Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
I know how to deal with a hellhound.
And it feels like Shy is about to figure out how to deal with my son.
“It really should be…” Dev begins.
Danny picks up an orange and fast balls it at Dev’s head.
“Oww.” Dev’s hand goes to his head as he frowns Danny’s way. “Fine. I’ll stay out of it.”
Words we should all follow.
Chapter Seven
Shy
There’s a light rain falling as I hold Rhys’s hand and lead him out of the big house his parents call home in Frelsi. Earlier in the day, the sun was shining, but now there’s a distinct gloom. So Rhys’s magic can override the magic of the pocket world. Even in a world made of magic, Rhys’s can hold sway.
“Shy,” Rhys begins.
I’m not in the mood. Honestly, it’s been a day, and I’m sick of feeling like I’m not doing what I should be doing. Even when the what I should be doing is offering my virginity up to a Green Man. I knew when Harry left I would have a choice to make. I’ve been putting it off because there’s a part of me that knows giving myself to Rhys will make it so much harder to leave him.
But he’s been kind of an asshole today, so I’m willing to risk it. Maybe I won’t miss his annoyed ass at all. I do a quick pros and cons list. The man is a sex god. I have zero intention of staying virginal all my life, so why not do it with the sex god I’m irritated with?
I pull him out into the rain he’s creating. The two Cŵn Annwn who follow us don’t seem to mind the rain. One of them starts doing zoomies and the other wags his massive tail.
“Shy,” Rhys insists, planting his feet in the grass that is still too high from his earlier issues. “I am not going to make love to you because you want to control me. My father is right about one thing. We should do this properly. We waited this long. We should have a proper ceremony.”
“A proper ceremony would be in Faery.” I know that much. My best friend in all the planes is Evangeline Donovan-Quinn. We’ve been talking about our weddings since I was roughly seventeen. She wants hers in a sacred forest and I knew mine—if I married this stubborn asshole—would be in the high priest’s temple on the Faery plane. I don’t know about the wedding right now, but I do intend to get to the Faery plane. “The good news is I’m already packed.”
“My parents married right here,” Rhys counters. “We don’t have to risk putting you in danger. I’ll start preparing for our ceremony. We can perform it in Herekoretanga.”
“Hey, Green Man, what the hell,” a voice calls out, his Irish accent thick. “You know we get our water from the ground here. There’s no need for this bullshite.”
I look over and the gnomes have joined us. Three small men with red pointy hats and long white beards who are responsible for the big gardens here in Frelsi. Seamus, Tiddle, and Enoch. The one in the middle is obviously their leader. Seamus looks to Rhys with a fierce frown on his face.
“First you grow so much grass we’re going to be digging the crops out for days,” Seamus complains. “You know it will take us a while to establish crops in Herekoretanga. These are supposed to sustain us.”
Rhys turns as the rain starts coming down harder. He faces the gnomes, hands in fists on his hips. “I’ll grow more.”
Enoch steps up, his pointy hat drooping a bit under the rain. “Will you now, Green Man? Because you seem to be struggling. Did you mean to grow the grass so high? Did you know the strawberries were caught in your whatever this is. They grew and rotted in the course of moments. And I was planning a strawberry pie.”
One of the goats joins the gnomes, bleating like she has something to say, too.
“And now poor Maeve has a belly ache,” Tiddle proclaims. “How is she supposed to keep up? You’re treating her like one of those human mowing machines.”
I wanted that strawberry pie, too. I face Rhys. “Now you’ve pissed off the gnomes. Do you know what it takes to piss off the gnomes? Come on. Everyone says if I spread my legs, you’ll calm down and the world will be a better place.”
Enoch sighs loudly and puts a hand to his heart. “Thank the goddess. Someone is thinking straight. Carry on.”
“Yes, turn off the waterworks or we’ll all drown,” Tiddle says as he waves and walks away.
The goat bleats and runs when the hellhound tries to sniff her backside.
“Hey, no eating the goats,” I call out. If the hounds start eating our livestock, everyone will revolt.