Page 4 of Slaying With Sylphs (Haven Ever After #6)

CHAPTER FOUR

LOU

“ L ou, you alright?” Malik’s voice breaks through the cloud of nothing in my brain.

I rub at my eyes as a yawn escapes me. “Didn’t sleep well. I had weird nightmares.”

My niece, Morgan, rubs my back as Malik clip-clops past a half dozen tables covered with moss, potions, mushrooms and bottles to join us. A pale finger comes beneath my chin and lifts, forcing me to look up into worried eyes and scrunchy eyebrows. He chuffs, swishing his tail against his furry sides. “The same nightmares as before?”

I nod. Morgan lets out a displeased little noise. She’s gotten downright motherly since I arrived in town. I was hell-bent on protecting the triplets from evil monsters, but these days, it seems more like they’re protecting me.

Malik sighs. “It’s not unusual after someone goes through what you went through. But?—”

“You mean after accidentally killing someone?” I pull my chin from Malik’s hold, familiar grief welling up inside for my part in the accident that took Leighton’s life. My heartbeat flutters wildly, stealing my breath as I consider that I might be having an actual heart attack.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Malik murmurs.

“For real, though,” my niece repeats.

“It wasn’t,” I repeat, too, even though it feels rote to say it.

“We keep saying that to you for a reason, Lou,” he continues. “Have you considered talking to the pack therapist about it? Connall is absolutely lovely. I see him once a week, in fact, for braintenance.”

“Braintenance?”

“Brain maintenance,” he says with a laugh.

“You made that up,” I say with accusation. Next to me, Morgan chuckles.

“Yeah, but Connall inspired it,” he responds slyly.

Connall.

Just the mention of the handsome shifter makes my body even tighter than before. I wipe the back of my hand across my sweaty brow.

“Lou, shall we go for a flight?” Malik asks.

I shake my head, my eyes moving around the store. It’s far better if I can focus on the tasks at hand rather than the grief. It’s like, if I stand in place for too long, I might just expire right there from the overwhelm.

“It takes time.” It’s another common response I’ve started to use. I’ve got a handful of them now when people ask me how I’m doing.

It takes time. I’ll be fine. I’m taking it slow. Thanks for your concern.

What people don’t realize about grief is that it comes in waves. One minute, I truly am fine, and the next I want to hide under the table and never come out again.

I can’t remember if Malik asked me a question I haven’t answered or what, so I look up. He wears a kind expression, his hands clasped at his front. With his elegant tailored vest, he looks like a hot monster professor. I glance between him and Morgan, but she gives me a soft smile and goes back to helping organize the crystals. She doesn’t even work here, but I know she’s hanging out to keep an eye on me.

Just then, a bell dings, the sound muffled by the root-bound roof above us.

I know who it is before he announces himself. Wind ruffles my hair, stroking it away from my face and over my shoulder. Turning, I hold back a smile, ‘cause it’ll just egg him on.

“Hello, Dirk,” Malik calls over his shoulder as the tall blue sylph struts into Alkemi with his typical devious expression.

“Louanna, my darling,” he comes to a stop beside Malik, “I’ve a proposition for you as soon as yeh’re off work.” He glances at my niece and winks playfully.

“Hello, Dirk,” she says with a laugh. Giving me an expectant look, she jerks her head toward the door. “I’m gonna head home, Lou. Call me later?”

When she waggles both dark red brows, I resist the urge to stomp on her foot for being so obvious.

“Get outta here, bitch,” I command, shoving her toward the door.

She swats my side and leaves. Dirk watches her go, but once the door closes, he returns his focus to me.

My heart clenches and tightens, fluttering again when he reaches out and brushes his knuckles along my cheek. His skin isn’t as warm as mine. Neon zips of blue lightning travel across it as navy eyes alight on me and crinkle at the corners. He’s so striking, but I try hard not to stare too much—it just encourages him.

“She’s done for today,” Malik says. “Take her out for some fun, would you?”

Something inside me tightens. This feels precariously close to a date. My mind drifts to Connall. If I take this offer, I’m effectively closing the door on ever starting anything with the big shifter.

And this is one of the many reasons I’ve kept Dirk at arm’s length. I don’t want to make that decision.

But then Dirk’s smile goes broad, revealing twin rows of conical teeth. “Fun I can do. Shall we, Louanna?” His hand drifts to mine, his fingers interlacing in a loose grip.

