Faery Godlover

He scoffed, looking slightly offended.

“And you’re named after a flower,” he shot back. Then he leaned forward, his face poking out over the center console. “Anyway, you have got to meet this man.”

“So what is this, then? Some kind of magical version of The Bachelorette and you’re the host?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow dubiously.

“The Bachelorette?’ His brows arched for a second. He waved his hand off, dismissing his question. “Whatever helps you understand this better. It’s fairly straightforward, Jasmine,” the fae said, rolling his eyes at her as though she were a small child failing to understand basic math or something. “I’m here to help you find a mate. I was sent by the Queen herself to make you a match.”

“The Queen? As in the Queen of—where? England?” Jasmine snickered

“The Faery Queen, of course. The only one that matters,” Duada replied, his voice and face completely serious.

“What? You’re saying my love life is so supernaturally abysmal that the queen of the faeries has chosen to intervene and fix it for me?”

“Yes. Exactly.”

Jasmine sobered up instantly. “Oh.”

“Just consider it a form of, ah, reparation for the romantic misfortunes the universe has handed you thus far,” he went on. “Is this really such a shock to you?”

“I mean, yeah, I’ve had pretty bad luck so far. But I didn’t know magical intervention was really an option,” Jasmine explained, dumbfounded by the words coming out of her mouth.

This was insane.

&

nbsp; Impossible.

“Could you at least deign to look at his picture?” The fae sighed, clearly getting antsy being cooped up in the backseat.

“You’re telling me you’ve been carrying around a photo of some random guy?” she questioned, actually turning to look at him for a moment. His beautiful face looked serious.

“A photo? No. How pedestrian. Here, let me show you…”

And with a flourish of his hands, a gleaming orb approximately the size of a small microwave appeared in front of Jasmine’s face. She screamed and jerked the steering wheel, nearly swerving the car into the adjacent lane in the process.

“What are you doing? What is that?” She leaned around it to see the road. “I’m trying to drive here! Could you not?”

“My stars, would you calm down?” Duada waved his hand slightly to move the glowing circle aside so that it no longer blocked Jasmine’s line of sight. “It’s only a picture of the man I’ve chosen for you. Would you look at it?”

“At this red light, yes. I will look. But you can’t just throw blinding light in front of my face while we’re in the car.” She groaned, gently bringing the car to a halt at the intersection. She dutifully glanced over and did a double take. She could see now that the orb contained a moving, animated portrait of a very, very attractive man with a stern expression. She had to admit that he did look tempting.

“Where did you find this guy?” she asked, a little breathlessly.

Duada shrugged and gave her a brilliant grin.

“I cannot reveal all of my secrets,” he answered cryptically. “What do you think?”

“He’s good-looking, I’ll give you that.”

“Will you meet with him?”

Jasmine’s stomach flip-flopped. “When? Tonight?”

“Well, yes, of course. I expect the Queen would like these orders carried out immediately,” Duada reasoned, as though it were obvious.

“B-But I’ve never even met him before. And besides, what makes you think a guy like that would ever go on a date with me?” she asked, biting her lip. She usually tried to keep her insecurities safely filed away in a mental box marked FRAGILE - DO NOT TOUCH, but here she was.

Duada furrowed his dark brows, and leaned back in the seat and stared into the rearview mirror. She glanced up and met his smoldering gaze. He looked very thoughtful and a little confused at her question.