“It usually is.” Lucian headed to stand beside the chair where Peri sat.
Lilly took the only remaining chair and ran her hands down her thighs as she tried to figure out what to say. The glasses were cumbersome on her face, and the room suddenly felt hot.
“So,” Peri spoke before Lilly could. “Your daughter is a werewolf and married to a man almost two hundred years older than her, and that’s because he’s a werewolf. They have a daughter who is also a werewolf. They live in Romania at the pack mansion, with Jacque and her mate Fane, as well as Sally and her mate Costin, and a whole bunch of other werewolves because they’re wolves and that’s what they do—live in packs. Any questions so far?”
Lilly’s mouth dropped open as she looked at Peri and then at Michelle and Jeffery. “Peri,” Lilly hissed.
“It’s better to just rip the bandage off, oh and she’s a warlock queen,” Peri said flippantly, pointing at Lilly. Then looked back at Jen’s parents. “Well?”
“Questions?”
Peri looked unimpressed. “Yes, Michelle. You know those things that require an answer? Those are questions. Do you have any before I continue this most fantastic tale?”
Lilly watched as Michelle frowned. “Of course, we have questions.”
“The first being, who thehellare you?” Jeffery’s eyes narrowed on Peri, then he glanced at Gwen. “And you? And those people outside that look like characters fromLord of the Rings?”
“Has everyone in the human world watched that movie?” Peri sighed. “I mean, did they get it very close to reality, yes. But I’m convinced they know a supernatural being who helped them along. Humans aren’tthatimaginative.”
“Seriously?” Lilly asked her. “A human wrote the book about that world and made it all up including a whole freaking language. How is that not pretty damn imaginative?”
“Are you two seriously arguing about a movie?”
Peri nodded at Michelle and dusted off her non-dirty hands. “Crash course on theactualnot-made-up supernatural world.”
Lilly pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “Good grief, this is going worse than I thought.”
Peri turned to look at her. “What would you have me do, Queenie? Let them live in ignorant bliss only to then be gutted by a hybrid or vampire.”
Jeffery shook his head in disbelief. "Vampires? Actual vampires?And what do you mean, she’s a warlock queen?”
“One sec.” Peri held up a finger to him. “We’ll get there.”
“I mean, do you think they can handle it all at once? It’s sort of a lot.” Lilly glanced back at Jen’s parents, who were sitting on the very edge of the couch, torsos leaned forward watching the interaction between her and Peri.
“I guess we’ll see.” Peri smiled and then looked back at Jeffery and Michelle. “Okay.” Peri clapped her hands once and then rubbed them together. “You’ve heard of speed dating? Well, this is supernatural speed school. Pay attention. We don’t have a ton of time. And please wait to freak out until the end of the lecture. As you know, Fane was a foreign exchange student from Romania, correct?” Peri asked.
The couple nodded.
“But that’s not all he is. He is also aCanis lupus—or as you humans call them, werewolf. He came to Coldspring specifically because there was a beast inside of him pushing him to go in order to find his mate. Non-spoiler alert, because you know that it has to be Jacque, because I imagine they were disgustingly obvious in their desire for one another. I mean even years later they can’t keep their ha?—”
“Peri,” Lilly said sharply. “Stick to the highlights, please.”
“Right,” Peri pointed at Lilly. “Good plan, or this will take forever.”
“When Fane’s family came to visit, it was because there was another wolf who wanted Jacque for himself.”
Lilly listened in rapt attention as the high fae told the story of her daughter's life and all that she’d experienced and been through. Peri didn’t leave anything out that had to do with Jen. Lilly hadn’t missed the tears that had begun to fall down Michelle’s face when Peri spoke of Jen dying, or how she cried even harder when she’d heard that Jen gave birth to her first child in a cave. The more Peri revealed, the harder Michelle cried. Jeffery wrapped his arm around his wife as his own tears ran down his cheeks. Lilly found herself envious of the comfortthey were able to find in one another. She missed that. She missed Cypher so damn much, and most days she was able to breathe okay, but then certain things would trigger her loss, and the pain would take her breath away. She forced herself to tuck away those memories for when she was alone at night and could weep freely for the man she loved.
“Oh, and Sally’s mom is a sprite, and so is Lilly,” Peri added as she finished, clapping her hands for emphasis.
Michelle turned to Lilly. “You’re a Warlock Queenanda sprite?”
Lilly nodded. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s all true.” Then, she slid the glasses from her face. Her eyes remained closed for a few heartbeats as she said, “please try not to freak out.” Then Lilly opened her eyes and looked at Jen’s parents.
Both of their mouths dropped open and they blinked, looking like shocked cartoon characters.
Lilly heard Peri sigh. “Warlocks have yellow, creepy eyes. Just pretend she has contacts in if it wigs you out too much.”
