Page 41 of Slaying With Sylphs

The morning after our date, I have no words. I’m officially out of words. Words don’t even exist to explain how amazing last night was. I throw my braid over my back as I leave the Annabelle Inn to head toward the Galloping Green Bean to meet my nieces. I need a girl date stat.

Because last night? Last night was crazy fun and insanely intense.

By the time I get to the Green Bean, I’m a bundle of pent-up nerves. Pulling the doors open, I step inside the retro-themed turquoise and red diner. Looking around, I find my nieces and Lola in a booth at the far end. I wave to Alba, holding back a wink. She and Malik have been on at least one date now, and I can’t wait to see how their story turns out.

When I slip into the booth next to Lola, she leans down and sucks in a deep breath. She pulls back with a satisfied-looking smirk.

“I ran across the girls on the way over and they dragged me here to get the details.” The shifter princess’ smile goes feral.

Across the table, my niece Thea makes the “what gives?” gesture, rolling her shoulders, her blue eyes wide. “And?”

Lola bumps me with her hip. “I’m guessing things happened. Am I right?”

I turn to look at my friend. “Are you telling me you just sniffed me to see if things happened?”

She grins. “Your aura’s a very lazy red this morning. Usually means sex.”

Thea leans across the table with a wicked grin, waving her fork at me. “Spit it out, Lou. Every damn thing.”

“I bet Dirk was an absolute gentleman,” my niece Wren says kindly, lifting a coffee cup to her pink-painted lips. She’s fucking glowing. Love her so much.

“Well,” I hedge. “They both were.”

Lola takes a sip of her coffee with a little chuckle.

Thea and Wren pull in matching shocked-sounding breaths.

“It’s everybody with everybody,” I confirm. “Dirk and Connall.” Thea and Wren stare at me, open-mouthed.

Thea makes heart eyes at me. “Aww, Auntie,” she says, “that’s the cutest thing I ever heard of! You came here to rescue us, and now you’re gonna get double-teamed by two hotties. Things have a way of working out.”

My mouth drops open, and then a hilarious giggle erupts from me and Lola at the same time. The laugh breaks the ice, and the entire story comes out from start to finish. It feels so good to share with my girls and my friend my thoughts and feelings, and how on board with this I am.

So far.

“Mama would have been happy for you,” Wren says quietly when I finish. She sips her latte, bright eyes wrinkling at the corners as she smiles over the cup at me.

Thinking about my sister Caroline sends a rush of emotion through me. She would havelovedDirk and Connall. I go misty pondering that. Next to me, Lola puts her arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer to her.

“I never had the privilege of meeting her,” she says quietly, “but if she was your sister and the girls’ mother, I bet she was a real badass.”

“She was,” Thea confirms, looking at Wren who’s still smiling at me. After a moment, Thea snort laughs. “And she’d have been hellsa proud of you for locking downtwohotties.”

That makes me chuckle. I don’t know if proud is the right word, but Caroline would have understood. She was the only person in my life growing up besides the triplets whogotme.

“Breakfast” runs until nearly lunchtime. Eventually, Alba stomps back and forth, letting us know she has other customers who “wanna eat sometime this century.”

I stand in front of the Green Bean and watch my nieces leave. Thea’s headed to meet her mate, Shepherd, to do security rounds of the haven. Wren’s off to meet her mate, Ohken the troll, to work a shift at the General Store. And Morgan’s probably off to have sex with her hot vampire husband, if I’m being honest. I’ve barely even seen him since they got mated. I don’t think she lets him leave the bedroom.

Nerves fill me as I consider my afternoon appointment with Connall—our first appointment for not-therapy therapy.

Half an hour after I parted ways with the girls, my hands shake as I knock on the solid wood door to Connall’s office. He’s tucked behind Pack Gem, the shifters’ jewelry store on the main thoroughfare. This is likely a terrible idea, going to therapy with the wolf I kissed last night, who carried me home and tucked me into bed. That’s the last thing I remember—Dirk standing watch as Connall pulled cushy blankets up to my neck.

Am I seriously pursuing two men? Or, rather, allowing them both to pursue me? The reality is I always wanted to be part of a mystical, ethereal world. It’s why I’ve always worked in occult shops and been drawn to that lifestyle. Now I’m living in ahidden monster town, and a wolf shifter and elemental sylph are my…mates?

It feels too good to be true.

I’m pondering that when the door swings open, and Connall’s seductive scent hits me full force. My cheeks heat at the knowing smile on his face. Today, he’s wearing a tee that’s fitted around his chest and arms but hangs loosely over his abs.

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