Page 17 of These Fractured Bonds

Instead, she turned around and smiled, pointing the scooper at him. “Well, be careful. Don’t come back with another hole in your side!”

“I won’t.”

She waited for him to leave; when he didn’t, she arched an eyebrow. He opened his mouth, a faint blush spreading across the tips of his ears.

“I’d like to go to dinner with you.”

She blinked. Had she imagined things were far worse between them than they were?

“To… talk about the changes,” August added, but the tips of his ears were now a flashing beacon.

She rushed to accept. “Sure. Of course!”

I’d go anywhere with you, she added to herself.

“Great.” He took a step back. “I’ll be back in a week.” Then, another step.

“Great,” she echoed. Her heart fluttered. Maybe in a week, she’d work up the courage to ask him what was wrong. She was hit with a surge of anxiety as she watched him walk out of the kitchen. His name left her lips before she realized what she was doing.

“August!”

His face popped back in, his hazel eyes glinting in the kitchen’s bright light. She searched his face, not wanting him to leave, but she knew that he had no choice. As a general in Izmari, he was assigned frequent missions. It was his duty, just as it was hers, to show up at her job. She swallowed her anxiety.

“Be safe,” she said.

He smiled, his dimples making an appearance. “I will.”

She stared after him long after he had disappeared. Helio’s words echoed in her head.

Be careful out there.

Without August, she was vulnerable in her new world, but she’d never admit it to him. He already worried about her, and she hated worrying others. She was an adult with a stable job now; she could take care of herself. Besides, everyone at the cafe had been respectful, curious about her, and had expressed happiness at having her around. Something about being happy to chat with a human without fear of prejudice. Having grown up with immigrant parents, she understood the sentiment and had doubled her efforts to hide her shock at their real identities. It was easy to overcome it; they were still the regulars she hadgotten to know in her first two weeks. She finished filling the piping bags and wiped her hands on her apron.

Yareli could do it—survive in her new reality where magic was real, and her crush was Fae. She only needed to take it a day at a time and focus on her wins, like her new job. For the first time in two and a half years, she had money for rent and then some. Everything was going to be okay, great even. She clenched her fists.Yareli Ines Martinez, you have the potential love story of a lifetime. Stay positive.

Yarelitookoverthefront so Don could work on the pastries. She found comfort in the mechanical motions of work while her mind wandered to August. Now that she knew he was off in another realm fighting, it was different. No longer was he safe in the mundane life of a college student; now, he was an actor in a play she didn’t know. She could only sit and wait for his safe return. Something about that didn’t agree with her, but before she could think about it, the hair on her arm stood up, a tingle crawling from her hands to her shoulders.

Yareli looked up from the cups she had been putting away under the counter and noticed the black-haired Fae woman seated at a table, holding a cup of coffee. She said nothing, bringing the cup to her lips all the while her eyes stayed on Yareli.

Tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear, Yareli mustered the courage to address her. “I take it you aren’t here for one of our pastries.”

The woman smiled, a cruel glare reflected in her eyes. “No, I’m here to have a sneak peek at Augrys’s latest plaything.”

Yareli didn’t know who Augrys was, so she stayed quiet. Instinct told her it was better not to provoke her.

Her silence must have told the woman Yareli was confused, because she loudly exclaimed, “Oh! That’s right. He goes by August here.”

Furrowing her brows, Yareli almost fell for the obvious bait. The woman wanted to upset her.

“How do you know August?”

“Him and I have alonghistory together, and as much as I’d like to tell you every detail, I’m afraid…”—she disappeared and reappeared in an instant behind Yareli—“we don’t have much time before your next guest walks through that door.”

Her stomach clenched. Something about the way the Fae said ‘him’ sounded intimate. She wanted to ask her what she meant, but her skin prickled again, practically buzzing with static electricity. If it was an indicator of power, the Fae woman was strong, but whoever was approaching the door felt a lot stronger.

She whispered, “Who—”

The woman tutted. “Ah, but if I answer that, it will ruin the surprise. A piece of advice as a small mercy—drink the water, but don’t touch the food they give you.”