Prince of the Autumn Fae

Chapter 1

Okay, so I’d read my share of romantasy books and the shares of, like, four other super fans, too. I was well versed in the myths of the fae—don’t tell them your real name, don’t accept anything from them, don’t eat or drink anything in their realm—and I could spot a fairy ring from thirty paces.

I knew things.

Maybe not accurate things in a real world setting, but when one of my best friends stepped into a ring of stones and disappeared, I had a feeling I’d just become the local expert.

I was about to make a plan for retrieving Milo when Bridge went lumbering over to the damn fairy ring, too. “No!” I hollered, because one rescue was enough to coordinate, thanks.

And Bridge didn’t listen at all, stepped right into the ring, and vanished. With all the snacks.

“What the fuck?” Wally said breathlessly as he backed away from the ring.

I could appreciate the desire to flee, but nope, not today. “No,” I said and grabbed his arm. “We have to go after them.”

“After them? After them where?” He threw a muscly arm out toward the ring.

Using my most patient tone, I said, “It really is a fairy ring and—”

“Jesus, Zal…” Wally tried to pry my fingers off his arm, but I held on tighter.

“No, listen to me! You saw them vanish. Don’t you dare pretend you didn’t.”

He finally looked at me. “I’m not pretending anything. I literally have no idea what just—”

“So why can’t the answer be a fairy ring?”

He blinked at me. “Because there’s no such thing as fairies.”

“And people can’t do what our friends just did.” I let go of his arm and faced the rocks. “Reality is broken, my man, and we just watched it happen.”

I gave him a minute to accept my words. Just because I was ready and willing to dive into the fae world didn’t mean everyone was.

My training had prepared me. Wally barely read pamphlets.

I loved him and would give him a moment, but I couldn’t help thinking that if he’d just read the books I recommended to him, he’d be ready to go, too.

Best friends, you know? I was convinced that I hadn’t chosen a single one of these guys—they’d chosen me.

We’d known each other since the foster home we’d shared when we were twelve.

We’d kept in touch regardless of who moved where because that was what best friends did.

But I had about as much in common with these muscle bears as I did with actual bears.

I still loved them all like mad, though.

“Come on.” I held out my hand toward Wally.

He shook his head. “I can’t just—”

“Yes, you can.” I waved my hand impatiently. “Wallace Michael Frustration Crowne, we are going into that fairy ring to help our brothers.”

I could see him gulp. He was panicking. I’d go alone, but— Oh, okay, he was nodding now. We were gonna do it. Shit.

“Fucking fuck,” I said by way of an affirmation as I grabbed Wally’s hand and pulled.

I tried to hold onto him, even dug my nails into his wrist to try and stay with him, but something much stronger than both of us ripped me away from him.

I could breathe, so I knew I wasn’t actually underwater right then, but damn, it felt like I was at the mercy of a riptide.

I was pulled down, twisted around, and thrown out.

With a grunt, I landed…on a bed. An enormous four-poster bed with, like, curtains tied back on each post. The color scheme was autumn, which was absolutely my season. I was one of those rare few who could wear gold and orange and look absolutely fabulous. This entire room was made for me.

And I had to say that the naked man standing beside the bed was just my type, too.

He had golden-hued skin, stormy gray eyes, and rusty auburn hair in wavy locks to his shoulders. Lovely lean muscles wrapped around him from rounded shoulders and toned arms to a sculpted chest and cobbled abs. His cock was long and heavy as it hung from an untamed red bush between thick thighs.

I licked my lips.

The only problem with this gorgeous man was the fact that he was currently on fire. Like literally flames were dancing all around him like a fully-realized aura.

I opened my mouth to tell him… Warn him? I wasn’t sure, but then he dropped to his knees, both arms on the bed, and his head resting on the backs of his hands. Was he…crying?

“Thank the gods,” he said when he looked up at me with tears trailing down his cheeks. “You’re finally here!”

With that cryptic statement, the flames covering him petered out until there wasn’t even a wisp of smoke left.

And I was so confused. “Were you…waiting for me?”

He blinked a few times, long dark red lashes practically fanning me. A blush hit his cheeks and he gulped.

“No.”

Oh, somebody was lying.

But why?

I tried rephrasing my question. “Did you know I was going to land here?”

His eyes were flicking back and forth between mine like he was trying to figure something out. His next lie?

“No.”

Creative fellow, this one.

“Okay,” I said with a smile, “I’m going to ask you three questions really fast. Don’t think about your answers, just say whatever comes to mind first. What’s your name?”

“Incendis.”

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Raspberries.”

“Why am I here?”

“To save us.”

Worked every time.

I frowned at him, though, because what? “Who’s us and how am I supposed to save us?”

His eyes were huge—he knew what he’d done—but then he seemed to realize he was naked.

I knew he was using that as an excuse not to answer me, but he wasn’t using it to distract me.

