Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Was he scoffing?
“Yeah,” Matti confirmed.
“Here?”
He was definitely scoffing.
My friend nodded.
“You and Sienna?”
Matti shook his head, and his older cousin’s expression hit a new level of disbelief.
“Cricket and the pup?” he asked slowly.
Sienna took a step closer to me, asking under her breath through the side of her mouth, “Why does he keep calling you that?”
I only whispered, “Later,” because I felt the need to jump in, even though I’d told Matti I’d let him handle it.
“I understand the rules about getting married, and I’m okay with them,” I spoke up, wanting Henri to be aware that I did get what was going on and was willing to do what was needed to get permission to stay here. Other than my two closest friends, I didn’t have anyone or anything tying me down. My parents had retired to Mexico, and they weren’t coming back. I couldn’t exactly move there now, with Duncan being what he was.
Amber irises met mine, and I tried smiling at him.
Maybe I should’ve kept trying to hide my nervousness, but it was getting exhausting, and honestly, if Henri opened up his senses to smell how I was feeling, he was going to be able to tell anyway.
Henri’s eyes narrowed in reaction. Not exactly nice. Not in curiosity or interest either. But in the middle of a thought that could have gone either way. Wary.
Once upon a time, I’d been his little cousin’s friend who he had tolerated slightly better than his own relative, possibly because I was a girl, or maybe because he felt bad for me. We had never been friends, but he had been nice enough. Just the right amount of attentive that had lured me into hoping to run into him during his visits.
And with a face like the one he had now, I could understand why. The only modeling he would ever be qualified to do was maybe be the new face for that paper towel brand with a lumberjack on them. But he’d be perfect at it. That bone structure, those forearms, and boots? Sold.
Matti cleared his throat, bringing everyone’s focus back to him. “You see the pup, Henri. His eyes. His tail.”
“I see ’em,” Henri agreed a moment before scrubbing a palm over his forehead, the spot of red still bright near his elbow, threatening to stain his shirt.
I unzipped my fanny pack and dug around until I found what I was looking for, then I held it out.
Henri eyed my face, then my balled-up fist. But he didn’t hesitate long before extending his hand, palm up against my palm down, cupping his fingers beneath mine. I dropped the Band-Aid into it. I always carried a couple around in my fanny pack, along with ten other things, mostly snacks, a poop bag, a glove or two, and a couple baby wipes. “Your elbow is bleeding,” I told him.
The muscle in his jaw flexed, but he took in the Band-Aid sitting in his palm, then shoved it into his pocket instead of using it.
It was the thought that counted, I supposed.
“Right,” Henri went on as if nothing had happened. “There’s no use in you telling this story twice, and this decision isn’t just up to me,” he said. That bold gaze worked its way down to what I thought was Duncan but realized it wasn’t when he tipped his chin in the direction of my hand. “If that bracelet is doing what I think it’s doing, take it off. Whatever the pup has on, remove it too. We can’t help him if his magic is hidden, and I haven’t seen you in a long time. I need to know what you’re hiding.”
Hiding was such a strong word.
But it wasn’t like I’d expected any different. I’d want the same thing if I was in his shoes. Probably more. It had been obvious to me from the moment we’d gotten out of the car that the people here had something precious they were protecting: magical children for starters. A forest with so much goodness… power… magic, whatever you wanted to call it, that I wanted to roll around in the leaves. Pick up tree bark and tape it to my skin. Bottle the scent and take a bath with it.
This was a community of people who I was told wanted to live in peace as themselves in an adorable village setting hidden in a small nook of the world. They had so much to lose, more than I ever could have imagined.
So I nodded at him, then turned to Sienna and held Duncan out. “Will you take his collar off, please?”
She did just that, releasing the button with the tip of her nail. With it in her hand, I suddenly stopped sensing her magic at the same time Duncan’s strong, subtle one pressed against mine. She reached for my other arm and tugged my bracelet off. She put it on too, twisting her wrist this way and that way, as if testing it, but it didn’t make the person wearing it feel any different.