He freezes as his heavy breath caresses my neck. “Fuck.” He buries his head against my throat and sighs. “How many?”
My eyes flutter closed. “Threefold,” I confirm.
With his free hand, he lifts my skirts and pushes my panties to the side to dip his fingers inside of me. He groans as he finds my wet heat. “Get your weapons, Daphne. Let’s deal with your crocodile friend and then...”
I want to drag him to his room and make him finish the “and then.” These knights have me wound tighter than the grandfather clock with the mouse infestation.
“If you don’t deliver on that promise, I will find it in the arms of one of your brothers,” I snap.
He chuckles and drags his fingers free. He holds my gaze hostage before sliding his glistening fingers into his mouth.
“Oh, fair Doris, I have found you,” the mirror man says. I tilt my head to look over Nash’s shoulder. My mirror man is back in his original mirror. He blinks at me. “Are you well? Is the knight holding your hands because you cannot stand?”
“You won’t be able to stand when I am done with you,” Nash whispers, fire blazing in his eyes.
“Neither will you,” I promise.
“Should I retrieve Miss Geraldine?” the mirror man asks.
“No, I’m good. Nash was just testing if he could make me taller by stretching my arms.”
“But you are the perfect height. There’s no need to change yourself,” the mirror man declares. I love my constantly positive mirror man. He’s such a giver.
Nash releases me with a sigh, and I grab Excalibur and the trident. “Meet us in the library,” Nash calls out over his shoulder as he slams the door closed and leads the way. I give up trying to memorize the twists and turns as I haul the sword and trident along. It feels like I’m led on a different route every time, which makes no sense. There can’t be endless possibilities.
We burst into the library to find the key librarian waiting for us. He scowls as he places his hands on his hips. “I am not the central meeting place for wayward magical creatures, characters, and objects,” he snaps before his eyes slide to the sword and then the trident clutched in my hands.
“Is that Excalibur?” he whispers as he drops his hands to his sides.
“It is,” I confirm.
His eyes lock on mine. “Making you the Lady of the Lake?”
I nod once. “That’s right.”
“How is this possible? You should be tied to the water. No Lady has ever graced the land once the legend claims her.”
I shrug. “I’m rewriting the rules of the legend. No small-minded Idols will keep me shackled to the water. Do you know they haven’t even heard of sausage?”
He blinks at me like I am a creature from another world before his eyes fall on the super shiny fork.
“And the trident, it hums with power and knowledge. How did you come across such a thing?”
“Funny story. Pos?—”
Nash pushes on my back, urging me forward and past the librarian. “It’s a replica of the one Poseidon possesses.”
“Replica? Right,” the librarian says as he tracks us across his domain. The frown on his face makes me believe he doesn’tbelieve that for one tempo. “Your friends are over by the far wall. Last meal has been delivered.”
Oh goodie. I am starving. All this trekking, fighting, floating, and flirting has built an appetite. We walk toward the murmur of voices in the corner, when the door bursts open behind us, making me and Nash spin.
A woman in a gold dress waltzes into the library, a Beast in a fancy suit following behind her.
“My gift to you,” he snarls. Damn, he needs to work on his delivery.
“I told you people this is not that library,” the librarian huffs.
The wannabe Belle twirls in a circle, ignoring the librarian. “It’s not as big as I imagined.”
