On the second page was a list of symptoms, some of which Imogen had marked as well.

1. Lychaenism may cause increased irritability. There was a check mark next to that one.

2. Lychaens will often have no recollection of their nights feasting, and will often awaken disoriented in a strange place, not sure how they got there. Imogen had circled the first phrase for this point and placed a series of question marks at the end.

3. Unwanted hair growth while in humanoid form may occur. The last symptom was crossed out entirely, except for the word humanoid, which was circled twice.

After examining the annotations, how seriously Imogen was taking this, guilt roiled in my stomach and I returned the pamphlet to the place under the bed. That way Imogen wouldn’t know I’d seen it. I knew Madame LeFleur and took little stock in anything she sold—at least, anything Imogen might have been able to get her hands on. While from a mental health perspective, it was a tad concerning that Imogen was weighing the pros and cons of becoming a lychaen, from a practical perspective—

Well, to be honest, I didn’t believe in such things.

I mean, I believed in lychaen. I wasn’t blind to reality. But it was common knowledge that, although lychaen had long been romanticized in horror novels, they were simply a subset of faeries, not all that dissimilar to the forest faeries of Avelea or the lightning sprites of Laei.

I didn’t anticipate Imogen would be turning into a lychaen anytime soon. Besides, perhaps she’d met a lychaen she was interested in. While it was uncommon, it wasn’t unheard of for humans to fall in love with faeries. I supposed it wasn’t all that different from falling in love with the high fae. Perhaps she had the desire, misguided as it seemed to me, to follow the object of her affection into that sort of lifestyle.

I figured it was best not to mention it.

So I left, and didn’t think a thing about it for a good while.

CHAPTER 39

EVANDER

I couldn’t sleep, and it was all Elynore Payne’s fault.

Her infectious laugh kept ringing in my ears, coupled with the echo of shattering glass as I lay awake grinning ear to ear replaying the events of the day.

In fact, I couldn’t seem to wipe the grin from my face, which was unfortunate. I wasn’t sure that it was even possible to fall asleep smiling.

It had worked. My plan had worked, and El had forgiven me.

I should’ve been able to sleep.

After at least an hour of restless tossing, I decided food was the only solution. It was almost midnight when I padded down to the kitchens. I supposed I could have called for a servant to deliver the late-night snack directly to my quarters, but I’d always hated waking them in the middle of the night. From what Blaise told me, the golden tassel that hung next to my bed sounded a bell in the servants’ quarters that was loud enough to wake the entire floor, which seemed a tad excessive given all I was suffering from was a rumbling stomach and a scurrying mind.

I’d snuck a plateful of tomorrow’s oatmeal cookies from the kitchen and was on my way back to my quarters when I noticed the door to the library was ajar.

It wouldn’t have been much of an anomaly, except that my father was particular about the door staying shut. Something about the draft from the hall damaging the books. Or maybe he was worried that bugs would get in and ruin his collection.

One would have thought all the paddlings I’d gotten as a boy from forgetting this rule would have seared my father’s reasoning into my mind, but they clearly hadn’t.

Figuring there was no need for a careless servant to face my father’s wrath, I went to shut the door, but my gaze locked on a shadow draped across a wooden table by the library window.

As I entered the library and approached, the shadow began to take form.

Blaise had fallen asleep, sprawled across the table with her face crinkling the pages of an open book.

As I approached, Blaise stirred and readjusted her head, revealing the title of the book at the top of the open page.

A History of Nuptial Law Among the Fae.

My stomach gave a rather unpleasant twist. I’d completely forgotten about Blaise promising to find a way out of my betrothal bargain with Ellie.

It was sweet, of course. And definitely the kind of thing Blaise would do. She might have been the laziest servant to walk the halls of Othian Castle, but there was little she wouldn’t do for a friend—even if it meant searching law code into the wee hours of the morning.

I should ask her not to, of course. It wasn’t really Blaise’s responsibility to claw me out of the mess I’d gotten myself into. It should be me spending my evenings researching a way out of this bargain, not Blaise.

I’d resolved to convince Blaise of such tomorrow morning, when an unwelcome thought breached my mind.

What if Blaise wasn’t only researching for my sake?

What if she was doing it for Ellie?

My gut wrenched, but I ignored it. Of course Blaise would want to find a way out of the bargain for Ellie’s sake. She and Ellie had become close friends over the past several weeks. Blaise had taken to her in a way I hadn’t seen her with another female. It would make sense that Blaise wouldn’t want her friend forced into a marriage she didn’t desire. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Ellie had asked for Blaise’s help in finding a solution.

No. Definitely not surprising.

Expected, even.

And good. This was a good thing.

Because if Blaise could find a way out of the bargain, a loophole in the law, then Ellie and I could both have what we wanted.

And getting out of this bargain was definitely what we wanted.

Both of us.

Especially me.

I mean, I couldn’t speak for Ellie. I wasn’t Fates-blessed with the gift of mind-reading. I supposed it was possible that during our time together, her feelings could have grown into something more tender than friendship.

Like today. There’d been a moment when I’d leaned in, when I’d stared into her shimmering eyes… Her heart had skipped; my fae ears had sensed it. The way her breathing shallowed, the way her pulse had faltered.

I would be lying if I tried to convince myself I hadn’t been glad for her human hearing, for what it might have sensed in me in that moment.

Okay, so Ellie Payne was attracted to me. And I to her. But why shouldn’t we be? We were both conventionally attractive individuals. That didn’t have to mean anything. Friends could be attracted to one another without truly wanting anything more, couldn’t they?

Sure, I’d never seen the use in denying pleasure with someone I was attracted to in the past, given they also showed interest. But Ellie was different. She was intelligent and witty and tenacious. And she was my friend.

Because that was what we both wanted.

Out of this betrothal, and to remain friends.

“Andy?”

Blaise’s slurred voice snagged me back to reality. Her dark eyelashes fluttered as she lifted her head from the pages of the law book. Pink ridges creased her cheek from where the edges of the pages had been digging into her skin.

“Seems like you’re suffering from a reading hangover,” I said, closing the book in front of her before she could drool all over its pages and incur my father’s wrath. “Come on. We’re getting you to bed.”