Free Hold Tight (The Embrace Series) by Cherie Colyer Page A

colorful bouquet, inhaled, and changed the subject. “They’re beautiful. How’d you find daisies this time of year?”
    She hopped off the bed and sniffed at one of the large red blooms. “I’m of the Summer Court, remember? I saw the dead flowers and breathed life back into them.”
    I imagined Brea’s thin fingers touching the frozen ground in our garden out back, awakening the seeds beneath the dirt. I pictured the flowers growing in fast-forward—like the time-enhanced sunflower I’d seen on the Discovery Channel—and then Brea picking them to bring inside.
    She plucked an iris from the vase and stuck it in my wet waves. “You’re pretty enough to be a princess, you know that?”
    I felt my cheeks warm. “Are there a lot of princesses where you’re from?”
    “There’s only me right now, but I suspect I will be joined by another soon.”
    “You’re a princess?” My jaw dropped. I’d never met someone of royalty. I wasn’t sure if I should bow, curtsy, or offer her a cup of tea. I was sure, however, that I shouldn’t have asked her to do the laundry.
    She tucked her shimmering silver-violet hair behind her ear and used an iris to hold it in place. “I suppose you’ll be sending me home now.”
    “You need to be sent home?” I really should have read the rest of The Fae before I’d returned it to Isaac’s collection.
    “No, but if you no longer require my services, you may ask me to return there. Then if you know when I leave your realm, you will know when it’s best to close the door you opened.”
    “I don’t mind if you stay,” I admitted as I tossed the clothes I had worn that day in the hamper and went to hang up the coat Brea had borrowed. “If you’d like, that is. Just don’t let my brother or Dad see you. I’d have a hard time explaining your pointed ears and sparkling cheeks.”
    Her fingers trailed over my dresser as she spoke. “I wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome. Besides, it’s not just—”
    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the flower she’d put in her hair fly across the room. She spun around, mouth open and hand raised, paused, and snatched a daisy from the vase.
    “Didn’t like the iris?” I picked it up and stuck it in the middle of the bouquet.
    “The red matches my top better.”
    A fashion-conscious faerie , I thought. She really wasn’t any different from me or my friends.
    “Brea, you said you help humans in exchange for their company. Consider sticking around me repaying my debt.” When she continued to look hesitant, I added, “It’s been three days, and I didn’t even know you were still here. Really, it’s okay. Stay as long as you’d like.”
    The corner of her mouth quirked upward. She inclined her head in a formal manner, and I could totally picture her ruling a kingdom.
    I climbed into bed and grabbed my pillow, placing it in my lap as I leaned against the wall. “Tell me something else about your home.”
    She joined me, sitting with her legs tucked under her. “What do you want to know?”
    I peppered her with questions: “Where do you live? Do you go to school? Why are there different realms? How about boys? Anyone special at home?”
    Brea giggled. “You are a curious one.” She peered off to the side, thoughtfully. At last, she said, “Let’s see…my family’s home is quite big. Have you been to Bavaria?”
    “Germany?” I’d never been out of the United States.
    “Yes. There’s a castle there, Neuschwanstein. It’s quite uncanny how much the white brick, arched windows, and many towers capped in blue resemble my home. Makes me wonder who copied from whom.” She tapped her lip and then continued, “We don’t have schools like you do. Our elders teach us what we need to know.”
    “Sort of like being homeschooled,” I said. “How about the realms? What’s with that?”
    With a dismissive wave of her hand, she replied, “Humans and Fae didn’t exactly get along when we shared one world.”
    “Faeries used