Blood.I gulp—this isn’t good. The vampire king stares at where the red drips from my forearm. It wasn’t even that big of a scape, but damn, the blood drips pools.
Magnus wouldn’t hurt me,would he?
Gil has climbed up onto the dock, matching Magnus’s stride, and soon, both the men are inches away from me.
“Heather, darling,” Magnus purrs. Yeah, no… I do not like the way he’s saying my name.
“Nope,” Gil says, pushing Magnus back off the dock. “I’ll patch her up. You look for a way to redeem yourself.”
Magnus bobs up from under the water, fully soaked. I’m thankful that when he opens his eyes, they’re the usual purple hue.
“We are in love,” Magnus shouts, not bothering to climb out of the water this time. “She just has yet to realize it.”
“I can drown him if you want,” Gil offers, and I can’t help but laugh at how genuine he sounds. “On a day like today, it would be a pleasure.”
“As tempting as the offer is, my fiancé has first dibs on ripping his throat out.” I shrug.
“I can still hear you!” Magnus shouts, and if I didn’t feel so shaken by the way he had zeroed in on me, I might laugh.
“I was hoping that would be the case, you old bat,” Gil says in a sing-song as he leads me to his home with the gallantry of a knight.
To say the small stilted house is cozy would be an understatement. There is dark wood paneling, and a collection of paintings that look like they have been lovingly collected from thrift shops. The whole place has a dated feeling with the smooth round lamps in pops of burnt orange. I note the sunny yellow mugs hanging on a rack in the wood paneled kitchen. There’s even a shag carpet in the living room, and the furniture looks straight out of the 1970s. But most unexpected of all is the albino alligator comfortably lounging in the middle of the room like a scaly nightmare puppy.
I jump; this is exactly the thing I was trying to avoid.
“That’s just Clawrece. She’s a good girl—aren’t you, baby?” He leans down and says, affectionately scratches under the gator’s chin like she’s a beloved pet, and she must be by the way her mouth lolls open showcasing a row of sharp teeth. Her long white body lounges on the orange rug in a way that reminds me of a creamsicle. Is this adorable or am I losing my mind?
You know what? Could be both. The one thing I know for sure is today absolutely could not get any weirder.
“Can I get you something to drink? There’s water, lemonade, seaweed juice…”
“Seaweed juice?” Okay, maybe itcanget weirder.
Gil cracks a smile.
“Had to see if you were still paying attention,” he drawls with a shake of his head. “Make yourself at home. I’ll get the first aid kit.”
And within minutes I’m sitting on a swamp monster’s couch, having my scraped arm bandaged. Considering what my life is like, honestly this all checks out.
“Have you lived here long?” I ask, breaking the silence that’s been surprisingly more comfortable than awkward.
“It was my grandfather’s,” he says, his voice slightly wistful.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“No, he’s still alive, just moved in down the water a little closer to my folks.” He smiles. “It’s a tight-knit community around here.”
His grandfather. Huh, I wonder if that’s who gathered all the vintage decorations. Either way, it’s welcoming and quirky in the way it’s hodgepodged together.
“So, how exactly do you and my kidnapper know each other?” I ask as he skillfully wraps my arm. Given the whole fae thing, it shouldn’t take long to heal, but I’m not exactly eager to get back to the tower. After this little stunt, I’m sure Magnus isn’t going to take his eyes off of me.
“Magnus grew up attending most of the big parties at the Dragonfly Court,” he says.
“And you?”
“Grew up sneaking into them.” His smile echoes the childhood mischief of his past and makes me curious just what kind of trouble he and Magnus got into together when they were kids. The flicker in his yellow eyes is almost gold in the sunlight, and even with his scaly appearance, I can totally see his charm.
“He was always a quiet kid, loved his books and his hobbies. I suppose that’s what happens when you spend most of your time alone,” Gil says as he wipes down my small wound with something that stings. “I was always able to find enough mischief for both of us. Now, it seems he’s finding it all on his own.”
