Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Nothing moved around me, there were no sounds, no creaks, bumps, sliding, or anything falling off any shelves.
Returning to my grandfather’s study, I sat at his desk and pulled his last journal, simply to remind myself how he organized them. A page flipped open on its own, and I read: Xander has a friend, and this one’s going to stick. She needs him as much as he needs her.
“You’re a sap, old man,” I told him and was instantly surrounded by the scents of leather, cedar, and cardamom.
“It smells good in here,” Toby told me, coming in.
“Yes, it does,” I agreed. “And though I like reminders about my friends, I would appreciate it if anyone could answer my questions.”
When I turned to Toby, I noticed him squinting. “What?”
“When you make your voice like that, all sarcastic like Mom does when she’s mad, the cottage doesn’t like it.”
I sighed deeply. “Well, it would be nice if I could get some help.”
“Yeah, but you live here, so don’t you think it would help you if it could?”
Cold air ran over my skin then, making me shiver. “I’m sorry,” I said into the ether. This was, of course, why the cottage liked Lorne better. Why when he asked for things, they appeared. “Though I really do need help.”
“Maybe what you’re asking is something you already know,” Toby said wisely.
After a moment, I nodded. “You’re right. It could very well be.”
My grandfather’s scent was back then, which said he’d led me to his study, to the entry about Amanda, which translated to her son and the truth coming out of his mouth. Meaning, what Thero had said about the rift was all there was.
Smaller rifts were patrolled, as the nymphs had done. Larger ones, that deities could move through, needed guardians. The rift on Corvus could never be sealed. It was too big. The small ones, as Thero had explained, could be burned up if used by something of immense power. It was a one-way trip. So yes, whatever had come through was powerful, but even with that, it was not a god. My lord Arawn could not come through a sliver rift. Even trying would have combusted it, fried it right up. Originally, my friend Declan, when he was still fae and not human yet, had come through that exact rift. Others who had attacked me, other members of the fae, wolves, a sorceress, had come through one at a time. Which meant that whatever had come through was stronger than all of them. Thero had said other, and now I had to determine what that was.
“I might need to go on a field trip,” I told Toby.
“Me and JJ can come with you,” he suggested, hopeful.
“I’ll think about it.”
“That means no. You always say you’re going to think about it when you mean no.”
He really did know me.
JJ woke up twenty minutes later, dying for blueberry muffins simply because. I understood. Sometimes I had cravings as well.
“I have a question,” JJ began. “This morning at the restaurant the waitress said that I should have oatmeal for breakfast because it would stick to my ribs. What does that even mean?”
“I’ve heard that before too,” Toby commented. “But it doesn’t make any sense. Food would have to get out of your stomach and enter your bloodstream, and that sounds bad.”
“It sounds like the waitress didn’t know what she was talking about,” I assured them.
They both looked at me skeptically.
“Let’s make muffins and have cheese and bread and grapes and cherries.”
Toby’s eyes got huge. “You have cherries?” he asked excitedly.
“Of course I have cherries for you. Mr. Wingate makes sure I always have some because he knows you love them.”
He gave a little whoop of joy that made JJ giggle, and dashed to the refrigerator. The shout of happiness when he found them where they always were made me smile. The warm breeze weaving through the kitchen let me know that my cottage enjoyed the little boy’s mirth as well. I knew it loved both kids, given how often things like colored pencils and magnifying glasses, step ladders and blocks showed up out of the blue.
“Thank you for loving them,” I whispered, and lo and behold, some of Troy’s lavender honey that I had been missing for a couple of days was carried to the table with the cherries.
“Can we have biscuits with honey too?” JJ asked me.
“Of course you can.” I went to grab what I needed for those.
A little after five, the three of us were feasting when Amanda returned with Lorne. He greeted the cottage warmly and then crossed the floor to me. I got a quick kiss, and then he went directly to the bedroom to change. Amanda came into the kitchen and immediately asked JJ to smear some honey on a biscuit for her.