The Summer King Bundle 3 Stories - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,56

and you weren’t even waiting up for me.”

“I did wait up for you!” There was a thump near my head that alerted me to Tink dropping down on the pillow. “And I wasn’t worried about the—wait, what? Did you just call him Caden?”

Crap. I squeezed my eyes shut. Caden. That was his name and there was a flutter deep in my chest that made me want to smile and scream at the same time. “I meant the Prince.”

“No, you didn’t.” A small hand pushed at the back of my head. “What did you do? Did you do more than feed him? Did you feed him with your vag—”

“Oh, my God, Tink, no.” Not that I hadn’t tried, but I kept that to myself. “And if you weren’t worried about me then why did you think I wasn’t breathing?”

“You’re old. You could’ve had a heart attack for all I know.”

“I’m not old.” I ripped the comforter off my head and glared at the little brownie. He was wearing a pair of leather pants, and I had no idea how he got a pair of leather pants in his size nor why he was wearing them. “Jesus, Tink.”

“Look, heart disease is the leading cause of death among women—”

“It’s not heart disease. I was sleeping. Normally. But then you woke me up.”

“Sorry?” He plopped down in front of my face. “So, I’m assuming Caden is okay?”

“He is.” I wiggled a hand free and scrubbed it down my face. “He’s okay. He’s going to be okay.”

“Good.”

Rubbing my eyes, I shifted onto my back. “So, how did you know that he… that he healed me?”

“Fabian told me, and I don’t know how Fabian knew. Guessing he told him.”

“And you never thought to mention this to me once?”

“How was I supposed to bring that up? Oh, by the way, the Prince saved your life, pass the salt?”

“Actually, yes, you could’ve brought it up that way.”

“It wasn’t my secret to tell.”

I turned my head toward him. “You did tell the secret.”

“Yeah, but I had to. Anyway.” Tink leaned forward, cupping his chin in his hands. “So, what happened between you two?”

“Nothing,” I sighed.

“Something happened because you’re calling him Caden,” he pointed out. “And the only person who calls him that is his brother… and now you.”

Head still clouded with sleep, I rolled onto my other side, away from Tink. “I need coffee,” I told him, throwing the comforter off. “But I need a shower first.”

“To wash away the aroma of a really, really good night?”

“Shut up.” I tossed my legs off the bed and stood. The room immediately went tipsy turvy and I sat back down. “Whoa.”

“You okay?” Tink was in flight, his eyes wide with actual real concern.

“Yeah.” I pressed my fingers to my temples. “I just stood up too fast. That’s all.”

“You should be careful.” He placed his hand on my arm. “Take it easy today.”

I smiled at him. “I plan to.”

His gaze searched my face and then he buzzed off toward the door. “I’ll go turn the coffee on.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Tink made it to the door and then stopped, facing me. “You do realize how much of a big deal it is that he told you his name?”

Pushing the mess of hair out of my face, I bit down on my lip. The fae were very peculiar when it came to their real names, as were most Otherworld creatures. Obviously, Tink wasn’t Tink’s real name, just one that Ivy had given him. “Is Caden his real name?”

His wings moved silently as he nodded. “I believe it is an abbreviation of his name, but yes, it is his name. He shared that with you. That means something, Lite Bright.”

I opened my mouth, but I didn’t know what to say. It didn’t matter though. Tink flew out of the room. Did it mean something? I didn’t have the answers, and honest to God, my brain was so not ready for a bout of over analyzation.

So, I got up a lot slower and got my butt in the shower. It was somewhere between shampooing and conditioning that I remembered where I’d seen something about black fae eyes.

It was in one of the old books about the history of the fae in New Orleans that Mom had curated over the years, collecting them from retired and deceased Order members. I’d skimmed through them as I shelved them, so I had no idea if it had any useful information, but as soon as I finished showering and towel drying