Page 194 of Memories Like Fangs
Icould always stare at Quinn for hours, but today, admiring her while she talked was the only way for me not to ruin her surprise.
I had told her that we needed to look at candles and other decorations for the reception tables for our enchanted forest-themed wedding next month, which was only a little white lie. I had been planning my wedding since I could form thoughts, so everything had been sorted and ordered months ago. I had my dress with my bridal party of Simone, Maisie, Nat, Ari, the Archive Guardians, and Talli’s daughters helping me to pick it out. Quinn had her tux, too, but we were saving the first look for the big day. Nevertheless, Quinn was outside the Archive when I got off work, no questions asked. Like with everything for our wedding, she leapt at the chance to watch me obsess over every detail, no matter how mundane. She wanted it to be as perfect as I did, and she was more than happy to do anything in her power to help ensure that.
As we drove toward Little Salem, Quinn told me about how Dinah had stolen one of Clarkson’s favorite toys earlier today. Quinn had that little half-smile dancing on her lips that she got when she was trying not to laugh at a story about our furbabies. Despite the August heat, I welcomed the languid, smoky heat from her voice. Her eyes were aglow and flickering like a firelight. The sweltering sun rays between the passing buildings caught in her curls, being blown back by the air conditioning on full blast, highlighting the golden strands among the chocolate brown. I traced the way her mouth curved around her every word to avert the risk of opening mine and telling her everything.
It wasn’t that I didn’t care about the story. Quite the contrary, Clarkson’s and Dinah’s adventures were my favorite, and I could listen to her talk about them or anything all day. It was more so that if I thought too hard about how her face was going to light up later—or, how it might fall if this didn’t go according to plan—I would just spill everything right here and now to rip the bandaid off. This was my first real secret I was giving to Quinn. Her birthday trip hadn’t counted since she had known what we were doing already and could have guessed the location if she really wanted to. Even her present of the telescope was something she had mentioned. But there was so much room for error in this surprise.
She could hate it.
The timing could be off.
She might think it’s stupid.
Or—
Get a grip, Brydgette Fallon Pierce. Your mate can feel your anxiety,I reminded myself, swallowing as much of my nerves as I could. I focused on her joy and how her hand holding mine lifted to still try and move animatedly, the more she got into the story, while the other smoothly navigated the streetsof Blackbell. When she glanced at me mid-sentence, the bright flecks in her hazel eyes lighting up more, I nodded like I was fully tuned in.
“You should have seen it in Dinah’s mouth! It was so stinking cute! Clarkson noticed her immediately, and she was sopissed. She stared at Dinah like she was trying to choose from a number of different ways to end her. She really takes after me, and I saw it in her eyes today!” Quinn chuckled, and I giggled along.
I had been seriously imagining this for months, starting from when Diego died, but the actual process to make this dream a reality had begun after we made it home three months ago. As her last act as Huntscommander, Quinn’s Mama had handled everything related to her ex-husband, from having him cremated to taking care of his affairs. When she had mentioned clearing out his offices, I had thought about the dragons still mounted in his office in Montana, feeling a deep ping of sorrow for them, and Quinn had caught it immediately. As her first act as the new leader of the family, she had made it a top priority to locate the families of the dragon-shifters to return them home. Aunt Tess had quickly found their files and addresses of where they had been hunted. What followed was a blur of private jet flights, bumpy backroad trips, a few quick cruises by boat, a variety of dragon enchantments I could never imagine, some acts of understandable grieving rage, plenty of apologies and condolences, and a lot of tearful reunions as Quinn and I delivered each dragon home all around the world. It was worth every mile to see the families lay their loved ones to rest properly and gain closure like I had with my mom.
When we finally staggered back through the condo’s front door after the last dragon-shifter was buried, we slept for days straight. There was no enemy on the horizon or mystery to solve, so it was the most restful sleep we had had in months. It was the reset we needed to find our new equilibrium.
“…Dinah paraded it around, doing laps around the living room like she was the queen of the house.” Quinn’s fingers shifted my sapphire engagement ring back and forth absentmindedly. The scales on my finger were tattoos now, like my other scales, having still not fully subsided from wearing the ring and my dragon still relishing its power even after all this time had passed. Occasionally, during her story, Quinn lifted our clasped hands to kiss the ring and my hand before continuing.
Quinn was still getting used to being a Huntscommander, and I was still adjusting to being her dragon-shifting mate and the first one in history. The hearings for Cooper’s death and Diego’s thereafter had been awkward as fuck with the weirdest vibe I had ever felt. The Hunter Councilveryvocallywasn’t the biggest fans of my whole existence, and they poo-pooed my and Quinn’s mating bond as an “unvetted convergence.” Still, they had not found any wrongdoing in their investigations. So, Quinn was free to lead the family into a new era, picking the jobs she wanted now. Assignments had slowed down quite a bit, going from several a month for all of the family to just a handful of legit threats each month, mostly rogue shifters or berserk vampires in small towns. I had gone along for a few, mostly because I hated being without my girlfriend with a promise, and seeing her in action was hot as fuck.
