“Never underestimate the resilience of the human mind and spirit. They’ll surprise you every time.” ~Lilly
“This is Jen’s parents’home,” Lilly told the group as they materialized on the sidewalk in Jeffery and Michelle Adams’s neighborhood.She paused and pulled a pair of sunglasses from the pocket of her dress, slipping them on her face. Thankfully, Lilly realized just in time that she was not the same person she was the last time she’d seen Jen’s parents. Mainly, Lilly hadn’t been a warlock with vertical-slitted yellow eyes. Showing up unannounced would be bad enough. Showing up with creepy Halloween eyes was something else entirely.It felt weird to be back in her hometown. Lilly thought briefly about all the things she’d been through since she’d left Coldspring, and it seemed surreal. She used to own a bookstore and now she ruled a supernatural kingdom of warlocks. “Who knew?” she muttered under her breath as she started for the front door.
“Oh, are we just gonna—” Gwen, the female high fae, made a knocking motion with her hand.
“I thought tossing pebbles at the windows was a little too juvenile.” Lilly paused and smiled at the female.
Gwen chuckled. “Agreed.”
Knock. Knock.
Lilly turned to see Cyn standing inches from the door. Her hands behind her back as she stood like a soldier. For such a small person, the female fae was intimidating as hell.
Lilly hurried over, not sure what Cyn would say when Jen’s parents opened the door. The fae didn’t even glance at her. She just continued to stare at the door. Thalion, the Elf King and Cyn’s mate, stood directly behind her, alert and ready to defend her if need be.
Just as Lilly was about to knock again, she heard the deadbolt being turned. Then the door swung open, and they came face to face with Jeffery and Michelle Adams.
“Hi.” Lilly tried to keep her voice light and friendly. “It’s been a while.” Her hands fidgeted, and she fought the urge to take off the sunglasses, as normal etiquette would have required.
Michelle’s eyes widened as they quickly moved over the people in front of her. “Where’s Jen? And Thia? Are they okay? What’s happened? Where are Jacque and Sally? They’re never apart, and what about Decebel?”
“Slow down,” Lilly said softly. “Nothing’s happened.” Okay, so that was atotallie, but she wasn’t about to get into the nitty-gritty while standing on their doorstep. “Do you mind if we come in?”
“Of course.” Mr. Adams opened the door further.
Cyn stepped to the side, letting Gwen pass. She looked at her mate, and Thalion gave a slight inclination of his head. “My mate and I will stand guard out here,” she informed Lilly.
“Good plan,” Lilly nodded. “We’ll just go in”—she pointed toward the interior of the house—“and try to explain some things.”
Cyn smirked. “Even if we get attacked by a bunch of vamps or hybrids, I’d still rather fight than try to explain to humans about our world. Have fun with that… and the eyes.” She pointed to Lilly’s face chuckled.
Lilly blew out a breath as she followed Gwen inside. She tried to think about how much Jen’s parents knew about her life in the supernatural world, if anything. The last time Jen had been around them, she’d been pregnant, and explaining just the non-paranormal aspects of Jen’s life had been a hot mess.
“Dammit.” Lilly about jumped out of her skin when a voice whispered from behind her.
“Hi, Queenie. Love the glasses.”
Lilly turned around, her hand over her heart. “Dammit, Perizada.”
Peri grinned and waved at her as if she hadn’t just scared the crap out of Lilly. “I contacted Fane. He informed me of each situation, and let me say, we are stretched thin. He asked me to check on Dalton, but Elle is handling him for now. I decided this was where I needed to be, also I wanted to be able to tell Jen about her mom’s face when we told her their granddaughter is a supernatural creature. So.” Peri rubbed her hands together. “We having a reveal party? Are they gonna find out if you’re a warlock or not when you remove your shades?”
Lucian stood beside his mate, looking as bored as ever.
Lilly’s brow rose. “Yes, dammit. That’s exactly what we’re doing, in the middle of a supernatural crisis, we came to Jen’s parents’ house, without Jen, and we are going to party like it’s 1999. And then I’m going to jump out of a cake and yell ‘surprise, I’m a warlock’!”
Peri’s face scrunched up. “1999 was a terrible year. If we’re going to party then we’re going to do it prohibition style. Now those people knew how to throw a party. And jumping out of cakes is no longer in style.”
Lilly rolled her eyes. “Dammit. We’re not here to party. And I’m going to break the yellow eyes to them gently.”
“Is that the word of the day? And obviously you’re not here to party. That would be rude. Not even inviting their daughter and grandchild.”
“A grandchild they’ve never met,” Lilly added, thinking of all the milestones they’d never get to experience.
Peri’s lips pursed as she tapped her chin. She shrugged and said, “It’s probably a good thing that they don’t know she likes to dismember dolls and yell curse words. So let’s try and leave that out of whatever it is you plan on telling them.” Peri walked straight past Lilly to the living area where Gwen sat on a couch, across from Jeffery and Michelle, who were on a love seat.
Lilly looked at Lucian, who simply shrugged as well.
She turned to follow Peri. “This is going to be a shit show.”
