How to Fake It with a Fae (Seven Suitors for Seven Witches #1)

by Amy Boyles

“Nana always said that cities were only good for two things⁠—” We say in unison, “Forgetting who you are and where you come from.”

He. Is. The. Worst. I’m so mad that I punch my heel into his foot. Of course he doesn’t miss one step, but his eyes tighten. “We’ve reached the physical-battery stage of our relationship, I see.”

I am undone. There’s no use denying the feelings buried inside of me. The ones I’ve tried to tamp down and chase away are real. This isn’t the joining. It can’t be, because Addison is shattering me bit by bit, and for the first time in years I’m not afraid to bear the mantle of meaning something to a woman. And in return, having her mean something to me.

“You believe in me?” And it’s the way she says it that cracks my heart in two, as if no one’s ever believed in her before.

Because deep down I’ve been spending my life thinking that I’m not worthy or good enough, but if there’s one thing that spending time with Feylin’s taught me, it’s that I’m more than the sum of what I’m not capable of.

Because he’s settled into my bones like minerals. He’s become so much a part of my life that I can’t imagine him not being in it, and I realize that I don’t want a life that he’s not a part of. Which is when I also realize that if Feylin loves me, then I love him, too. Which terrifies me more than anything.

“You mentioned the joining. Yes, it ties us to one another. But even if we’d never joined, fate would have brought us together, because nothing and no one could’ve hidden you from me. Not even the heavens could’ve secreted you away. If they’d needed to, the earth and the sky would’ve changed places so that you and I could find one another, because from the first moment we met, I wanted to carve out a space in my life for you, and nothing on this earth or beyond would’ve stopped me from doing that.”

“You have changed me, and for once a fae myth is right. I didn’t say it when you mentioned it, too soon and all, but we believe that a joined couple signifies true love, and I’ve come to believe that.” My mouth’s a desert it’s so dry, but I know there’s one more question to ask, one more thing that’ll push us to where we’re supposed to be. “How do you know?” He spreads his fingers and threads them through mine again. His gaze is on our hands when he says, “Because if this isn’t true love, then true love doesn’t exist.”

Love was here, with me, in my heart, but it was sucked away, and I’ll never get it back. Never.