Please don’t let my sister be in here.
“She’s not here, relax,” Hart whispers, tucking my body alongside his and enclosing me in his heat.
My eyes flutter closed.
“Threefold is looking really good right now,” Nash says softly. “I hope you’re ready.”
My lips lift. “Whenever you are.”
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Butterflies tickle my nose, making it twitch. The little pests need to leave me alone in this utterly peaceful and perfect state. I’m warm, a little achy in all the right places, and utterly relaxed. My stomach rumbles in disagreement. Okay. Food first, then I can return to this slice of Idylican.
“Daphne,” Gwyneth whispers. Her minty breath washes over my face. Is Gwyneth a butterfly? My eyes flutter open. Nope, she’s still my sister.
She lies next to me, but my Hart-shaped cuddle pillow is absent. I glance around, noting all the knights are gone. “Where is everyone?”
“Bathing and getting ready for whatever comes next. The foxes are adamant we are part of some prophecy.”
I groan and swipe my hands down my face. “I cannot be part of any more prophecies. There has to be a limit on how many things one is destined for.”
“I don’t think destiny works like that.”
“Destiny can bite my ass.”
She snorts. “I think you have enough ass biting happening without adding more into the mix.” There’s no judgement in her words.
“And what about you and Charming? Do I sense some floof action of your own? Do I need to remove his little charming?” I pause and tilt my head. “Is it little?”
My sister blushes. “No, I have not had any floof action, and nor will I anytime soon. I need to be sure his motivations are true, that he’s not just chasing me because I’m the one maiden that turned him down.”
“The man jumped down a rabbit hole for you. As much as I find him irritating, no magical floof will make a man do something so stupid unless he is truly into you.”
“Are you on his side now?”
I shake my head. “No, but I don’t want to stand in your way if he’s truly who you want.”
She sighs and kisses my forehead. “Thank you. It means a lot to me that you’re okay with this. But for now, I need to keep focused on finding these Grimm brothers and extracting you from this fatal narrative.”
“Sisters before dicks?” I check.
She grins. “Always. Now it’s time to get up and out of this bed. The foxes found some more appropriate clothing.” She points to a pile on the end of my bed. “We’ve got a quest to fulfil and a thousand prophecies to dodge.”
She rolls off the bed and makes her escape down a dark corridor. I get dressed in the warm, woolen sky-blue dress and pull the wrap-around sweater over the top. There’s a pair of flat leather boots on the floor, which I slide onto my feet and lace up.
There—ready for battle once more.
My mouth waters as I follow the scent of something both sweet and savory. The all-in-one living space comes into view, jam-packed with foxes, knights, a prince, and now two maidens. A man with curled horns on his head sits beside the foxes at the table, laughing at something Malachi says.
Hart catches my eye and nods to the empty seat beside him. My heart races a little in memory of what we were doing earlier as I drop onto the chair and survey the various plates offering a variety of goodies.
“Daphne, meet Mr. Yak,” Malachi says.
I smile at the man with dark unruly hair, a matching beard, and a slight reddish glow to his skin. He offers me his hand, which I shake. “Pleased to make your acquaintance,” he greets.
Gwyneth glances at me like she’s waiting for me to react. But I see nothing out of the ordinary here, except for the fact he’s not wearing a shirt and he’s got horns. He must run hot. Maybe that’s why he has a little red glow going on?
