Fallon and Maggie sat stuffed into robes, eating breakfast. Mags raised an eyebrow, but didn’t bother to get up or make any room as I shifted and walked over.
“I will never get used to that,” Maggie said as she took a delicate bite of dry toast.
“Look at you lazy bitches. Living in the lap of luxury, I see. You look like you moved in,” I said.
“We got comfortable,” Fallon said. “You sucked up all the adventure for us.”
Maggie leaned forward, eager for details. “Please tell me you spent all night boning after that dramatic exit.”
I gave her a mulish look. “We went to his… cave, and it was pretty fast-paced walking and trying not to die from there.”
“No. You haven’t boned yet? That man destroyed an entire bar to get to you.” Maggie's horrified face made me antsy. Was she just trying to push me into the arms of the first guy who came along to absolve her of her guilt?
“You will remember I was a snake,” I said
“He looked super into snakes then, E,” Maggie snarked. I didn’t appreciate her sarcasm. Even now, she was not the least hungover. She neatly scraped her hair back into a ponytail. She wore her robe like a Queen and I was a trembling hot mess after last night. Sometimes her insistence that I was lovable felt like a cosmic joke when I had to sit next to her.
Fallon raised her voice above our bickering. “You don't seem too freaked out and you’re not a tube. Did he fix it?” She was at least rumpled after our debauchery.
“No. It’s pretty much worse. Holding this body for a while is the best I got. Maybe if I eat, I’ll have enough energy to make it last longer until the bar guy and his friends singing kumbaya will turn me back to human permanently.” I went to sit with Fallon instead, knocking off half the pillows on the couch.
Fallon sighed like she was the one turned into a snake. “Being a shifter doesn’t seem so bad if it comes with this castle and this food. I’m just the sidekick and they brought me breakfast in bed … on a tray. You’ll have to pry me out of here. So far no one has asked me to do anything adult and I don't think they pay taxes.”
I glared at her. “You get to stay human! Without a supposed mate. Of course you love it here.”
My girls looked at me with varying levels of shock and awe.
Fallon leaned all the way forward, Custard Toast crumbs falling all around her. Her eyes grew large and wet. “Did you say, mate?”
“Don’t start, Fallon. This is what they warned about our whole life. Shifters coming for our women type thing. This is unhinged. Would you trust someone who said they instantly fell in love with you?” They both stared hard at me.
“It’s not romantic, you crazy bitches! In the past twenty-four hours, I’ve been kidnapped, on a quest, eaten a relic and been told I’m someone’s Fated Mate.”
Mags’ perfect brows lowered, her mouth screwing up in that angry twist that annoyed me to no end. “How are we sisters? He has a castle, for Godds’ sake. Women would kill to be stuck with a hot man ready to fulfill their fantasies, whatever you want to call the relationship. That was the only good part of the stories they told us. Stick his dick in you already before he takes off, like Abner.”
That was a low blow. Abner didn’t take off like he wandered to the next village. Well, he wandered away. From me. There was nowhere to go in our village that we weren’t. What she meant was, he went around town bragging he had pity banged both the Stillgrove sisters - the hot one and the fat one. Some days, I didn’t know how I still spoke to her. Even though Abner had walked out on me. They slept together the same day. I knew she didn’t have similar thoughts on monogamy, but couldn't she have resisted just a little? She never told me why, only half apologized in her way. Her love advice ranked pretty low in my book.
“Hot stranger!” I cried. “Who can turn into a gigantic bear. The kind we were always told were about to eat us. Human boys were hard enough.”
Fallon hugged me with one arm. “‘Boys’ is the word to watch there, sweetie. That bear is all man.”
“The elves told us shifters would eat us and you know how much I trust their opinion. Don’t let him be a stranger,” Mags cried. That's what Ward said, too. “You put one leg over here and the other over there and enjoy.”
Okay, so he was more of a gentleman than my sister. I sputtered out sounds in protest. Mags had always acted casual about sex ever since she worked herself out into that hot body. It seemed to recharge her rather than cause her my level of anxiety. We never agreed about the casual thing. I was too awkward to show anyone but Abner how terrible I was at sex and look how that turned out.
“He’s not looking for a one-night stand like you’re thinking, Mags.”
Mags flopped back on the couch. “I give up trying to make you see reason. Get out of this room if you're going to pass on smoking hot man ass. You're not my sister anymore.”
There was a polite knock on the door. My sister unceremoniously grabbed me by the hair and dragged me to the door. It hurt like the sting of a thousand nettles.
She opened the door on a surprised Ward as she shoved me out into the hallway.
“And don’t come back here until you’ve had a log between those thighs.”
I don’t think my cheeks could have gotten any hotter until Ward’s blazing gaze connected with mine. I resisted the urge to cover my face with my hands.
“Ignore her. I’ve disowned that one,” I said.
