Killing Time by Elisa Paige

reaction. Trying to deflect Koda and myself, I shrugged. “I’m just motivated. I doubted Jack spoke Fae and I had to be able to talk with him.”
    “Ah yes. Your plan.” Koda’s brow creased. He ate half the food on his plate before he spoke again, his expression suddenly intent, like a thought had just occurred to him. “Anger doesn’t affect your command of English. But when you are—”
    “When did you learn the language?” I interrupted, uncomfortable that he saw so much.
    He gave me an amused look for redirecting the conversation. “I learned Old Norse first, since the Vikings invaded our home long before the European swarm.” He put his fork down and his expression hardened. “As each new wave of explorers arrived, I learned their tongue. Spanish, French, English.”
    “How many languages do you speak?” I asked softly.
    His tone was grim. “Too many.”
    I ate in silence for a few minutes, watching him in my peripheral vision as he sighed and lifted his fork to poke at the food on his plate.
    Without looking up, he asked, “How did you get onto the mortal plane?”
    I flashed a grin, remembering. “I grabbed an aughisky’s tail and held on when he shifted here.” At Koda’s quizzical glance, I clarified, “Aughisky are púcas in horse-form.”
    He looked blank.
    “Time for a quick primer.” I tucked a leg up underneath myself so I could turn toward him. “There are two opposing courts, both made up of High Fae. The Light and their Seelie Court and the Dark with the Unseelie. Then there’s the Lesser Fae, which is everybody else who’s born, not genetically created—selkie, púca, tomte, redcaps, shuck, domovoi, pixies, kelpies, cait sidhe, cu sith, brownies—”
    “Fae are the worst enemies we have ever known, yet we clearly have less knowledge of them than we realized,” Koda interrupted, going pale. “How many species are there?”
    I gave him a sympathetic smile. “Your people don’t have to worry about them all. Only the Dark Fae are land-and power-hungry. The Light have been in exile for centuries and the Lessers are too busy dodging the Dark to bother anybody else.” I thought for a second. “Well, mostly.”
    Koda studied me, his expression unreadable. “So you grabbed something’s tail?”
    I nodded. “An aughisky, enslaved to the Dark king and his warriors as mounts. I overheard the rider talking about doing a reconnaissance and decided to go along. I was shaded, so he never knew I was there.”
    “Clever.” Koda’s lips curved as I blushed.
    “Expedient,” I demurred.
    He lifted the silver cover from the last dish. “I think you’re going to enjoy this. It’s a chocolate caramel tart.”
    I reached my fork toward the dark and golden wedge he revealed, wondering how anything could possibly taste as good as what we’d already eaten. Koda made a noise in his throat and I hesitated.
    “Allow me,” he murmured, his voice deeper than usual. Using his own fork—something that struck me as strangely intimate—he held up a small bite. His gaze was challenging as he waited to see what I would do.
    I breathed through my instincts’ snarling insistence that this was a trick, that I should snatch the food away before it could be pulled back. When the urge passed, I opened my mouth. Careful to keep my sharp teeth hidden behind my lips, I accepted the proffered bite. Then a sweet, rich, creamy explosion filled my tastebuds and I moaned aloud, closing my eyes to better savor the incredible flavors.
    “Good?” Koda asked and I could hear the humor in his voice.
    Swallowing, I nodded and opened my eyes to gaze longingly at the tart. “More, please.”
    He made a noise in his throat, his attention riveted to my lips. “You’ve got some chocolate…there…”
    I lifted a hand, but he caught it before I could wipe my mouth clean.
    “Allow me,” he whispered, leaning closer.
    I watched, spell-bound, while he bent and brushed his lips across mine almost hesitantly, like