Free The Day Human Way by B. Kristin McMichael Page B

regretting his decision. Nessa was even regretting that she came back. They could have stayed in the night human territory of any of the four that Devin had previously worked for. They could have had normal lives, where people weren’t always accusing them of something or trying to kill them.
    “He’s an outsider,” Liam’s cousin spat out. “And no amount of sidhe magic within him will change that. He isn’t one of us. His loyalty will always be to the day humans.”
    Nessa couldn’t help her eye roll. It was getting old, having to defend Devin to idiot comments. No one wanted to give him a chance within the palace walls. If the nobility didn’t see that, then they were either blind or maybe that was their dislike of him. No one born and raised noble had ever even tried to befriend the common sidhe, let alone the outcasts. Maybe their assertions of Devin being an outsider had nothing to do with his day human blood, but more with his day human mannerisms.
    ‘ Can you get them out of here?’ Devin asked.
    Nessa had momentarily forgotten that he was in the room. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment that Devin had heard how the men in the room disliked him. How could she ask him to stay and be with her when it was probably impossible to change that?
    ‘ Sure.’
    Nessa looked around the room. Angry eyes all stared back at her.
    “If you think he’s the one that did this, then why don’t you all go looking for him?” Nessa suggested. “I will stay here and take care of the men, and you can find Devin to question him.”
    All seven men in the room perked up at the idea.
    “Just know that you can’t harm him in any way,” Nessa added. “I’m linked to him. Any harm to him is harm to me.”
    The men all appeared way more motivated than they should have been. Nessa hated to have to trick them that way, but time was short, and she needed her suitors to be healed. The sooner she went on a date and rejected each one, the sooner she could work on convincing Devin that he was all she truly wanted.
     
    Maria dropped the cloaking spell as soon as the men were gone and the door shut. Devin dropped his own spell at the same time. They need to concentrate on the men and get it done as quickly as they could, as no one knew how long the men would be out searching for Devin. It was time to save the suitor. Devin motioned to the three men lying in sick beds.
    “I’d advise not touching them. I think they react to humans and not sidhe,” Devin explained.
    Maria walked over to the nearest man and bent down near him to look closer. Her long, dark braid fell over her shoulder, but she expertly caught it like it was a normal occurrence. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. Opening her eyes, she stood back up and turned to Cassie.
    “Do you sense anything?” she asked.
    The younger of the two witches moved closer to the men, but didn’t get as close to them as Maria had. Devin didn’t know if it was out of fear, or if she didn’t need to. She stared hard at each man in turn.
    “Devin was right,” Cassie finally said. “They are set to react to our human blood.”
    “So this is a trap for Devin?” Nessa asked.
    Devin already knew it was. He had been waiting for someone to realize the only way to get to Nessa was to take him out first. There was no way he would ever allow something to happen to her.
    “Yes,” Maria replied. She turned to Devin. “You make friends everywhere it seems.”
    Grinning, Devin nodded. Nessa seemed horrified that Maria was joking, so Devin reached out and took Nessa’s hands in his own.
    “It’s fine,” he said and pulled Nessa back to the other side of the room. The witches would need room to work on fixing the three men.
    “She’s joking while they lay there dying,” Nessa complained. Devin saw a hint of jealousy along with her concern. “Their relatives could come back at any time.”
    Devin shrugged. “They could, but they won’t be getting in here until we’re