There’s a pause over the other end of the line.

“Well, shit,” she says, “that is just messed up.”

“It’s fine. We talked through our issues, now we’re good.”

Another pause. Temper has a habit of those around me. “Are you telling me you managed to talk your way off of the Most Wanted List?”

When she said it like that …

“Shit, you did. Bitch, you must have a vagina of gold.”

I chew on a thumbnail. Outside my room, I can hear the Bargainer moving around, impatient. I’m going to have to go out there and talk with him soon. He and I both have questions that need answering.

“Listen, Temper, I need to talk to you about something important.”

Immediately, her tone changes. “What is it?”

“What do you know about fairy wings?”

“Um… they’re sparkly—at least some of them—they come out most commonly when a fairy loses control of their emotions—you know, anger, lust, if a fairy drinks too much … Um, I know there’s more. Let me think, it’s been a while since I read up on this stuff… ”

I remember the look in my ex’s eyes today when he saw those wings: game over.

“Today, when Eli saw the Bargainer’s wings, he backed off. It was really weird, and I just wanted to know …”

What do I want to know?

“Those two met? Again?” And then the rest of what I say catches up to her. “Wait. What do you mean Eli saw the Bargainer’s wings?”

“It’s not like this is anything new,” I say. “Eli saw them before, when he came to my house around the full moon.”

“Yeah, but they would come out when the Bargainer was under attack if he needed to use them to fly,” Temper says. “What happened today?”

I fiddle with my bracelet. “There was another confrontation between the Bargainer and Eli, and this time when Eli saw the Bargainer’s wings, the whole dynamic changed. It was weird. I mean, Eli apologized.”

Perhaps it was because of everything I told him. Perhaps I was barking up the wrong tree.

More silence.

Finally, “Has the Bargainer shown you his wings?” Temper sounds… odd. “Outside of situations where they’re needed, or where he was being attacked. Has he just, you know, walked around with his wings out? And flashed them like they’re his newest ice?”

“… Yes,” I say slowly, my stomach tightening. “Why?”

She exhales. “Girl.”

“What?”

“There is one instance when fairies are particularly fond of keeping their wings out and flashing them whenever they feel like it. Especially the males.”

She just stops speaking.

“Oh my God, your silence is killing me,” I say. “Temper, whatever it is, just say it.”

“Fairies only do this with their betrotheds.”

Chapter 22

May, seven years ago

This can’t be real life.

An hour ago I didn’t have a date, a dress, or a ticket to the May Day Ball.

Now I have all three, thanks to the man next to me.

I glance over at Desmond as we wait to enter Peel Academy’s ballroom, and my knees go a little weak.

There is a God and he loves me, I think as I drink Des in. I’ve never been particularly fond of men in tuxedoes, but then, I’d never seen Des in one.

His white blond hair is free of the leather band he usually wears, and it skims his shoulders.

He runs a hand through that hair now, looking untouchable. And yet I swear he’s uncomfortable.

Perhaps it’s because tonight people can see him.

Ever since the two of us walked out of my dorm room, people have come to a grinding halt. Callypso Lillis, the pretty but weird outsider, is going to May Day Ball, and the man taking her is a babe. At least that’s what I assume they’re thinking based on their wide eyes and lingering looks.

It could also be the fact that Des simply looks like trouble, with his staggering frame and rakish features. His tattoos are hidden, but there’s no masking the edgy vibe he’s giving off.

We make it up to the entrance and hand our tickets over, and then we’re inside.

I can feel dozens of eyes on us, and I realize I’m beginning to tremble from the attention. This is high school, where students excel at making undesirables feel invisible. I’d been invisible for so long, and that was fine with me. So fine.

But tonight I can already tell no one’s going to ignore me. Not with my beautiful and dangerous date at my side. And not while I wear this dress, with its choker of diamonds that holds the fitted silver silk taut against my body. The backless expanse of it dips to just past the small of my back. More strings of diamonds trail down my spine, holding the edges of the silk in place. The hem of the gown drags against the ground. It’s a dress a celebrity should wear, or a queen—or a fairy. Not me.

But I really didn’t have a choice in the end. It’s not like my closet came pre-stocked with prom dresses. And this was the one Des procured for me.

We’re only inside the school’s ancient ballroom for a minute before Trisha, one of the girls on my floor, approaches me.

“Callypsie!” she squeals and, ugh, shoot me now, that nickname needs to die.

“Callypsie?” the Bargainer says under his breath.

“Don’t,” I warn. “If you care for your balls at all, don’t.”