Page 57 of The Rusalka and Mr. Right

“Can all of us agree that no one means to offend anyone and get on with it?” Jakob snaps. He drops a heavy, tattered book in Russian into my lap. “The Bone Lord will cycle, reborn and fading, until the sound of the last trump, or until the black knight’s horse of great power tramples him to dust.”

“Get that cop. The pooka? He can turn into a black horse,” Janet says, affixing a single sparkling blue gem to my ring finger.

“I suppose Ardy might do the trick... It’s rather risky, though.” Alban chews his lower lip. “He’s my brother-in-law. Harper and Izzy will kill me if he gets hurt. He’s only half-Pooka, you know.”

“Call Van Helsing. Call the cops. Call all the witches and their black cats and brooms. What doIdo? After all, Marina’s problems are my problems, too—or they will be in a little bit.”

“Kevin!” I jump up from the sofa, and Janet curses at me. “You’re not supposed to be here yet!” I look at the grandfather clock in the midst of the ornate formal living room. Minegold’s house is a strange mix of the archaic and the historical, topped off with several areas set up for when he takes care of his “grandson” that look like a baby superstore blew up. f “We said the ceremony was at eight! It’s bad luck to...”

See the bride? I’m not a bride. It’s bad luck to join himself to me. If I told him I didn’t love him, if I told him to go, he’d leave. He’d be safe. Years and years of lying to men—why do I grow an honest streak now?

Kev shrugs and saunters in, adjusting the collar on a loosely buttoned white shirt under a charcoal blazer. He looks divine. Edible. “You’re enslaved to some mobster demon who pimps out his daughters and wants to add you to his list of ‘handmaids.’ The luck is bad enough, baby. I’m here to push it the other way.”Kev looks at Minegold. “Your front door was unlocked. Isn’t that kind of stupid in this town?”

Jakob gives him a freezing smile, long fangs shimmering into his mouth as his eyes turn blood red. “Perhaps. But don’t you think any little intruder who wanders intomyhome would be the foolish one?” he asks, a smirk on his face.

Kev looks around at that assembled group. Janet is the only non-magical human in the bunch. “That’s fair,” he says, squinting at her. “Hi, I’m Kev. What’s your superpower?”

Janet caps her bottle of blush pink polish and rises, patting the little black and hot pink bag on the tray. “Ex-Army. I know seventy ways to kill someone with whatever’s in my manicurist kit—more if I have time to make a list.”

“Ooooh—kay. Well. I stumbled into all the spooky dangerous shit, didn’t I?”

Janet gives me a nudge forward, causing me to stumble into his arms. “It grows on you.”

Kev’s head tilts as he hugs me with his chin on my head. The feel of his breathing and the sound of his voice so close to my ear instantly calms me. “Some of it, sure.”

Janet pats his arm in passing, voice dropping as she winks. “Tentacles and suction cups. We’re the luckiest humans in Pine Ridge. It’s worth the hassle of dealing with putting in an in-ground pool and a closed-in porch with a hot tub. I’ll be back with Calder in about an hour. Marina—don’t do anything with your hands for another twenty minutes!”

“If we could focus, please?” Alban taps the book and waves his phone around as Janet shuffles out of the room. “I’m texting Ardy. He thinks the verse could apply to him. He’s a modern-day knight—defender of the realm, you know?”

“Wait, a knight?” Kev looks down at me and I shrug. “My Queen.” He mouths the words while tracing his fingers over my face. “Aren’t I your knight?”

I nod, then shake my head. “It’s an old, old tale about Koshchei, The Bone Lord, the Undying One. Nothing for you to worry about, darling. Only fairy tales.”

Kev crosses his arms, letting go of me with a huff. “Says the badass little mermaid?”

Jakob steps in, holding out a glass of wine as he strides from his sideboard to Kevin. “The tale would refer to a literal knight and a powerful horse. There’s so much truth in fairytales—but I’m afraid Marina is not in the position to elevate you to the status of ‘knight’ in the literal sense. You are farbetterthan a knight. You are the king of her heart, yes, indeed.” He presses the wine into Kev’s hand, and my lover reluctantly takes it.

“That’s wine for people, right? Not winefrompeople?”

“As long as you behave,” Jakob teases.

“Jakob!” I squawk.

“Uh... Here, honey. I’m driving.” Kevin passes me the glass and gives Minegold a long, appraising look. “Now, if you had a cheese plate going around...”

Jakob’s eyes light up. “I was saving it for an impromptu reception, but—”

It’s my time to speak up. “Maybe we can save my lifefirstand have the cheeseboard second?” I look between the three men in the room. “I think that Ardy is the closest thing we have to a knight. Knights serve and defend the kingdom, and he’s a police officer, defending our town. Not to mention, he is the only one I know off the top of my head who can turn into a horse.” I ignore Kev’s startled snort. “I’m just wondering something.”

“What is it, my dear?” Minegold asks in his sonorous, solicitous voice.

My eyes cloud as the thoughts weave together slowly, misty little hints that have been too difficult to knit together in all the chaos and panic of the week finally settling into place as I prepare to bind my soul to Kev’s.

Could that sacred act solve more than one problem?“Koshchei is draining the few rusalka who still exist in an effort to rise now, many years before he should—but he cannot rise until the night of the Hunter’s Moon.”

“That has typically been the case, according to many legends as well as what you’ve told us.” Jakob nods.

“If there are so few of us left, his food source may run out before the Hunter’s Moon. He may not have the strength to rise anytime soon—and once my soul is tied to Kev’s, then there will be nothing for him to rise for. There will be no one left for him to control.”

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