“Look at you, struggling with that sci-fi shower.”
A woman with red hair tied back into a messy bun burst through the glass shower’s open door.
“See, Iknewthis is how I’d find ye when Tadhg texted that he’d left you here to fend for yourself. Here, step aside, Sadie love, and let me get this sci-fi going for you.”
I blinked at the woman who already knew my name—and that I’d have no idea how to operate the shower. Not just because she was a stranger. But because she was huge.
Even larger than me, actually. A couple of inches taller, with much wider hips. She was also several months pregnant, if the defined swell under the tight, off-the-shoulders Niall Horan concert T-shirt she wore was any indication.
Inot only wondered who Niall Horan was, but also where she’d come from… and why she had what looked like large bite marks on both shoulders, right above each clavicle.
“Here, watch me work the buttons so you can see how this sci-fi shower works. Sci-fi’s what we call all the god tech, which my outsider husband informs me is not exactly intuitive. In fact, bloody confusing, if you didn’t grow up with it—What’s the matter, then? Have I something on my face? I was halfway through a contour when I got the message from my worthless brother.”
I hadn’t realized I was openly staring at her until she called me out. I quickly averted my eyes.
“Alright, now you’re not able to look at me. Is it because I said something bad about your Mountain King? I don’t truly believe Tadhgie’s worthless, y’know. That’s just me being Irish. Love and respect of a sibling can only be expressed with complete and utter derision.”
“No, no, it’s not that. It’s just... You seem to know about me, but I don’t even know your name. And I’ve never met another female who’s larger than me,” I blurted out.
Then clapped both hands over my mouth.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t think about how rude that would sound before it came out. Maybe I should get a writing board, like the Shadow King.”
“Please don’t,” the woman—who was apparently Tadhg’s sister—answered with a roll of her eyes.
“Name’s Brigid. And I’m here to tell ye that Shadow King is the absolute worst, isn’t he, with that thing? Half the time he doesn’t bother to use it. Just aggressively makes you talk to yerself while he sits there, figuring out new scary looks to ensure he always features in the kingdom’s children’s nightmares.”
“So... you like him?” I guessed carefully.
“Sussed it out, didn’t you?” Brigid grinned in a way that would’ve told me she was Tadhg’s sister, even if she hadn’t announced it. “Grew up with him. And unlike the other two kings, he actually lives down here with us. He’s like a second brother who lets me run the kingdom however I want. Long as I don’t mess with any of his precious god-tech designs. Speaking of which...”
She turned back to the shower’s control panel.
“What’ll ye be having today? A rain shower, a warm massage, or the kind of power spray that’ll strip every inch of dirt off your body?”
I shifted from foot to foot before confessing, “These are not options I am used to.”
“Here, allow me.” Brigid noisily sniffed the air and declared, “Oh, ye smell gorgeous, don’t you, Sadie? Like heather and fresh summer strawberries shipped in from The Above.”
Again, I could only stare. I’d never had my smell described as anything but odd—or the generous “way more interesting” by Naomi. Was this why Tadhg kept calling me “Strawberry”?
Like finding out I was a bear, I had no idea what to do with this new information.
“A rain shower’ll do ye just fine, in my opinion,” Brigid said over all my clashing thoughts. “Here’s the button for that.”
She made a dramatic show of pushing a glowing button with three interlocked triangles.
“Take your time, then we’ll get you dressed in one of the outfits I brought over for you and see to your hair.”
Yep.Way too compliant.
I dutifully showered with unscented bar soap that smelled the opposite of all the flowery ones I’d made for years to try to cover my odd smell. Then I somehow didn’t die of embarrassment when I came out to find Brigid waiting with a huge fluffy towel and a bathrobe.
If she cared about my naked immodesty, it didn’t show. As I slipped into the robe, she went over to a stack of things she’d laid across the velvet couch.
“Alright, I’ve this sports bra for ye. Warning—it might pinch, as you’re even more blessed than I am in the chest area. Lucky bitch. Sorry, Tadhg told me you’re about that puritan life, and I’ll need to watch my tongue.”
Brigid winked at me with what Naomi would have called a “sorry not sorry” face.”