Like, he didn’t stand up, show off, and attempt to get me drooling as was entirely possible.

No, he acted like this was the most embarrassing situation of his life as he fished for the duvet cover and then tossed it around himself like a toga.

Which was when he turned around and gave me a look at the folded set of wings on his back.

Real wings. They looked like a moth’s with four sections, in burnt orange and dusty brown colors, and when he lifted them to get them out of the way of his makeshift clothing, they dropped sparks all over the floor.

While nothing ignited from that, I realized I’d been one hundred percent right.

“You’re a fairy!”

Incendis turned back around, checking that the duvet covered all his bits properly—sexy prude—and shook his head. “No, I’m fae. Fairies are entirely different.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” I knew that. Sort of. I was getting dumber the longer I stared at him because now I could see his ears were pointed. I kind of wanted to lick one.

“No, I’m sorry. I haven’t handled any of this admirably at all.” He came over to the bed and held one hand toward me while pointing to the nearby round table with the other. “Please come sit, and we can discuss what’s happened.”

I bounced myself off the bed and took his hand because I wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to touch him.

He flinched a bit, but I held on because his hand was so delightfully toasty.

I had to resist the urge to tuck my other hand inside his toga to find out if the rest of him was as warm.

As someone who was perpetually cold, I loved a nice person furnace to cuddle up with.

Reluctantly, I let his hand go when I sat at the table but I made sure to pet his skin as I did. Pretty sure I made him shiver. I didn’t mean to flirt exactly, but sometimes I just couldn’t help myself.

He cleared his throat. “Despite my attire—which I do apologize for—I should introduce myself more formally. I’m Prince Incendis of the Autumn Court.”

I didn’t want to break the rule of giving my real name, but I thought maybe first name only might be okay. “I’m Zalman of Downtown Chicago.”

“Zalman,” he said with a cute grin.

Interesting reaction. Definitely not complaining. But I did need to know one thing real quick… “Is the Autumn Court part of the Seelie or Unseelie Courts?”

He pressed a hand to his chest. “Seelie, of course! None of us are evil in the slightest.”

I nodded, relieved. “Good to know.”

“These seasonal courts do influence the entire fae and human realms, but not maliciously so.” He glanced out the window that glowed with a fiery sunset. “Though it’s possible that, by being trapped in autumn for so long, we’ve caused problems for the others. I can’t be sure.”

“Well, any problems the human realm is having are self-inflicted. I’m sure of that.” Everyone knew the corporations were to blame for global warming, not trapped fair— Hold on.

“Trapped?”

He nodded. “Someone cast a spell that enclosed my court in a barrier that has sealed us into our season for the past three years.”

I was a certified public accountant—I know, not glamorous at all, but I could whip up a financial plan like nobody else could—so I knew nothing about the weather aside from what I did and didn’t like. Crisp fall days? Yes, please. But three years of that?

“I can only imagine that’s not good.”

“It isn’t. We’ve had to become quite creative with our agriculture.” He chuckled weakly. “I’ve had rather enough of gourds and nuts.”

I winced a little as someone who was not a fan of pumpkin anything.

But now I needed to get him back to not lying to me about why I was here. I reached across the table and took his hand in both of mine. He looked a little uncomfortable, but I held on.

“How do you think I’m going to save you?”

“Oh, um, well…”

I gave his arms a tiny yank. “Sweetie, I’m going to need you to do something for the entirety of our relationship, okay?”

I waited until he nodded.

“Don’t lie to me,” I said with a smile. “You can omit things or tell me you’re not comfortable sharing something yet—we’re strangers, and I understand—but do not ever lie to me.”

Eyes wide, he gulped but he also nodded again. “I won’t lie to you, Zalman.”

“Excellent. Thank you.” I patted his hand. “Now try again with why you think I’m here.”

He glanced down at the tabletop before looking me in the eye—something I appreciated.

“I need you to help me break the curse.”

“What do we have to do to break it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh.”

I had a few references for curse breaking in my mental files, but who knew what might be relevant between an author’s imagination and Hollywood. Especially when we were starting from zero.

I patted his hand again, not yet deterred. “Well, how about I work with someone on your staff to get us some snacks, while you change into actual clothes so you feel more comfortable, hmm?”

“Oh, yes. Alright.” He extracted his hand from my grip and tugged on a golden rope hanging beside the curtains next to him. “Someone will be up shortly. I’ll, um, just be over there.”

He pointed to an open set of doors into what had to be a closet that would rival the size of my apartment. He scurried while clutching his duvet to his front and back. I hoped the covering would fall off of him, but he managed to close the doors before it could.

I stood up, checked my look in a gorgeous gilded mirror, and went over to open the main door when someone knocked.

“Hi,” I said to the fashion-challenged little thing in the hallway, “I’m Zalman, the prince’s new curse-breaking consultant.

Could you bring up some drinks and snacks for us? We have some work to do.”