One fine fae, p.10
One Fine Fae,
p.10
“Um, I’ve just never dated anyone so…tall, before,” she said, clearing her throat. Charlotte tugged at her collar. “Dunk your head under the water and start soaping up from your head and work your way, um, down. You’re not going to get a lather or anything, so don’t worry. It’s working.”
He ducked under the dirty water that smelled of fish and pennies, then took the lid off the jar. The contents smelled considerably better, like jasmine and a little bit like Charlotte. He rubbed the blue liquid into his hair, then scrubbed it over his face and neck. He could feel tiny chunks of metal in the “soap” and he could only assume that was bits of dragon egg. He felt a rush of love and gratitude towards Jillian, for giving up something that meant so much to her. He paused every once in a while to scoop more liquid out of the jar and onto his body. He could feel her magic washing over his skin, like warm, clean bathwater, leeching what was wrong from his being. It was like something in him that he didn’t even know was broken, healed over. He felt whole and right and grateful.
“Duck under the water again,” she told him. And when he raised up from the water, she handed him a towel. “Now comes the hard part. You can’t bathe until the next new moon, which is in two days. It’s kind of like Tupperware, you’re trying to lock in the freshness.”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing the blue stuff smells nice,” he said as the others clapped and whistled. “And I’ll be able to shower before you get back.”
“I’m counting on it,” she said, leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss him. He folded those long arms around her, and they stood there on the edge of the water, the weight of the curse easing away like some burden he’d already forgotten. He wanted to run. He wanted to dance. He wanted the next two days to be over so Charlotte could spend some much-deserved time off in his trailer.
“Can you do anything for the rest of my family?” he asked.
“Sure, Jillian said to use as much of the shell as I wanted. She would rather it be put to good use than sit in a baby memento box,” Charlotte said.
“Would the same stuff work for Jessica?” he asked.
“I hadn’t thought about it,” she said. “Since that’s curse work on a more divine level, I’m not sure it would work, but I can look into it.”
“Do you have to?” he muttered into her hair.
She lightly slapped at his chest. “That’s not very nice.”
“Neither is Jessica,” Leonard replied.
8
Charlotte
Charlotte walked down the hall at the clinic, whistling. Things were very right in her world. Baby Dalinda was thriving and Jillian was recovering nicely. Mrs. Agarwal was due any minute now. And Leonard was celebrating his newfound grace in lots of interesting ways. They hadn’t quite worked up to the most interesting and bendy experiments, but they were getting there.
Jessica was not pleased by this development. Leonard being less cautious in the office meant his work performance was even better. But Leonard’s family was planning a sort of reunion in the Bayou so Charlotte could try to administer the “curse bath” for them as well. She was trying to determine whether she wanted to invite her parents down at the same time and just get all of the “getting to know you” awkwardness out of the way at once. That seemed like a lot to try to accomplish over one weekend.
Will had an early morning house call involving Emily McAinsley, so it was up to Charlotte to open the clinic that morning. She passed through the clinic waiting room to turn the “open” sign on the front door. She jumped at the sight of Dani sitting in the lobby, looking pale and somewhat miserable. Zed was standing over her, wringing his hands as he tried to get her to drink a bottle of water.
“Do I even want to know how you got in?” Charlotte asked.
Zed didn’t even look sorry. “I broke your door. Where the hell is Will? We have an appointment with him in forty minutes and he’s nowhere in sight.”
“I’m fine,” Dani objected. “I just can’t keep anything down.”
Charlotte crossed her arms. It appeared that the day of reckoning had come.
“Hey, Dani. How you doing, hon?”
“I just can’t seem to shake this bug I’ve picked up. I thought it was food poisoning, but it’s lasted for weeks,” Dani said softly, rubbing at her stomach.
“I think it’s something else,” Zed insisted. “Like ‘I can’t believe I didn’t pick up on the signs when Jillian just gave birth in a cave’ something else. But Dani refuses to pee on the stick.”
“Because I’m not pregnant, Zed, so keep your pee sticks to yourself!” she told him, much more firmly.
“Um, Dani, I’m pretty sure you are pregnant. I don’t need you to pee on the sticks. I just know. It’s a fairy thing,” Charlotte said.
“But we used birth control, so much birth control.” Dani’s face went white, then red. She smiled broadly as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Sometimes shifter biology likes to make a mockery of modern contraceptives,” Charlotte told her.
“It’s not going to come out in a big metal egg, is it?” Zed asked, rubbing Dani’s back.
“I’m pretty sure that was a Jillian-specific thing,” Charlotte assured him.
“I’m so happy!” he shouted, kissing a still-sniffling Dani. “But if Jillian threw up lava, what is Dani gonna throw up? Lightning?”
“The lava was also a Jillian-specific thing…though lightning vomit would be really interesting,” Charlotte mused.
“I think I would rather the baby take after you and avoid electric morning sickness all together,” Dani sniffed. “Even if it means giving birth to a small grizzly.”
“Or maybe it will be an electric bear!” Zed mused making Dani’s eyes go wide in panic. He tucked a dazed Dani into his side. “Life in the Bayou, eh?”
Charlotte grinned at him. “Well, it’s not going to be boring.”
About the Author
* * *
Molly Harper is the author of more than thirty paranormal and contemporary romance, women’s fiction, and young adult titles, including the Half-Moon Hollow series, the Southern Eclectic series, the Sorcery and Society series, and the Audible Original Mystic Bayou series. Molly lives in Michigan with her family.
* * *
Be sure to check out https://www.misscastwells.com/ for more information on the Houses, when the next book in the Sorcery and Society series is coming out, and fun fan goodies.
* * *
Where to find Molly
Website: https://www.mollyharper.com/
Twitter: @mollyharperauth
photo credit: J NASH PHOTOGRAPHY
Also by Molly Harper
**all lists are in reading order**
* * *
The Southern Eclectic Series (contemporary women’s fiction)
Save a Truck, Ride a Redneck (prequel novella)
Sweet Tea and Sympathy
Peachy Flippin’ Keen (novella)
Ain’t She a Peach?
Gimme Some Sugar
* * *
The Mystic Bayou Series (paranormal romance)
How to Date Your Dragon
Love and Other Wild Things
Even Tree Nymphs Get the Blues
Selkies Are a Girl’s Best Friend
Always Be My Banshee
One Fine Fae
Shifters in the Night
* * *
The “Sorcery and Society” Series (young adult historical fantasy)
Changeling
Fledgling
Calling
* * *
The “Nice Girls” Series (paranormal romance)
Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs
Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men
Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever
Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors
* * *
Half-Moon Hollow Series (paranormal romance)
The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires
Driving Mr. Dead
Undead Sublet (A story in The Undead in My Bed anthology)
A Witch’s Handbook of Kisses and Curses
I’m Dreaming of an Undead Christmas
The Dangers of Dating a Rebound Vampire
The Single Undead Moms Club
Fangs for the Memories
Where the Wild Things Bite
Big Vamp on Campus
Accidental Sire
Peace, Blood and Understanding
Nice Werewolves Don’t Bite Vampires
* * *
The “Naked Werewolf” Series (paranormal romance)
How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf
The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf
How to Run with a Naked Werewolf
* * *
The “Bluegrass” Series (contemporary romance)
My Bluegrass Baby
Rhythm and Bluegrass
Snow Falling on Bluegrass
* * *
Standalone Titles
And One Last Thing
Better Homes and Hauntings
Molly Harper, One Fine Fae
