Page 34 of Beyond the Cottage (After the Fairytale #1)

Chapter 34

T hat night, Ansel pushed his plate away, unable to consume another bite. Lil had profusely apologized for the simple food—lake trout the size of a marlin and roasted vegetables—but to Ansel, it had been the finest thing he’d eaten in ages.

The plates were cleared from the low tables, and Ansel listened to Lil tell a story about some heist gone wrong. The room hummed with conversation, the tables surrounded by nereids sitting on cushions. Two of them settled in the corner with guitars, tuning them, and another joined with hand drums.

Apparently, the celebration was soon to begin.

As the band warmed up, the other nereids left their tables to cluster in couples and groups on the scattered cushions. Fingertips dragged across skin, and the nereids toyed with each others’ hair.

Ansel shifted uncomfortably. Maybe he could politely excuse himself before the copulation commenced? The last thing he needed was an evening spent with Gretta watching strangers casually fuck.

“What’s the deal with train robbing?” Gretta asked Lil. “It doesn’t line up with what I’m seeing here.”

Ansel’s attention returned to the conversation—he’d had the same question.

“The land and lake provide,” Lil said, “but there are still things to pay for.”

“Okay, but stealing?”

“Do you know who we steal from, munchkin?”

Gretta frowned. “Yeah. People trying to get from point A to point B.”

“Nope. We only steal from passengers when a private car falls in our lap. Today, we were looting goods being shipped by a coal magnate to decorate his new mansion. More important, do you know who owns the train line?”

“Gildevrek Industries,” Ansel said. Gretta raised a brow, and he shrugged. “It was printed on the side of the train.”

Lil winked at him. “And what do you know about Cornelius Gildevrek?”

“He’s rich,” Gretta said. “He owns half the real estate in the capital. Isn’t he also the guy whose daughter fell asleep for seven years?”

“One and the same. Besides gobbling up property and defiling the land with railways, he built a textile mill a few miles from here.”

“What’s the big deal about a textile mill?” Gretta asked.

“The chemicals and dyes are toxic,” Ansel said. “Irresponsible waste management could devastate the local environment.”

Lil nodded. “It also sucks water from the lake like a siphon. He’s been robbing us a lot longer than we’ve been robbing him.”

Lil went on a diatribe about the nefarious Mr. Gildevrek, and Ansel returned to scanning the room. The band had begun a lively tune, and three nereids danced by the fireplace, robes transparent in the firelight. At another table, a woman had her hand up her neighbor’s dress.

Gretta let out a laugh, startling Ansel. Heron had moved closer to her, his broad shoulders flagrantly invading her personal space.

Ansel hadn’t heard that sound from her since they reunited. He narrowed his eyes.

Heron scribbled another hilarious quip, and Gretta smiled. The man inched nearer to her, and his grin went from shy to adoring.

Forcing himself to ignore it, Ansel focused on the flames in the fireplace.

His truce with Gretta didn’t give him the right to interfere. It didn’t mean a claim staked. His unruly cock might disagree, but he’d shut it up with his hand when he was alone in the loot room.

The band whipped into a frenzied reel. Someone to Ansel’s right hummed with the music, tapping their thigh, and wet kissing came from his left, punctuated by a grunt. Gretta laughed again.

Suddenly grateful he had to piss, Ansel shot to his feet and escaped.

Lil held out a pungent cigarette, and Gretta shook her head. She watched Ansel weave between tables on his way to the corridor, wondering if he was overwhelmed. She’d never seen him in a social environment before. He’d lived in isolation a long time, and Lil’s people were friendly but exhausting.

Should she check on him? Or would that be annoying? What if he wanted a few minutes alone?

Quit over-analyzing his every move. He probably just needs to piss.

Lil scooted closer, adjusting her short, gauzy gown. She reminded Gretta of a lavender-haired goddess presiding over mortals.

“I don’t suppose the two of you are looking for someplace new to settle?” Lil asked. “We could use fresh blood around here.”

“Thanks, but this isn’t really my scene.” At heart, Gretta was a city girl, and the lack of privacy would aggravate the hell out of her.

After taking a drag, Lil passed the cigarette to Heron. “What about Ansel?”

Gretta was about to decline on his behalf, then she stopped to think about it. He had business in the capital, but she could actually kind of see him happy in a place like this. He’d be part of the family he’d never had. They’d give him the structure his orderly mind needed and the affection he craved. Not to mention, on-demand sex.

She pictured him in a nereid orgy and got nauseous. To distract herself, she focused on their reason for coming.

“How long has your sister been missing?” she asked Heron. The grimness washing over him twisted her heart, but she needed the facts.

About six months , he wrote.

“How many other victims have there been?”

“Eight we know of,” Lil said. “Most are choir people from a few towns over, but she also nabbed an opera soprano who’d retired on the lake.”

“What does your sister look like?”

Sorrow deepened on Heron’s face. Blue coloring like me. Few inches shorter than Lil. Beautiful like you.

Gretta felt herself flush. “What does the witch look like?”

White hair. Short, plump.

