After slipping on my flip-flops I opened the door to peek out. The sun began to set in soft colors, and people were already filtering away from the eating area. Closing the door, I pulled out McKale’s bin from the corner of the room and opened it, taking out the black and white soccer ball.

A little one-on-one match with him sounded fun. I smiled, pacing the room with the ball on my hip. This was boring. I couldn’t wait any longer. I wanted to get there first anyway.

I walked a large arc around the clearing so nobody would see me, passing through the field of grass the Clour had come through. It was also the home of the Fae portal, which gave me the creeps, even though it was invisible. Jogging the rest of the way, I made quick time to the east edge of the forest without anyone noticing me. I walked into the woods, sitting against a tree far enough so I could see out, but nobody would see me in the darkness.

My legs stung like they were on fire. First from the marks that Cassidy had given me during the game, and second from the slap of sharp blades of grass as I’d run though the field. I blew on the front of my calves, feeling tingly. The tingle increased, moving to my chest, and I became still. Someone was using magic. I scanned the field and all around me, but didn’t see anything. Maybe one of the Clourichaun were playing around in the near vicinity, changing size or something. I shook off the chill.

Ten or fifteen minutes passed before I saw a tall figure stride into the grasses. I sucked in my bottom lip and sat up straight to watch him. He hadn’t noticed me in the trees. When he got to the middle of the field, another low-grade fizzle of magic touched me. McKale stopped and I knew he’d felt it, too.

The next few seconds was like something from a horror flick—one made personally for me. A stronger burn blew across my skin. Ten feet away from McKale a tiny shimmer of black cracked the air and Khalistah, AKA Freaky Fae Girl, climbed out like a mystical flower blooming from the air. My entire body stilled with fear. McKale peered over his shoulder, back toward the village, looking for me or any witnesses, I realized. But when she glided toward him, platinum hair dragging the grass behind her, gown flowing like a storybook cover, his concern seemed to drift away and he was lost to everything but her.

She was breathtaking, yes, and I loathed her to the core of my being. The FFG linked her frail arm through the crook of his strong one, causing him to seize up and breathe heavier. She smiled and motioned toward the forest. The two of them walked into the trees, not fifteen feet away from me. I was too horrified to move. They spoke openly, and I could hear them from where I sat.

“I was hoping you would pass through tonight, McKale of the Chaun. Are you heading to your tree on the hill? Shall I escort you there?”

“Eh, no. Just… an evening stroll but I should head back soon. ‘Tis been a long day. We can speak here for a moment if it suits you.”

“The view here suits me fine.” Her silky voice turned my stomach. When she reached up and ran her tiny hand along the side of his face, I heard him inhale. She tilted her head to the side and gazed up at him. He leaned into her hand with a slight moan from his chest.

I clamped my teeth together, feeling way more than pissed. I was livid on several accounts. First, the fact that she had to sneak over to “slum” it with the guy her people had chosen for me. Second, the fact that he was so affected by her charms. And third, the cruelty of chance that I’d have to sit here and watch it.

She removed her hand from his face and he shuddered before standing tall again, blinking as if waking from a dream. He shot a glance toward the field then back at the Fae girl.

“Khalistah,” McKale said in a soft voice. “We… we cannot do this. Ye must realize as I do that this cannot work. It has never been our fate. Especially now.”

“Why ever not? Because of your betrothed?” Her last word snaked out like a whip. “You’ve never before seemed bothered by our differences. Have you grown to care for her so quickly?”

“She is kind.” He turned his face away from her when he said it, but she took his far cheek and slowly turned it back to face herself, jolting him. He seemed to melt closer to her.

“Do not forget the one who has been kind to you all your life.”

She ran her thumb across his lips and it took all my will-power not to stand and yell—to force her hands off him. My mother’s words about the wrath of a Fae rang through me.

“Aye, ye have been good to me,” McKale whispered, and his hands slipped around her waist. “But my… my clan…” His hands began to roam up and down her sides and he closed the gap between them. The corner of FFG’s lips turned up. McKale’s face lowered to her cheek and he brushed his lips across her jaw. He moaned, forgetting what he’d been saying. She continued the conversation while his lips played across her magical skin.

“We can make this work, McKale of the Chaun.”

“Aye,” he murmured.

“We will find a way to ensure your clan’s survival. Do not give yourself to the human yet. She could never dream of understanding you as I do. She—”

Another zap of magic buzzed through the air. Khalistah broke from McKale and looked toward the portal. It appeared as empty air to me.

“The Gatekeeper sends warning. I must return. Until then, please accept this token.”

She pulled something shiny from her bodice—a golden talisman on a chain. McKale stared at her offering, dazed, making no move to take it.

“My love?” she said, her words stabbing my gut.