Page 34 of Beyond the Cottage

Ansel didn’t correct the insipid description of what he and Gretta had gone through. He’d never told Jonas the details and didn’t regret it.

“So you never saw her again?” Seven asked. “Until now?”

“I didn’t. I believed she was human, so I looked in the wrong places.”

And why had she hidden her species from him in the cottage? She’d been too young for her volatus to develop, but why hadn’t shetoldhim? He might have found her years ago, before he became a withered husk of a person. He might have recognized her when Jonas brought her to him.

Jonas stopped laughing, but his grin remained. “I can’t tell if I did you a favor or not. Guess you’d be screwed either way.”

“You’re the one to blame for this,” Seven snapped.

Not true. Jonas erred in abducting her, but Ansel had fucked everything else up well enough on his own.

He pushed off the counter and retrieved another bucket.

“So…” Seven went on. “How did Miss Hacker react when she discovered who you are?”

“She despises me more than ever.”

Jonas hooted. Ansel pumped more aggressively and dropped the bucket beside the stove.

Seven chewed her ragged pinkie nail before brightly saying, “She must have missed you, too. Perhaps she’ll come around. If you apologize…”

“There’s nothing I can say that will resolve this.”

Seven opened her mouth to speak and closed it with a sigh.

“What do you plan to do with her?” Jonas asked. “I take it fucking is off the table.”

Ansel grimaced. The memory of kneeling on his bedroom floor, masturbating to thoughts of her, came swift and sharp. He’d found the act perverse before, but now it seemed akin to sacrilege.

Neck burning, he pulled a plate and tray off a shelf. “When the storm passes, I’ll escort her to Antrelle. After, I’ll wait for the pixies to replenish their dust and send them home.” Ansel turned to Seven. “I expect Gretta will go to the police, so you need to leave after the storm. Go far, and lay low for a while.”

“What will you do?” she asked.

“I…don’t know.”

“What about Isobel?”

Ansel would need to pay her a visit. He hadn’t yet had the chance to tell her their business relationship was coming to an end. “I’ll speak with her. I’m certain she’ll be fine.” The old bat always landed on her feet.

“This is goddamn ridiculous,” Jonas said. “I should have left the pixie in that dump I took her from.”

Ansel had no concern for Jonas’s opinion. Family or not, he was finished with his cousin.

Seven, on the other hand, deserved a chance. Once Ansel paid off the pixies, there wouldn’t be much money left, but it should be enough to get her started someplace else.

While the water heated, Ansel rooted around the cupboards. He put a fresh loaf of bread and some cheese on the plate.

Seven collected an apple from a bushel and added it to the tray. “What if she only needs time to forgive you? Time for the dust to settle, as it were?”

Ansel never wanted to hear the worddustagain.

He filled a canteen and draped it over his shoulder before collecting the tray. “Would you please get clean clothing for Gretta?”

Seven nodded.

On Ansel’s way out, he paused in front of Jonas. “If you go anywhere near her again, I’ll make sure you evacuate the farm via an alligator’s asshole.”

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