Epilogue
Audrey
Scooting into the booth next to Calixta and Beryl, I keep one eye on The Singing Seahorse’s crowd, wondering if there are any single creatures here tonight who might tickle my fancy. Or other body parts. Hopefully other body parts.
“Is everyone on this island happily coupled up?” I sigh out, then take a long sip of my cocktail.
Calixta’s topaz eyes brighten. “Not everyone. What’s your poison? I’ll tell you if they’re worth the hunt.”
My upper lip curls back. “Girl, I don’t hunt. I’m a prey worthy of pursuit,” I say, flipping my short hair off my shoulder.
Beryl chuckles and pulls her wife into her side. “It’s good that you know what you like and don’t like. It makes finding a good partner a very rewarding experience.” There’s heavy innuendo in the statement, and it makes Calixta’s tail curl tighter around Beryl’s thigh, almost disappearing underneath her skirt.
I shift my gaze away from the happy couple and back toward the stage where Marisol is wrapping up her romantic serenade for her three partners.Seriously, I get no one and she gets to have three? It sucks that the siren is so nice and so pretty and totally deserves all the orgasms.
My brain finally registers what Beryl said. “Uhm, I don’t do partners. I’m perfectly happy on my own. I’m just looking for… entertainment. Of the sexual kind. Maybe some light, short-term companionship. Preferably not lasting more than a single night. Two tops.”
Calixta smirks. “Weirdly, that narrows down your options.”
“What? How?”
Scooting closer to me, Calixta lowers her voice just enough for my human ears to hear. “Well, take Aurelius there, for example,” she says, angling her adorned horns toward the guy with large white wings and a golden shirt unbuttoned past his chest. “The mothman is single, but he’s a little hung up on Peregrine. If you were to catch his eye instead, get ready for total obsession. He’s like a dog with a bone.”
A shudder rolls through me. “Nope. Too intense. Next.”
Beryl pauses with her beer halfway to her mouth. “There’s Pierre, the gargoyle. He’s really grumpy and I’ve not known him to take any partners since… well, ever.”
Calixta shakes her head, making the draped beads around her horns clink with motion. “I don’t think he’s your cup of tea. Pierre is the one complaining whenever we can’t wait to get home and head into an alley to…”
Beryl places a green finger against Calixta’s black lips. “She gets the point, my heart.”
I shoot them a finger gun. “So, no alley sex. Got it.”
Calixta and Beryl proceed to tell me about other singles in town and what’s wrong with them, dashing my hopes for some fun, one creature at a time.
“There’s always Arran,” Beryl suggests cautiously. “We haven’t mentioned him yet.”
That gets my attention because I’m pretty sure we made eye contact at The Dancing Daisy’s opening this morning. “I think I saw him earlier. Is he the hottie with the vintage shirt and cropped hair?”
Beryl almost spits out her drink as she starts to laugh. “That’s him, yes. And what you call a vintage shirt is what Arran simply calls a shirt. He doesn’t get out of his castle much. He’s a bit of a homebody.”
I lean forward on my elbow and rest my chin in my hand. “Castle, you say? Go on.”
“Founder of Starry Hill, about four hundred years old—” Calixta ticks off the attributes on her fingers, but I don’t let her finish.
“Ouch,” I hiss. “Talk about an age gap.” Seeing an opportunity for something I haven’t tried before, I cock a brow at them. “Do you think he’d like it if I called him daddy?”
Beryl’s denial is quick. “Definitely not.”
Her wife, though, has a different opinion. “Maybe you should try it.”
I sigh and flop back in the booth. “Would if I could. But it’s not like I can simply waltz over to his place, knock on his castle door, and shout ‘Daddy, come ravish me.’” It would definitely make for a good introduction, if he was into it. But would I be? Always good to try something at least once.
Snickering, Beryl says, “I’d pay big money to see that.”
“Maybe—” My words cut off as the crowd cheers and Eleanor headsto the stage.
I’ve attended a couple of karaoke nights and ladies’ night since Tilly moved to Starry Hill, but never have I seen Eleanor do anything that draws attention to herself.
