Page 19 of A Bear in a Birdbath

Margo came awake first, and she could feel the warmth of Eva in her arms, and the tickle of her hair on her face. Behind her, Bruno tucked them both close. It was sticky in the space where they met, and Margo longed for the smell of her mates. She could only guess at Eva’s delicate perfume and Bruno’s musk. The scent of sex must be so wonderful and rich, the way it was written in books, but the descriptions always assumed a certain amount of base understanding. Roses and incense and cedar. It begged the question of what she smelled like, and whether it was pleasant.

She had never cared to be pleasant before.

She wanted to be efficient, logical, strong, and essentially useful. She knew she could never be less than monstrous, and strove to make up for it with functionality.

But now she wished with all of her heart to be the kind of person that these two, one that she had craved for so long, the other that had swept her off of her considerable feet with a single glance, would desire to be with.

Not because she was bound by destiny or magic, but because they found in her the kind of joy she found in them.

Intoxicating, wild, wonderful joy, like she’d never imagined possible. Bruno’s strong arms. Eva’s soft lips. She wanted to be here, forever, in this perfect moment of comfort and release.

But doubts crept in as the moment of passion ebbed into exhaustion. Bruno and Eva had so much to recommend them. Her fae beauty and gentleness. His strength and ruggedness and handsome face. But what was Margo in this union?

Was she a third wheel?

Eva was still and limp in her arms, and Bruno’s breath was steady and nearly a snore.

Margo extracted herself carefully. Without her between them, Bruno and Eva sighed into each other without truly waking.

She padded into the attached bathroom and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Bruno’s house was built to his height, and she could see herself clearly, without having to hunch down like she did in her own house.

I am a monster, she thought, but it was with less conviction than before. Did Bruno and Eva truly see something there that they could love? The idea filled Margo with hope and a warm sense of belonging.

She went back to the bedroom door and gazed in, smiling tenderly. Kind, precious Eva and strong, sexy Bruno. They were hers.

Margo was ready to turn back to the bathroom and see if Bruno’s monstrous shower was as luxurious as it looked when there was a sudden crackle to the air, like the shift in pressure before a thunderstorm. The hair at the back of her neck and her arms suddenly rose. It wasn’t a sound or a light, at first, though Margo felt as if her vision was going black. She blinked, and Eva was gone, Bruno’s arm and the blanket over them collapsing.

17

BRUNO

Bruno came awake at Margo’s furious cry, and clutched at suddenly empty space where Eva had been.

Even before he opened his eyes, he knew in his gut that something was wrong, and his cave bear was roaring in wordless outrage. “What happened? Where’s Eva?” He pawed around in the blankets like she might be hiding there.

Margo was standing in the doorway, as naked as he was, and she was staring at the bed where Eva had been. “She was there, and then, it was like an electrical storm starting, but no flash or thunder, she was just gone. She’s gone!”

Bruno threw every blanket and pillow off the bed, and shoved the mattress off the frame before he was convinced. Eva had truly vanished.

“The Queen of Faery?” Margo said quietly when she caught his eyes.

Bruno had already been thinking exactly that. “I will destroy her,” he growled, stalking for the door.

“Clothes,” Margo said. “We should wear clothes to storm Faery.”

Bruno would have charged out naked, but Margo was clearly the sensible one in this whole unexpected relationship. They both dressed, and brainstormed.

“Tobias is a gnome,” Bruno said. “He has underworld connections, which supposedly attach to Faery in some form. I’ll call him.”

Bruno found his phone under the heap of blankets. “Tobias. I need to get to Faery. The Queen kidnapped my mate. One of my mates. I have two. It’s a really long story.”

There was silence at the other end of the line, and then Tobias said, “Is this Bruno? The date went so well that you went home with two mates? How’d you manage that? Ouch, I wasn’t suggesting that I could do that, too, my love. You are the only owl for me. It’s Bruno. He’s in trouble. Something about Faery. No, it’s not a euphemism. Probably. Bruno, is it a euphemism for something? Did you actually end up with two mates?”

“It’s not a euphemism. Two mates. The Queen took Eva. They have some history. Eva was her prisoner. I have to get her back. Can you get me there?”

Bruno had to explain it again, slower, twice, before Tobias truly believed that it wasn’t some kind of prank or joke.

The gnome sighed. “I can get access to the underworld, but that won’t get you through to Faery. There’s a gate there, but gnomes don’t have access to cross it without an explicit invitation.”

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