I make a face. “Animal or human variety?”
“There’s a different answer?” Malachi mutters, amused.
“Both,” Gwyneth demands.
I pace back and forth. “That frog who made himself at home in the village well. I kissed him when I was seven annuses old. Actually, on my birthday. Human, we try to forget it, but Meryl.”
“Wait, you kissed a girl?” Theo asks.
“And I liked it. Your point?”
He holds his hands up.
“Now, for your first kiss,” I say, pointing at Gwyneth. “Was Lord Thomas, also known as Tom Thumb. Really doesn’t count due to the fact his lips suckled on your chin instead of your mouth. You also kissed that duck when you lost the bet over who the Duke of Strongfair would bed on his party night.”
Her lips twitch.
“You kissed a duck?” the whisperer reprimands before a shocked Charming steps out of the stacks.
She scowls at him. “You’ve handled more female feet than I’ve had hot dinners. Let’s have less judgment from a prince obsessed with toes.” She darts a look around the library and jerks her head for us to follow her. We hurry after her, meeting her in one of the seating areas. She glances over my shoulder. “One, two, three, four, and a genie. Good, we’ve got them all.”
Was that a concern?
“Finger,” she demands.
Ah, the blessed bleeding. What fun. We need a healthier lock system. She pricks my finger, and we get sucked along a dark corridor and spat out into the Living Library.
I groan and rub my butt while wobbling on my feet. Gwyneth throws her arms around me, tackling me to the floor. “Stop leaving me and almost dying. My heart can’t take it.”
I squeeze her back and laugh into her blonde hair. “In all fairness, I didn’t almost die.”
“Not helping, Daphne.”
“Agreed,” Hart growls.
“Why did you greet us so coldly?” Nash asks. Good question. One I can’t ask on account of her strangling me with her arms. Who needs oxygen anyway?
“The Idols have sent in a decoy of Daphne three times, trying to gain access to the Living Library,” she explains.
“And three times, Gwyneth has foiled them,” Charming adds. He sounds proud of my sister. It makes me want to punch him because he doesn’t deserve her light.
A tempo, or maybe five later, she climbs to her feet and holds out her hand to me. She drags me upright and smiles. “I knew it wasn’t you,” she says, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear.
“How?” I wonder, because I’m not that remarkable.
“I disagree,” Theo murmurs, and Gwyneth blinks at him.
“I’ll catch you up later, but basically, he can hear my head.”
“Thoughts,” Theo corrects. “She means I can hear her thoughts.”
“Ah. As for your question, the first imposter walked in a straight line without issue, even when a stray frog tried to trip her.”
“Definite giveaway,” I agree.
“The second was a little more believable up until the midday meal was served, and she was utterly disinterested in the variety of sausage.”
I gasp. “I feel dirty.”