I war with my thoughts. But realistically, going on one date doesn’t have to be serious. “Are you sure, Malik?” I glance up to see my centaur boss frowning. “Okay, okay, I’ll go.”

“That’s my girl,” Dirk praises, winking at me.

Reticent, I allow him to pull me past Malik toward the front of Alkemi, but I can’t resist a glance over my shoulder to see if Malik opens all the boxes that arrived yesterday. It’s so much product, and he’ll have to put it all away himself. But?—

“Stop worrying over Malik,” Dirk whispers in my ear the moment we get outside the potions shop. “He had no helper at all before you, Louanna. He’ll be fine until tomorrow.”

I pull my fingers from his grip and cross my arms. “What is this proposition you’ve got for me?” I look way up into his bright eyes, trying not to get distracted by the flashes of lightning that spark over his skin.

“Yeh’re staring at my body, Louanna,” he murmurs. “Would you like tae touch it?”

Heat flares through me, my cheeks heating. Gods, they must be pink as shit. Whenever Dirk talks dirty to me, I blush, and then I resist the urge to tug at my collar. He’d just smirk and keep doing it.

We’re in a weird place. He’s always made his interest in me known. And gods know I’m attracted to him. But apart from the random touches and innuendo, he’s never actually attempted to kiss me. So I guess we’re super flirty friends? Maybe that’s fine.

Dirk jerks his head toward the treetops. “I’d like to take yeh flying, Louanna. How do yeh feel about that? I’ll take another date tomorrow, as well, now that we’re discussing it.”

I snort at his presumptiveness. “Why are all the men around me constantly trying to fly me places?”

His grin grows impossibly big until he looks like a shark. Pressing forward, he brings his lips to my ear and nuzzles the curved edge.

“Perhaps we all want to touch that beautiful body, love. To feel those thighs wrapped around us. To be close enough to scent yeh. I know that’s what I want.”

Without thinking, I reach up to place my palm on his shoulder. At the last minute, I worry about the lightning—it’s a deadly elemental weapon that can flatten buildings and flood towns—but when I touch his skin, it zips toward me and sunbursts away from my palm.

Fascinated, I remove my hand, and his lightning goes back to normal. I’ll admit I’ve stared at him long enough to know there’s actually a pattern to it, kind of like how Minnie’s fire runs underneath her fur in rivulets.

Curiosity gets the better of me, so I place my hand in a different spot on his trap muscle. Just like before, his lightning redirects to gather under my palm, then bursts outward, zipping its way over his skin.

“No shock.”

He straightens enough to look at me. “I would never shock yeh, Louanna.” He winks. “Unless yeh wanted me tae do it, o’ course, in a sexy way.”

I cock my head to the side. “If I wanted you to? So…you’re like a giant vibrator? Is that what you’re saying?

He laughs and slings an arm around my waist, pulling me close. Immediately, tiny tingles of electricity kiss my skin, pebbling my nipples as Dirk grins like the heathen he is.

“Exactly, Louanna,” he whispers. “Don’t tell me a little tingle doesn’t fascinate yeh.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him he has no idea what fascinates me, but that’s probably not true. Since the day I arrived, he’s been a steady, near constant presence by my side.

And, without meaning to, I’ve become accustomed to that.

I resist the urge to rub at my hard nipples. And I definitely ignore the wetness between my thighs. I’ve been reading up on sylphs at the historical society. Dirk likely has above-average senses of smell and sight, part of what makes him a great hunter for the monster world’s governing body, Hearth HQ. Most elementals are solitary, unfriendly and they can be dangerous.

I never could resist a red flag. Or a blue one, I suppose.

“Okay, I’ll go.”

Dirk’s hand slides up my back until he can grip my neck possessively, pulling my body tightly to his. “I’ve got some fun planned, Louanna. Are you ready?”

Yes.

No.

Sudden worry hits me like a lightning bolt. “You won’t drop me, right?” It’s an irrational fear—of course he won’t—but it still overwhelms me every time I think about flying. Malik’s vest has a handle on the back. That feels safe. I’ve seen Dirk become his element. There’s no corporeal body left. Nothing to hold on to.

Dirk presses a kiss to the top of my head. “I’ll never drop yeh, Louanna. I will never, ever let you fall.”

Joke’s on him though, because I’ve already fallen as far as a person can possibly go.