With his clothes changed and my bag repacked, my mate positioned himself by a tree, propping his back against the trunk and making space for me between his spread legs. I crawled over to him, flopping down bonelessly, my head in his lap, and that was where we stayed for a little while—no clue how long exactly, but when the daze lifted, I was left with a pleasant feeling of bliss and gratification. When I asked, Cair said it was still morning, so it had probably only been an hour or so. He had played with my hair the entire time, the soft scrape of his fingers against my scalp almost making me hum.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, breaking the silence.

As if just waiting on his suggestion, my belly gave a proud rumble. “I could eat.”

Cair smiled and gave my head one last scritch. “Let me take you somewhere.”

Chapter Five

LUCA

Cair landed on the outskirts of a quaint little village not too far from the meadow. It was a busy place, by the look of it. Creatures of all shapes and sizes traveled up and down the winding cobblestone path that split the rows of pastel-painted buildings ahead. Those who made their way inside carried empty satchels, or steered empty wheelbarrows, while anyone striding toward us had their loot piled high.

“Where are we?” I asked, shrugging my pack further up on my shoulders, not taking my eyes off the goblin-like being who was hauling what looked like loaves of bread, fresh vegetables, and a very bejeweled axe in the opposite direction to the crowd.

Their wide, triumphant smile was pretty infectious.

“Do you remember the market we visited in the human realm?” Cair said, his hand resting against the small of my back.

I gazed up at him.

“The place where you showed me your fangs?”

He nodded. “This is the village it was modeled after. Briargate—one of the oldest and most popular trade settlements in the Otherworld.”

Now that the connection had been pointed out, there were definitely similarities. They shared that same chocolate-box feel. The cute, colorful shops with thatched roofs and thick nests of ivy—or the Fae equivalent—snaking across their stone walls, charged by magic. That same flurry of chaos and excitement from the array of vendors pitched outside, their stalls displaying their wares. Both towns were as charming as each other, and from this distance, only had one noticeable difference—Briargate looked to be on a much larger scale.

More to explore.

I bounced on my feet. “Can we look around?”

“Of course, sweetheart.” Cair smiled, clearly having anticipated my enthusiasm. “That’s why I stopped here. Technically, it wasn’t on our list of places to visit as it’s not directly in our path, and it will delay us, but it was too precious to pass up.”

Abso-fucking-lutely.