Page 56 of Werewolves Don't Howl
“The fish of moonlit death. Not quite as lovely as yours, but the way you say it makes up for it. I’ll make sure everything is ready for the trip and meet you out front.” He left the kitchen, leaving me frowning over his name. Elves didn’t hand over their actual birth names casually. Of course, he would have to tell my father his origins if he wanted to be considered an actual suitor. An actual fake suitor.
I shook my head and focused on my cookies. Everything else was too complicated for me and my triad.
The trip wasn’t very long, but it was in the style you’d expect from a wealthy senator. I knitted the whole way in purple cashmere. Bram’s fiance’s sweater was already finished and wrapped in paper I’d hand printed from plants around Cross’s compound. A gnome would appreciate such things, handmade, hand spelled, more time and attention than money.
Cross spent most of the flight on his phone. On the back roads of Bama, Cross drove, putting his phone down like he was focusing on the current mission.
We went over a bump and bounced alarmingly in the large black car.
“This is the wrong vehicle for these roads,” Cross said with a frown.
“It’s fine. Unless the bridge is washed out again. But then we’ll just call for someone to come pick us up. It’s not really on the beaten path. Come to think of it, the whole village is off the beaten path. My parent’s house is in the boonies.”
“Mm.”
“Exactly.” I kept knitting, mangling my project, but it didn’t matter, since it was for him. Not that I’d ever give it to him, but my gnome wanted to wrap him in coziness he could keep forever for giving me so many hugs. Ridiculous gnome.
Finally, we pulled up on the edge of my parent’s fenced front garden. It was twilight, and the fireflies were dancing in the flowers, the pale daisies catching the last light while the scent of jasmine hit me with nostalgia.
I stood there, took a deep breath, and then the front door burst open, spilling warm golden light out on the cobbles.
“Delphi? You actually came?” That was Pennwick, my younger brother who was the tallest, and wanted to be a researcher like my father. He vaulted over the fence and then hit me, knocking me back into Cross before he tried to suffocate us both with his long, brawny arms.
“Delphi’s home!” he cried, picking me up and dancing me around in a circle while I laughed and squeezed him back.
“You’re still a lunatic. How did you get so tall? Papa must be so proud.”
He kissed my cheeks and then put me down before turning and looking at Cross with all the cool aplomb of a snobbish elf.
Cross held out his hand, wearing the warm smile of a perfect politician. “How do you do? I’m…”
Penn ignored his hand. “Senator Silverton. Yes, we know who you are. The question is, do you think you deserve my sister?”
Cross’s smile faded. “Never. But she tells me that I’m very pretty.”
Pennwick squinted at Cross and then grabbed him in a hug that made Cross positively squeak, which was very satisfying. Unfortunately, I was looking at him and didn’t notice my other brothers sneaking up on me.
They grabbed me and lifted me in the air with the cries of true barbarians.
“Fen and Hook, ugh! Put me down!” I said as they carried me towards the house on their shoulders, bouncing every step, but not in time, so I was bumped and jostled more than the car over the road.
“Delphi’s home! Delphi’s back! Now we’re going to make her crack!” Fen sang in his booming baritone.
“Boys! Put her down this instant! Do you want to scare away her beau?” my mother said, coming out and waving her apron at them.
Penn picked her up and tossed her onto Fen and Hook with me, so we bumped heads.
“Delphi!” she cried and grabbed me in a hug, not worrying about being dropped while our precarious group veered around the bird bath in the garden. They were taking the long way to the front door.
“Hi, mama. It’s nice to see you,” I said, but it was muffled, because she’d pulled me into her bosom.
“And you really brought your beau. Boys, put us down! We need to greet Delphi’s beau properly.”
They ignored her and kept dancing and swaying until we made it through the low doorway and into the main hall.
My father was standing at the foot of the curving wooden steps, looking tall and elegant, because he was an elf. He cleared his throat and my brothers let my mama and me slide down to the floor in a heap.
“Delphinia,” he said with a slight smile. “It is good to see you, my dear.”
