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)
That made about zero sense, but all right. If there was ever a time for me to be on my best behavior, it was now. Dang it. I tried to plaster on the most pleasant face I could and be the better person. “I’m curious. What exactly is the fine print I’m missing by asking to join and what’s this trial period? Living here for a little while to make sure I like it before you all officially let us stay? How long is that for?”
The elders stopped bickering. It was Henri that answered though. “That’s what it is. It’s mandatory you live here for a minimum of three months before an official invitation is offered. It’s to make sure you’re a good fit and that you can live by our rules and values.”
“Some beings have been known to change their minds,” the man with the glasses added.
“Most,” Henri corrected.
None of this sounded wild. They were protecting their investment and themselves. Plus, that would give me time to meet people and get to know them. Under normal circumstances, three months didn’t seem long enough to get to know someone well enough to marry them for the rest of your life, but that was a normal-person thing. When you had different senses, it was easier to get to know the root of people, to see what they might not want you to if they had a choice. You could pretend to be a good person as much as you wanted, but when you could smell anger or frustration or attraction, or the million other emotions a body produced, there was no hiding that.
Or so I’d been told.
Sienna had sniffed out more than a few people for me before.
“I understand,” I told them.
Besides, the satyr woman had already been looking at me funny, and that was with my bracelet on. What if too many of the beings here reacted the same way?
They were going to need to suck it up because Duncan needed this place.
My donut’s wet nose nuzzled the palm of my hand, his little teeth nibbling it. “A three-month waiting period is fine.” I pet Duncan’s tail with the hand he wasn’t corn-cobbing. “After that, how long do I have before I’d need to marry someone?”
“One year,” one of the women answered.
I kicked Matti before I could stop myself. A laugh burst right out of me, and I kicked him one more time for the hell of it. My leg was still throbbing. “A year is a lifetime.” I was relieved. There were guidelines they had mentioned, but I wasn’t worried about them. I’d bet I already lived my life with stricter rules than anything they could come up with.
We had bigger stuff to talk about than maybe having to pitch in around the community or whatever else they had in mind. They’d have to do some Handmaiden’s Tale kind of crap for me to second-guess being here, or every male resident would have to have an awful personality.
One year to marry someone. Wow, and here I was stressing over it. Would more time be nice? Sure. But I’d been mentally prepared to get hitched in a month. Realistically, I would’ve even done it tomorrow if I had to.
A whole year was a boulder off my chest.
Now, all that was left was that I needed to talk to them about the biggest elephant in the room after the sippy-cup-sized mystery on my lap. It was going to be the deal-breaker, and we needed to tackle it now so I could know for sure. I’d been vague with the explanation about what had happened to Duncan’s would-be kidnappers, and I was well aware they were cutting me some slack by not asking how exactly I’d managed it. It was one of the benefits of the secrecy all magical beings widely embraced. I was going to milk it too.
“I appreciate you all agreeing to let us stay here on a trial basis.” I shot a glance at the backstabber who had brought it up in the first place. A part of me still couldn’t believe Henri had done it. It was hard not to give him a little bit of a stink eye. “I’m aware you already mentioned you welcome all people here, regardless of their heritage, but….” I scratched my throat as Matti kicked the living shit out of my foot.
We had agreed to disagree on this point. “No one cares,” he whisper-hissed at me.
I gritted my teeth in pain. We’d never outgrown this part of our friendship. “More people care than people who don’t,” I muttered under my breath before kicking him back hard enough that he winced just a little. He had a high pain tolerance. I should have been proud of myself for putting in enough effort to get that much of a reaction. “It’s going to come up, and I’d rather them be aware now.”