Now if you don’t mind,” he added, “I’m going to steal our queen away so she’ll stop and eat some dinner.”
I gave him a funny look as we headed back to the table, but I didn’t press him on how he’d called me our queen. Later, but not here.
A band took to the stage—just a husband and wife with fiddles and gorgeous voices who seemed determined to outdo each other—and people began to dance on the dance floor. Some of the children were still up, and their parents whirled them around on the floor. I smiled, watching them all as I ate the stew, bread, cheese and apples they’d prepared for us.
“You were hungry,” Tiron said as I mopped the last of the stew up with my bread.
“It’s the nicest meal I’ve had in awhile.” I hadn’t realized how much I hated eating alone in my room until now.
“The food in the castle isn’t good enough for you?” Duncan asked.
“No, it’s not.” I pushed the plate away and met his eyes evenly. “I’ve been lonely.”
The words hung between us, but I wouldn’t take them back. Duncan averted his eyes, staring down at the table between us.
“I’m sorry,” Azrael said suddenly. “I should’ve…” He shook his head. “I handled this all badly.”
“To be fair,” Tiron said, “You never kidnapped your ex-girlfriend from the mortal world before, then reckoned with a twisted past only you remember. That’s got to have a learning curve.”
Azrael just stared at him, his brows rising above those gorgeous purple eyes. I laughed out loud; I couldn’t help it. Tiron was irrepressible.
“Let’s drink,” Tiron said, raising a glass.
“Yes,” Duncan said with emphasis, taking his own.
“To second chances,” Tiron said. “And finding ways to be…less lonely.”
He glanced around at