Page 54 of Find My Way Down to You

“What was that for?” Cary gripes, glowering.

“You were gone too long,” she answers.

“Did you miss me?”

“I missed bothering you.” She reaches up and tousles his hair. Cary attempts to duck away from her touch. It’s too late. His curls are everywhere.

I can’t help snorting, which draws her hypnotic brown eyes to me.

“Hello there.”

“Hi,” I say after a swallow. “I’m—”

“August,” she says before I can. One side of her mouth lifts into a delighted smirk. “I know who you are.”

“You do?”

She nods. She has a heart-shaped face. Long, straight black hair streams down her back.

Cary sighs. “From Henri’s gossip, no doubt.”

She swats him again. “Be nice.”

“I am,” Cary counters just as I blurt, “He is.”

Our eyes meet. A flush creeps high into my cheeks. His stare is weighted, thick with a look I’ve never seen.

“Well. That’s interesting.”

My head snaps back to the woman.

“Actually, August”—she rests a hand delicately on one of Cary’s stiff shoulders—“I’ve heard of you because of our sweet ferrier. He talks of you. Quite a bit.”

I furrow my brow. There’s no way Cary would ever talk about me to anyone. At least, not in a good way.

To prove my point, Cary frowns and says, “I do not.”

A playful smile pulls at her lips. “Yes, youdo. In your dr—”

“Enough, Poppy,” he snaps, but with far less bite than I’m used to.

She shrugs, unaffected. “I’m Poppy,” she says to me.

I wince at the shock and amazement flooding my voice as I say, “You’re a Deathless.”

Poppy grins, friendly, unguarded. “Of sleep and dreams.”

“And nightmares,” Cary grumbles.

Meli clears her throat loudly.

“Forgive his rudeness,” Poppy says. She manages to elbow Cary and shake my hand simultaneously. When I breathe in, that almondy scent is richer, filling my chest.

Finally, I recognize it. “Poppy like the flower.”

She winks. “A bit on the nose, innit?”

Cary’s face twists. “Why are you talking like that?”