17. Ivy
Ivy
Conall is staying close to me at all times.
I didn't realize that this whole protection contract meant we'd basically be joined at the hip.
When I ask again why he can't watch from across the street as he did before, he points out that I almost got eaten by a mimic, and I did get bitten by a baby magical snake.
I focus on feeling irritated, so I don't focus the other things I've started noticing about him.
Like how the dimples in his cheeks become more pronounced when he smiles even a little.
Or like how he angles himself between me and anything he even slightly perceives as a threat.
I remind myself it's just part of his job, but as someone who has always been her own primary caregiver, it catches me off guard in a way I wasn't prepared for.
Not to mention that when the store got busy, he just started working, helping customers find things—including things I'd never heard of, like wormwood.
Then he brought me lunch from the café, and I'd snapped at him, asking what his deal was.
He'd smirked and told me to eat my food.
So now I'm thoroughly confused. Half the time, Conall acts completely annoyed by my presence. The other half, he acts like he actually has a beating heart under that greenish skin.
The city council meeting is after work. The sun is near the horizon, scattering light across the lake and turning everything softly golden.
A breeze rustles the trees. A man with a human body from the waist up and a horse's torso below clops from one lamp post to the next, lighting each. From a certain romance novel I just read I know that it’s a centaur.
Conall is close enough that if I move my hand an inch to the right, I'd graze his.
I don't.
"So, what's the deal with the electricity?" I ask, watching the flames catch inside the old street lamps.
Conall shoves his hands deep into his pockets, as if he'd just noticed how close they were to mine. "Part of why monsters shouldn't live in tight-knit groups near humans. Magic, which all monsters have in some form, really messes with electronics, motors, and computer chips. Anything digital too."
I nod, a thought clicking into place.
"There's a tourist island not far from here. Mackinac. No cars."
Conall smirks. "Ten points for Freckles."
I shouldn't feel as pleased as I do, but I can't help it. It warms me all the way to my toes.
"Yeah, the island's too close to not be affected,” he goes on, “but not close enough for full blackouts like here. They've played the no-cars thing off as a gimmick, but the truth is, it's the machine that gets hit hardest from afar."
I stare. My brain has absorbed more information in the last twenty-four hours than it was ever meant to hold.
"So that's why the electricity sometimes works and sometimes doesn't?"
He nods. "There should be a way to stabilize everything but Laz has never been able to find it."
"I wish he would. I've completely wrecked my streak on Cup Bash." His eyebrow raises. "It's a game on my phone."
The side of his mouth ticks up and a dimple peeks out. I'd never found dimples attractive before, but on his square jaw and face it's working.
"Do you think they're going to kick me off the island?" I ask.
Both eyebrows hit his hairline. "Do you care? It's not like you've been thrilled to find yourself surrounded by us." He gestures vaguely at his claws, his tail, the general greenness.
I avoid his eyes, heat rising to my cheeks. "I may have been a little judgmental when I first found out." He snorts. "It's not like anything prepares you for this," I point out.
He sighs at the sky, all color from the sunset. "I guess that's fair."
The soft concession surprises me. It nudges me toward the other truth, the one I've been holding closer to the vest.
"I can't really leave the island,” I say, and his eyes slant toward me without turning his head. "I don't really have anything to go back to."
His jaw tightens. "What do you mean?"
I take a breath. "I got divorced about a year ago.
He was kind of—" I trail off. Conall’s fully looking at me now as we walk up the road toward a large house near the lake.
"Anyway. I'd started a small business while we were married.
He was supportive at first. We both put money in, but I made some decisions based on trusting him that, in hindsight, were really stupid.
" I laugh, and I can hear how thin it sounds.
"As the business grew and became more successful, he got bitter about how much time I put into it.
Felt emasculated by the money I was bringing in.
There was a lot of other stuff too, but we divorced, and in the settlement, he got the business.
Made it look like he'd done the work and invested everything, because it was all on a computer he'd bought me.
The house was in his name too, his parents' wedding gift to us.
So I've spent a year looking for work in my degrees field that's been swallowed up by AI, crashing in my friend's guest room.
" I take a slow breath, aware of how quickly I can still spiral on this.
"So yeah. I don't have many options beyond making this work. Monsters or no."
He clenches his fist, and a muscle ticks in his jaw. "Ex sounds like a piece of slime to me." Half a growl.
It's my turn to laugh, and his shoulders seem to loosen a little.
"Yeah," I breathe. "He was."
"You don't have anyone else?"
"A sister but she's in college. I need to look out for her. Not the other way around."
His arm brushes mine, and I shiver. My eyes meet his. He's looking at me steadily, brows drawn together. "No one's going to kick you off the island."
It feels more like a promise than actual knowledge. He holds my gaze for another beat before I look away. The big white barn at the edge of the lake has Town Hall painted in large black letters above double doors.
Conall pulls one open, and dozens of pairs of eyes, tentacles, wings, horns, and claws turn in our direction.