Eira pushed her croissant around her plate, ignoring the latte that had been set down beside it by the waitress sending her jealous looks from across the room. Not that she really blamed the poor girl, Leth was looking particularly attractive this morning, which definitely wasn’t helping her stay mad at him.

“What changed your mind?” he asked, as she shredded her croissant more, not wanting to actually eat it.

“I need answers.” She looked up and met his eyes, almost losing herself in the rich colours that seemed to swirl around in them.

“I—”

“You can’t, yes you’ve said.” She was surprised by the bitterness that came through in her voice. “But I’m only asking you to tell me if I’m right or not.”

“Okay.” He drew out the word, his hesitation clear to Eira, and while she could kind of understand, she needed him to help her. He had to, he was her mate after all.

“The only ones who can control the seasons are the Fae Queens and Princesses right?” She knew that was the case, but she wanted to check that he wouldn’t lie again, and this was a good way of testing it. Or at least she hoped so.

“And you, yes.”

Good, so he was going to tell her the truth.

“Tell me about them?” she asked, testing the waters.

“What do you want to know?”

She shrugged. Her research hadn’t really brought up much, not that she’d expected it to, and she’d basically come up with nothing more than she’d already known. There were four Courts, one for each season, and no full-blooded male fae. Which ultimately got her no closer to anything.

“What do you know?” she returned. Leth shrugged and took a bite of his own pastry, some kind of odd Danish thing with raisins in it. Not her cup of tea in the slightest. She waited as he chewed but said nothing, her anger beginning to mount again, though she made sure to keep control of it the best she could, snowing all over a café wouldn’t be her best idea.

“That the others can control aspects of the seasons to a certain degree,” he said eventually, and she nodded. She’d figured that much out. It was fairly obvious given the smell of summer that Leth gave off.

“Makes sense.”

“But the only people who have true power are the Queens, and the Princesses when they reach eighteen.”

“And how many of them are eighteen?” she asked.

“All of them I think. Though the Autumn Princess has been missing for years. No one knows where she is.” He shrugged, and she stared at him in shock.

“So, you’ll tell me that, but you won’t tell me about who is stopping the frosts?” she bit out.

“I can’t tell you, I wish I could, but I can’t.” He looked away, actually looking kind of sincere despite it all. Damn it, she wasn’t going to soften. There was too much at stake. Instead, she laughed bitterly.

“Yet it’s okay to tell me that one of the princesses is missing? Seems odd.”

“Everyone knows she’s missing. The Autumn Queen asked the other Councils for help finding her.” He shrugged again only infuriating her more. But she pushed it away. With difficulty, true, but she managed, picking up her latte and finally taking a sip, finding it was finally the perfect temperature for her.

“Fine,” Eira muttered, still finding it a little bizarre.

“But Winter has no powers, right?” She watched as shock crossed his features, he probably hadn’t realised that she knew that. Then again, why would she? She wasn’t fae, just like she wasn’t a witch or a shifter or anything else.

“How do you know that?” he asked, and she raised an eyebrow. “Oh, right, yes. The Winter royalty isn’t powerless as such, they just have no control over the frosts or snow.”

“Because they lost it to my ancestor.” He nodded at her, confirming the story that was written in her family history.

“As far as I’m aware yes.”

“Could Winter be looking to win her powers back?” she asked, watching his face to try and gage his reaction.

“I doubt it, she doesn’t seem that interested, and her daughter...well she has bigger things to worry about.” Eira nodded, that was two less suspects, three if she counted the missing Autumn Princess, who she was almost completely sure was really Rhianna.

“Spring?”

“I see what you’re doing, Frostie,” he said sternly, but something like pride in his eyes.

“But you’ll tell me anyway. My theory is, you can’t tell me who, but you can tell me who it isn’t.” She leaned back, satisfied that she was on the right lines. Leth smirked, lighting up his face slightly and something akin to pride in his eyes.

“Maybe.”

“So, Spring?”

“No, she wouldn’t even be able to, she’s too close to Winter.” The twinkle in his eye revealed that he knew exactly what he was saying.

“So, it’s Summer.” He nodded, but didn’t say anything. “But you can’t actually tell me about it?”

“No. I’m bound by familial ties,” he admitted, looking kind of sad.

“They’re stronger than a mating bond?” That surprised her. As far as she knew, there wasn’t much that was actually stronger than the bond she should share with Leth. In fact, maybe nothing at all.

“At the moment, yes.”

“Meaning things could change?” That was interesting.

“I’m not completely sure, but I guess when we seal the bond properly, things might change. I’d really like to tell you about my family.” His smirk changed into a genuine smile and she returned it, her anger starting to dissipate slightly.

“You really can’t tell me about them?” He shook his head in response. “Wow.”

“I mean, I can take you to see them, just not say anything about them.”

“Huh.”

“Yes, being fae is weird.” He laughed to himself. “Well, being half-fae is weird.” He looked kind of wistful, and on a whim, Eira stood up and made her way around the table. She slid herself on to his knee, ignoring the sensation of the waitress’ eyes burning into her back. Jealousy could be a powerful emotion, but she wouldn’t worry about it. After all, Leth was hers, and she knew that wouldn’t change. Ever. As scary as that thought was.

“I’ll never think of you as half,” she said softly, looking into his eyes, the slight height advantage she had by being sat on his lap meaning that she was looking down at him. He lifted a hand and touched her cheek, and awe filled expression in his eyes.

“You’re letting me touch you?”

“Clearly.” She let out a small laugh, resting on of her hands on his chest and feeling the warmth radiating from him.

“I didn’t think you would after yesterday.”

“I was tempted not to let you, and don’t think that I won’t get you back.” And she would, she had a book that needed transferring so that her son or daughter had an easier time of reading it than she did, and she didn’t want to do the boring as hell job herself. “But you’re one of my mates, Leth, I can hardly ignore you.” Her voice had dropped so that it was a lover’s murmur, and their faces came within touching distance.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “And I’m sorry,” he added.

“Don’t worry about it, but don’t lie to me again either. If you’d told me why you couldn’t tell me, then we could have avoided me being mad at you.”

“If you think I won’t piss you off again during the rest of our lives, then you may have another thing coming, Frostie.” His face lightened, and he returned to the boyish self that he’d been when he’d first broken into her flat.

“Oh, I expect you will. But I also expect that you can make it up to me.” She let a wicked smile creep onto her face, and was rewarded with dilated pupils and a hitch in his breath. Satisfied, she leaned down and kissed him, pulling him closer by grabbing a fistful of shirt. Leth wrapped his arms around her tightly, pressing her body for his. If only they weren’t in public. She wouldn’t have been able to deny herself otherwise.