Page 41 of Land of Monsters

I smirked, my elbow tapping into my pack. “Wake up, menaces. Time to rise and wreak havoc.”

Dzsinn’s lids narrowed, not understanding who I was talking to until a muffled noise came from the bag.

“Keep your super-packin’ briefs on, mushroom man,” Opie grumbled, climbing out of the pack and onto my shoulder, the imp in the backpack behind him looking pissed off at the world. “This level of art takes time.”

Dzsinn tried not to react, but it wasn’t every day you saw a brownie and an imp dressed in strips of rope, parchment, bits of t-shirt, and duct tape.

“Opie, did you destroy the rope?” I groaned, nodding at the bag I kept the supplies in.

“It’s really your fault, isn’t it?”

Yeah, I should’ve known better.

“That shirt was to find Raven’s scent.” I motioned to the fabric around his ass.

“You know how bored I get! And we were in there for years!”

“It was two hours.”

“Close enough,” he exclaimed, touching Raven’s shirt that he cut up like a fringe miniskirt, strands of rope bunching the fabric up around his waist. Duct tape circled his chest and biceps like a tube top, and he added a paper fan, made from the castle blueprints, on top of his head like a crown. Bitzy had a mini crown, which was held down with duct tape, t-shirt diapers, and a rope as a tie. “I thought you left supplies for me to fashion amazing outfits like this.”

Dzsinn stared. “A brownie?” Brownies were known to be exclusive creatures, only venturing out at night to clean andpinch tiny, shiny things in payment. Theyusuallypreferred very little contact with people, but Opie was anything but ordinary.

“This is Opie and Bitzy.” I gestured to them and nodded to him. “Dzsinn.”

Chirp!Bitzy flipped him off with both hands, slumping down further into her little seat. She was still pouting because I left the mushrooms back in the room.

“Ohh, you’re a genie?” Opie clasped his hands. “I’ll bet you love when they rub you off!”

“Oh gods,” I muttered, trying not to groan or laugh.

Dzsinn just blinked more. Opie was a lot to take.

“You have sub-fae with you?” Dzsinn’s gaze went over them.

“Fortunately or unfortunately. Not quite sure which one.”

Chirp! Chirp!Basically,fuck you, asshole.

“Yes, Bitz, you think I’m the worst right now.” I rolled my eyes, muttering. “Cranky imp.”

“An imp?” His attention snapped to her, really taking her in like he hadn’t quite noticed her before. They were almost non-existent anymore; the population was nearly annihilated because their bodily fluids were known to have great healing properties for fae.

Shock flickered to a hungry glow in the genie’s plain brown eyes, like he could see her worth. The price of such a rare species. What someone would pay for her.

A blast of fury cracked a tree branch over his head, dropping a heavy limb next to his feet, his focus jumping back to me. I didn’t have to say a word for him to understand what I was saying.

You touch her. You die.

His eyes narrowed in confusion at my response. It was rare, even in today’s world, for sub-fae to be treated as equals. To be protected. I never liked the behavior toward them before,but even more now because these two were family. Against our refutes and denials, especially Warwick’s, they had wiggled into our lives and become part of us. And every one of us would kill for these two.

“Do you like it when they rub your lantern hard or soft? Or maybe spank it?”

“Opie…”

“What? He might be into that! Who are we to judge?”

I sighed. “Remember I said if you came along, you’d stay quiet?”

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