Page 106 of Reluctant Rogue

Naomi raised her brows at her sister. “Angus said he wasn’t, didn’t you hear him?”

“Well, yeah, he said Hurin wasn’t a demon, not that there wasn’t such a thing.”

“Oh, right.”

Naomi turned her questioning gaze to Liam, who shrugged and threw his hands in the air. “Don’t ask me! I didn’t even know there were real dragons and unicorns, until I came to this place.”

Beth mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, “What good are you, then?” under her breath.

Naomi grinned at Liam, who grinned back at her.

“I can’t wait to be able to tell Douglas and Troy about all this.”

“Oh, my God!” She doubled over with laughter. “They’ll die!”

Beth poked at Naomi’s side with one finger. “Listen up! This is serious.”

Naomi turned her attention to her sister, as did Liam.

“What is it?”

“Out there in the woods, just before she Changed into a unicorn, Lady Flora , she Changed first into a young woman, remember?”

“Oh! That’s right.”

Naomi looked at Liam, her fingers threading through his. “It wasn’t quite like our Change,” she explained. “There was the mist like we get when we Change, but that came later. Lady Flora stood up straight, like, all the way. She was taller than us, and young, like…”

“Like one of the elves in Lord of the Rings,” Beth put in when Naomi paused, at a loss for words.

Naomi nodded. “Exactly. Timeless, you know?”

“So is she actually young?” Beth asked Liam. “And that’s her base form? And being old is just a … a camouflage, or something?”

“Hell if I know,” Liam shrugged. “But, I’m going to guess she’s old. Unicorns… all the mythologicals… they’re immortal, I do know that much. At least, I guess they can be killed, but they don’t age, or die of old age. I’m going to guess Lady Flora uses the form of an elderly woman to keep from gaining attention. People would overlook her. Underestimate her.”

Naomi was nodding. “Yes, that makes sense.”

“Her young form would really get attention,” Beth concurred. “She was… beautiful. But beautiful doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

“She was amazing,” Naomi sighed, remembering. “Like something from a dream.”

Beth nodded. “The very best kind of dream.”

Liam nudged Naomi with his shoulder. “Okay, come on, milady. I want to take you out for ice cream.”

Naomi perked right up. “Oh! That sounds wonderful! Let’s go inside and put the game away, and I’ll get my jacket and purse.”

Beth pretended to sulk. “That’s just ‘cause I was winning at Scrabble.” She followed Naomi inside, though, and together they began picking up the game pieces. “I’m going to have some of this hot apple cider Renee put out, and go have a nice relaxing bubble bath. I love that the suites have their own bathtubs, and we don’t have to share with people in other rooms. Bring me back a hot fudge sundae?”

“You got it, sis.”

Chapter30

Liam’s browsrose as Naomi and Beth made their way into the dining room the next morning. They were dressed identically, right down to the colorful sparkly ties to their sneakers, the only difference being the colors of the bulky Aran sweaters they wore over their jeans. Naomi’s was a deep forest green, while Beth’s was a deep amber.

“You two really do look like peas in a pod.”

He drew Naomi to him, their lips meeting for a long moment. He raised his head, basking in the warm glow of holding her in his arms, her lovely smile lighting up the room.