“Did she use anything when she attacked you? A talisman? A staff? A weapon, even?”

Heron shook his head.

“Did she speak to you?”

No. Only laughed.

Gretta’s mouth tightened. “Can you think of anything else about her? Even small details help.”

Heron thought a moment. She wore a necklace. All I remember, sorry.

Gretta put a hand on his arm. “Look… I’m going to do my best to find your sister, but that’s all I can promise. You need to prepare yourself for the other possibility.”

Eyes cast down, Heron nodded. I understand. Thank you, Miss Hag Hacker.

“Gretta,” she said.

Bluish skin flushed purple, he gave her a smile, and she returned it. People didn’t usually like her at first, so his starstruck delight was novel. She also felt comfortable around Heron. His grief reminded her of Ansel as a kid, and it made him feel familiar, or something.

She squeezed his hand, and Ansel emerged from the tunnel. He stopped short in the middle of the room, eyes narrowed at Heron. Naturally, River appeared out of nowhere to intercept him. She pulled Ansel’s hand, and he resisted at first, then he let her lead him to a pile of cushions near the fire.

Gretta did her best not to throw up her carrots.

“Want me to say something to her?” Lil asked.

“What do you mean?” Gretta watched River gracefully sink to the cushions, tugging Ansel down beside her.

Lil sighed. “As the goddess ordains, we practice free love, but we do it ethically. If he’s your man, River will honor that.”

“He’s not my man. He can do whatever he wants.”

Lil smirked and took a pull off the cigarette. A nearby couple started grunting and moaning.

“What does free love mean, anyway?” Gretta asked. “Is this some kind of sex cult?”

Lil laughed, and Heron smiled.

No cult , he wrote. Love is part of the natural world.

“But you all keep bringing up your goddess.”

“Think of it as an energy, not a religion,” Lil said. “We believe love is part of that energy. Sharing our bodies is one way we express it.”

That didn’t exactly clear things up, but to each their own. Gretta had never given much thought to alternative relationships because she never thought about relationships period. She had better ways to waste her time.

Heron nudged her with his chalkboard. Love is the way to heal what wounds us.

“Um, yeah,” Gretta said. “Right on.”

I see your eyes, he wrote. I don’t know what happened to you, but I know how it feels .

It startled her, but maybe it shouldn’t. As much as she understood Heron’s trauma, she supposed he could understand hers, too.

She recalled what Brand had said a million years ago at the Painted Tit, but couldn’t bring herself to say anything. When it came to talking about the past, understanding wasn’t enough. She liked Heron and Lil, and they’d probably be happy to listen, but they were new acquaintances.

Ansel, on the other hand…

The band kicked into a sultrier tune. Once again, Gretta’s eyes strayed across the room. Ansel and River weren’t touching, but the pretty nereid lay on her stomach beside him, staring raptly like he was the most fascinating man to ever explain chemistry.

Except, Gretta was pretty sure it wasn’t chemistry on their minds. At least, not the sciencey kind.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Lil asked. “He may not be your man, but I’m picking up…tension.”

“It’s fine.” Totally and completely fine.

And even if it wasn’t, what the hell was she supposed to do about it? Send Lil over to drag River off by the ear and wag her finger at Ansel for doing what any unattached, touch-starved man would do? Gretta had no right to give a fuck.

“What is he to you?” Lil asked. “I’m damn sure you aren’t related.”

“We’re friends. I think.”

Have you known him long? Heron wrote.

“Fourteen years. But who’s counting?”

“Damn, girl, that’s a lot of built up steam.”

“Not really,” Gretta lied. “We were friends as kids, but we only reconnected recently.”

Lil’s gaze appreciatively took in Ansel. An extra button on his shirt had come undone, exposing his excellent upper chest.

“I bet you wouldn’t mind a little steam,” Lil said.

Gretta shrugged. Why deny it? It jarred her to view her childhood friend in a sexual light, but the evidence of her attraction had more than piled up.

You’re in love with him? Heron wrote.

Gretta started. “Fuck no! I only came around to being friends this afternoon.”

“Goddess forgive me, but love ain’t necessary for fucking, munchkin. Why don’t you make your move?”

“What if he…” Told her to go to hell? Decided getting physical wasn’t worth the headache?

What if he agreed to it?

Much as she wanted him, she’d never fucked anyone she cared about before. Wouldn’t it be reckless to act on her attraction? Add complication to an already complicated situation? Now that she was rekindling the most important friendship of her life, wouldn’t it be smart to avoid messiness? “I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

“As if that ever stopped anybody.”

“I’m not sure he even wants to.”

Lil snorted.

Against her better judgment, Gretta glanced at Ansel and River again. River leaned over him with her arms propped above his shoulders, her curly hair hiding his face.

Were they kissing ?

Heron tapped her. You don’t look good.

She hardly registered him. Apparently, possessiveness had become another new facet of Gretta’s personality. Between apologizing, forgiveness, and rampant jealousy, she barely recognized herself anymore.

She stared in a daze, and Heron’s arm sympathetically squeezed her shoulders.