Page 90 of The Only Purple House in Town

“Is that…okay?” Rowan asked.

“Better to ask forgiveness than permission?” Eli joked. “But seriously, you might want to learn from my mistakes and let everyone else know.Beforeit blows up on you.”

“Noted,” said Rowan.

The rest of the ride was quiet, and soon they reached Bev’s and ordered their food. Once that was taken care of, Henry Dale sat forward with a purposeful gleam in his eyes. “Now then,here’swhy I wanted to talk to you…”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Iris expected someone from thecity to arrive the same day because catastrophes tended to cluster.

She was wrong about that, and it felt sort of…anticlimactic to go about her business like things hadn’t changed irrevocably. But she still had bills to pay, jewelry pictures to edit and upload, and laundry to wash. After ticking the first two items off her list, she hauled her hamper all the way down from attic to basement. By the time she got to the washer and dryer, she was exhausted physically, a nice match for her emotional wreckage.

It was impossible to forget how Eli had offered to haul dirty clothes for her. But now he was gone, just as she’d demanded. Iris had no idea why a fleeting moment in childhood meant so much to him. She’d thought they knew each other well, but he was an enigma now, the type of person she never would’ve even met in the normal course of things. Hell, Eli probably had a private plane.

Ugh, stop thinking about him.

Tiredly, she plopped her dirty clothes in the washer, added detergent, and started the cycle. This machine was delightfully simple; there weren’t a lot of options, mostly just hot and coldon the dial. She turned to go back upstairs when something odd caught her eye. Since the basement was a bit creepy, she didn’t spend a lot of time here.

But surely I would’ve noticed…

A door. There wasdefinitelya door etched into the foundation wall on the far side, right next to the shelving full of homemade canned goods of indeterminate age.That wasn’t there before.A door there made no sense; it must lead right into the ground. As Iris stared, unable to understand she was seeing, the seams on the sides filled with light.

And then the door opened.

Or more accurate to say it dissolved and became…more of a portal. Two beings stepped through, lithe and graceful and ageless. At first they seemed to be made of light and flowers, but eventually her eyes resolved, or perhaps their forms did, assuming a more comprehensible guise. The taller one had ink-dark hair, skin and eyes like a starry night, while the more feminine-looking one had hair golden as a koi in a Japanese pond with eyes like the violets on the side of the house.

They’re fae.

That was the only answer that made sense. Awe and wonder pervaded her from head to toe; this must be how humans felt since the dawn of time when confronted with immortality. Yet Iris had no sense of how she was supposed to handle a couple of powerful, ancient entities suddenly porting into her basement laundry room. Behind her, the antiquated washing machine sloshed without decorum, rumbling through the beginning of the cycle.

For lack of any better ideas, she bowed. “Uh. Hello. Welcome.”

To her utter astonishment, they rushed to her and embraced her on both sides. They spoke in a strange language, except…the more they said, the more it started to feel familiar. Sounds gained meaning, and then, suddenly, shedidunderstand every word.

“We found you,” the fair one said.

“Our precious blossom,” the dark one added.

Iris had a hard time getting her breath, let alone finding words. The hold they had on her wasn’t painful, but it had a strange effect. “I don’t understand.”

“Come with us.” The taller one pointed to the shimmering doorway. “You don’t belong here. We’ll explain everything once we’re home.”

Somehow, she found the fortitude to withdraw, stepping away from the powerful grasp that made her skin feel too small. “I… No. This is my home. I’m willing to hear you out, but I’m not just…following you into the light. In case you didn’t know, for humans, that’s a euphemism for death.”

“But you’renothuman,” said the fair one.

How freaking weird—it was like they spoke with the voice of a wind chime, eerie, charming, and wholly disconcerting.

“I’m still coming to terms with that, okay? But I’ve been raised as a human for twenty-seven years, so cut me some slack.”

The taller being seemed surprised, touching their partner’s arm in apparent dismay. “Twenty-seven mortal years? Has it been that long? We were looking for a baby. We didn’t recall how differently time moves between the realms.”

“Can we speak in more agreeable environs?” the fair oneasked with a flicker of distaste for the exposed pipes and wires suspended above the cracked cement floor.

“Oh, sure. Let’s go upstairs.” Iris led the way and ran into Sally, who was making tea in the kitchen.

The older woman nearly dropped the porcelain pitcher when the other two came in. “Uh. Holy crap. We have…guests. Otherworldly guests.” She lowered her voice to a whisper that the others could doubtless hear. “Help me out. Angels? Demons?”

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