After the initial protective anger over me and Quinn taking on Quinn’s father by ourselves passed, Uncle Everett admitted how proud he was of us. He often teased Quinn by calling her a “Huntress Queen” now. Quinn would always threaten to start making the family into griffin-shifter hunters with him as the first target, especially since she still owed him for the early morning training session he made us do. As they argued about whether that training was worth it, Teddy and I would shake our heads in stereo side-by-side. The only thing that elicited more eye-rolling in the house was how much planning was alreadydone ahead of Everett’s and Teddy’s wedding in December. They loved everything I had shown them, but Everett still wasn’t sure whether he was impressed or concerned about how much wedding-planning I had done years in advance, with only the finer details about his partner left out.
“The way that Clarkson pounced on Dinah for playing withhertoy in front of her?” The sound of Quinn’s laughter was a freshly lit match, striking fast and catching onto my doubt and nerves. It spilled out of her, so warm and sweet like honey in a hot cup of tea. It was the kind of laugh that made you feel lighter just from hearing it. “It reminded me of when I would fight one of the cousins, and theyreallyhad it coming.”
“Like Cody over that shit he said the other day?” I chuckled.
“Exactly! It’s so satisfying, karma in action right before my eyes.”
The cousins had all moved to Blackbell in some fashion, unable to take their mother’s suffocation. Aunt CK was softening toward Quinn again, but she was still cold whenever I was in the room. Mama and Aunt Tess helped me not notice most of the time. Cody and Nat shared an apartment, and it was a daily miracle that they hadn’t killed each other yet. Nat was a welcome fixture at Sunday brunches with me, Simone, and Maisie. Her dating stories were so horrific that they added a new level of entertainment to our weekly catch-ups. I had already memorized her conquests since she had moved to Blackbell, including the minotaur with the hairy peen, the she-wolf who ate her out after too many vodka Redbulls, the threesome in the backseat with the fire elf and slyph girls, and the couchless salamander-shifter hockey player she was with now. The girls had started calling me the Archive of sexual memories for my talents. Cole and Simone had moved in together, and Cole had enlisted me, Quinn, Nat, and Maisie to help him choose a ring for Simone to propose after my and Quinn’s wedding was over.
After everything that had happened to all of us in the past year, we were planning beautiful surprises for the future we dreamed of, instead of reacting to jumpscares crafted by our worst nightmares of our past.
Quinn and I were laughing about Clarkson sitting on Dinah in revenge after she had reclaimed her toy when she had parked. Ever the gentle-lady, she came around to open the door for me and take my hand to help me out. She held it as we crossed the street.
It captured her attention immediately.
The corner lot was one of those grand old expansive houses that time and modern ambition had converted into a business as Blackbell grew around it. It was painted a dark navy-blue and adorned with elegant and stately Southern Gothic lines and curls of rustic dark wood trimming it. A backyard fenced with the same wood stretched wide behind it, and a decent-sized parking lot hugged the side. A sweeping window on the ground floor with the dark outline of the freshly removed letters of “The Hollow Hearth Inn” reflected the afternoon light. Above, a wrought-iron terrace crowned a flatter part of the roof packed with a variety of spires and slopes. A narrow balcony jutted from the second floor, inviting you to look out over the streets of Little Salem. ASoldbanner was stamped across the For-Sale sign standing in the parking lot. Quinn slowed like the property had called her name.
“This is so beautiful!” Quinn said, awestruck.
“You think so?” I asked, trying to keep my tone light and nonchalant.
“Yes! That backyard is huge! So is the parking lot!”
I nodded, glancing toward it. “The parking lot’s big and a rare find here. And, it’s close to the Midnight Railways, too. Honestly, the location all around is perfect: right in the heart of Little Salem near everything with plenty of traffic, both foot and car.
Quinn was already drifting toward the building, tugging me along until she could peer through the wide front window. Her breath fogged the glass as she leaned in like a kid looking into a candy store’s display. “Wow, the inside isginormous, too! Look at all of those built-in shelves! Oh, and all the windows? The natural light they would let in here would be so amazing, Byrdie. I think I can see even more through that hallway on the far end. I wonder what this was before?”
“A bed and breakfast, I think? But they wereterriblebusiness owners. You’d have to be to mess up around here. I read through their reviews, and they served beets with every meal. Evenbreakfast. It’s a wonder they lasted as long as they did.”
Quinn laughed, the sound warm and unguarded while it curled deep behind my ribs. “This place is an absolute dream. It would make such an incredible restaurant.”
