“Even back in Emberwood, things weren’t this busy,” Edie agreed, glancing around at the bustling main street.
I’d taken Stella out of her wrap, preferring to carry her in my arms when we entered a new town, and she was squirming around to get a look at everything.Emberwood fell when she was practically a newborn, so she had no memory of anything even comparable to this.Her eyes were so wide, they practically bulged out of her face.
“Yeah, I don’t even really know where to start with all this,” Boden admitted.“I’m so used to guards or wardens meeting us at the gate.”
“Let’s start with getting a room.”Leandro pointed to the sign that readThe Frozen Grave, and beneath it in smaller letters,Offers Both Short Term and Extended Stay Rooms.“We can rest, clean up, and make a plan.Plus, if Remy was here, she probably stayed at an inn.”
The interior ofThe Frozen Gravereminded me of pictures I’d seen in books of the old west.The waiting area even featured taxidermized animals, like a massive moose head above the fireplace and a porcupine standing beside the hearth.The check-in desk, with its worn wood and cluttered shelves, echoed a saloon.
Fae kept squirming in my arms, so I set her down to stretch her little legs while Boden and Leandro got the rooms.Her eyes immediately locked on the stuffed porcupine that was nearly the exact same size as her.
“Careful, Fae,” I said as I hurried after her.“You don’t want to get poked with any of those quills.”
As I did, I heard the sound of a door opening down the hallway, followed by the familiar chuff of a lion.I looked up in time to see Remy coming out of a room at the back of the hotel.She had Ripley’s lead in hand, but the big cat was scrambling past her.
“Hold on, I’ve got to lock the door,” Remy was telling Ripley, but then the lion’s eyes met mine, and she lurched forward, pulling the leash free from Remy’s grasp.
Ripley came racing down the hall toward me, and Fergus let out a surprised curse before scooping up Fae in his arms and moving her out of the way of both the incoming lion and the tempting porcupine.
Ripley slammed into me with a delighted roar and knocked me back to the ground.
“Is that lion mauling someone?”the desk clerk shouted in alarm.“Does somebody need to kill her?”
“No!”Boden, Remy, and I shouted in unison as Ripley nuzzled her big head against me.
“That’s the lion you’ve been fussing about, is it?”Fergus said, sounding amused as he held my giggling daughter, her arms outstretched to the kitty she missed.“Thought she’d be a bit bigger.”
“Stella?”Remy said in surprise, and then she looked around the room.“Boden?Edie?What the hell are you all doing here?”
Ripley had moved on from greeting me and ran over to rub against Boden.He gave her a few pets, but his attention was focused more on Remy.
“We came here for you,” I said, since Boden seemed reluctant to answer.
Remy came over and extended a hand to help me up off the floor.When I stood up, I hugged her, but it took a moment for her to hug me back.
“Mama!”Fae squealed, her hands outstretched to me.
“Holy shit, that’sFae?”Remy asked in dismay, and tears immediately welled in her eyes.“And she’s talking now?”
“Yeah.”I took her from Fergus, and she stared up at Remy with curious eyes.“She’s almost two now.Do you want to hold her?”
“I-I…” Remy stammered, and she reached out and touched the freckles on Fae’s chubby cheeks that had darkened over the summer.“Fuck, she looks just like him.”
“She does,” I agreed.
“So all of these people are your friends then, Remy?”the desk clerk asked.
“Yeah, sorry, about the commotion, Anoona,” Remy said.
“I’ve got their rooms all squared away, if you want to stop crowding up my entry area,” Anoona replied, her dark eyes watching Ripley uncertainly as the lion weaved between the people she’d missed.
“Yeah, we’ll get out of your way.”Remy bent down and picked up Ripley’s leash, and then, to no one in particular, she said, “I suppose we should all have a talk.”
65
Remy
From the moment I saw them in the common area of the inn, I had the strangest sensation of floating outside my body.Like I was hovering above myself, numbly watching everything transpire.
