Meadow fought a blush. “Er, no. Considering the last time I saw them I had puffy red eyes and snot coming out of my nose, they weren’t exactly inspired to strip and seduce me. They’ve obviously stayed clear of me ever since.”
Even to her own ears, she sounded irritated.
Nora smiled. “Only because Dark Lord Khan ordered them to, until this evening.”
“Wait, what? Why would Dark Lord Khan order them to stay away? I thought I had free rein to see them.”
“You were given permission to travel to the vampire territory, yes, but not the other way around,” Nora replied. “And crossing the boundaries without an invitation is unwise, given the fear the fae witches still have surrounding vampires.”
“Do they bully you, Nora?” Meadow demanded, ready to stand up to anyone who mistreated her kind sister-in-law.
“No, no, not since the first few days. Between River and my own actions helping in the clinic, they’ve come to like or at least tolerate me.”
Meadow huffed. “Still, if they ever say something mean, tell me.”
“I will, although you’ll have to stand behind River.”
As Nora smiled fondly, Meadow’s heart ached. Would she ever have that dreamy look on her face too about a male? Or, maybe, about two males?
Yesenia shook her head, interrupting her thoughts. “At any rate, for a fae witch, Khan definitely thinks like a vampire whenit comes to language and negotiations or orders. You can tell he doesn’t understand the pull of a fated one. Too bad he’ll never have one himself.”
“It’s possible he ends up as one of a vampire or shifter, though,” Nora stated.
Yesenia smiled deviously. “Hmm, there’s an idea.” She looked back at Meadow. “At any rate, do you want to see Laurie and Joseph? Laurie’s been moping a bit lately—he’s not as good at hiding his emotions as Joseph—and you could go to Nyx’s Kingdom tonight. There’s a masquerade ball, and while I’m close to convincing Leo to go to one, he’s not quite there yet. But you could go and tell me about it, and then I can maybe use that to get my husband to say yes.”
“So much for Leo being a super-powerful Dark Lord,” Meadow drawled.
Yesenia smirked. “He is for everyone else.”
Meadow laughed.
Nora spoke up. “So? Will you go then? Because if so, we’ll help you get ready.”
Meadow had been trying not to miss the vampire males, but had failed miserably. She’d hesitated about sending messages to them, certain they’d had enough of her problems, especially when it came to her magic.
Yesenia placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Both Laurie and Joseph are grumpier than usual, and it’s because they haven’t been able to see you. And before you say it’s just the need to claim you, I think it’s more.” She paused, searched Meadow’s eyes, and asked, “Isn’t it?”
At one time, she’d told Yesenia almost everything.
However, during the three years when she’d believed her older sister had been dead, some of that closeness had faded. She wanted it back, and yet, she didn’t want to disappoint Yesenia, who had sacrificed so much to help her and River.
Yesenia pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry it took so long for me to get you here. If I’d only trained more and been a little more patient, I could’ve timed it better so that you came to us sooner. But I was desperate to have you safe, and it ended up causing you pain anyway.”
She tightened her arms around her sister. “Rationally, I know that. And I forgive you, I promise you, I do. But it’s going to take some time for me to really accept that you and River are alive and well, and that you didn’t forget about me.”
Yesenia squeezed and then leaned back to meet her gaze again. “As much as the older sister in me wants to demand you tell me everything, I understand and will try not to ask too often about Laurie and Joseph. But I will continue to ask, Meadow, because I want you to be happy, no matter what that means for you in this time.” She hesitated and then asked, “I know it’s only been about ten days since you arrived, but do you think you can be happy here? Eventually, I’ll be skilled enough to send you back to the future. I don’t want you to go, but I will do whatever you decide, I promise.”
She smiled at her sister. “I think eventually I can be happy here. Between actual magic lessons, you and River, and my new friends like Nora and Nadia, I like it here. Well, most of the time. I have to admit I miss ebooks and the ability to check them out from the library and download them seconds later.”
“Ah, yes, Wi-Fi. I missed it a lot more at first, but I’ve sort of gotten used to not having it. As long as I have hot water, a flushing toilet, and electric lights, I can handle this time period; luckily, my husband has the money for all those things. But as for your book problem, I know Leo has a giant library, as do Laurie and Joseph. The books might be a little more slow-paced, given the slower pace of life in general here, but there are still some good ones. Or, hey, maybe you could write a book and see what happens. Nothing that crosses the line about sharingfuture knowledge, but I’m sure people would read your stories. Females, in particular, could do with more books that have strong heroines.”
She frowned. “I can’t believe you remembered that I always wanted to write a book.”
Yesenia nodded. “I know you stopped thinking about it once you got your magic, but without TV or the internet or even radio, you’ll have a lot more time to fill. Because even if you end up working at Nyx’s Kingdom, you would get to pick and choose your hours. And in your downtime, you can’t have sexallthe time.”
Fighting a blush, Meadow wondered if she could start writing again. She’d loved creating stories as a teen, until her magic had appeared and upended her world.
As she thought about writing ideas down in her journal, Nora spoke up. “I’d love to read anything you write, once you get started, Meadow. Whilst I’m much better than I was before I met River, reading about a strong heroine might inspire me to try even harder to be one myself.”
