Ivy
"A paralysis spirit?" Amy asks, eyes wide, while sipping coffee.
I nod and take a pastry from the platter in the middle of the table. Ada's taking a morning break to sit with us. "It was horrifying. I've never experienced sleep paralysis at all and then to have it be real? It was crazy."
"So Conall killed it?" Ada asks. Her purple wings fan out over the back of the chair and her braids are piled on top of her head. I nod.
"And then what? You just went back to bed after that? I don't think I could do that," Layla says, her cat-like yellow eyes following a butterfly that's made it into the café.
I deliberately lift my cup and take a long sip of my chai while heat climbs up my neck and fills my face. Dolly nudges Amy and everyone at the table is staring me down. My God. I am a thirty-year-old woman. I’m not in high school.
"Can I help you?" I ask innocently. They burst out laughing.
"So, can we assume there was no sleep after the scary sleep monster?" Layla pushes.
I push a lock of hair behind my ear and duck my head. "There was not."
More shrieking and kicking under the table.
"Wait, to kill a sleep spirit Conall had to be in hound form. Was he still in hound form for the—" Ada cuts off to make a semi-funny, semi-lewd sound.
"Oh my God!" I scream-whisper. "We are not talking about this."
"That's a yes," Dolly says. They all nod.
Amy sighs into her coffee. "Ah, to find a man who will fuck you into oblivion with his massive monster cock. The dream."
I can tell she's half-joking, but there's a particular look behind her eyes. Like it's something she really wants but will only let herself joke about. I wonder what kind of dating pool she's working from.
"How many people live on this island?" I ask. It's something that hasn't occurred to me. I see lots of repeat customers at my shop, but I also feel like I see a new face every day from the other side of the island.
"About eight hundred or so. I'm not sure there's a specific count," Layla says.
It's so few. I can't imagine living here for twenty-five years without any new visitors.
Looking around and realizing that you want to find someone else.
A partner. A love. But knowing it's not here, and because of what you are, you can never leave and no one new will ever come.
I look around at the other girls at the table.
That's what reinstating the old wards would do. Just continue all of that.
On the other hand, everyone seems to believe that allowing a spell my aunt created might literally blow the island up. My aunt had quite a reputation.
Breakfast wraps up and Amy and I cross over to Shipton Shop.
After we open the store, Amy goes to the back to sort through some old boxes while I look around, allowing myself to finally imagine what I might do with the place.
The fear of having to leave still lingers over everything, but with Conall, it feels as though I'm allowed to breathe again.
As my gaze sweeps over the back shelves, a faint white glow catches my attention.
"Hey, Conall," I call. I was just almost killed by a nightmare demon last night. I'm not dealing with strange lights that shouldn't be there.
Conall pokes his head out from the back section with the jars full of things I'd rather not think about and scans my face. Whatever he sees is reason enough to drop what he's doing and join me at the front counter.
His hand finds my shoulder, warm and grounding. "What's the matter?" he asks, following my line of sight. The light snuffs out before his eyes reach it.
"What?" I round the counter and crouch down in front of the shelf at the spot where I'd seen it.
"Think it was one of Randy's little spies?" he asks, crouching down next to me. "I thought he'd give that shit up when it became clear we weren't just pretending." He leans in and the tip of his nose trails along the skin just below my ear before he kisses my cheek, my chin, and then my pulse.
"Maybe," I hum, but thinking back on it, the light hadn't seemed anything like a will-o'-the-wisp. They’re like fine, glowing mists with a light blue tinge. This had been round and bright and almost solid.
Damn magical islands. Nothing can just be normal for a day. But it's gone, so I shrug it off and promise I'll let him know if I see it again.
The day passes and Conall and I spend the evening reading, eating, and being together in an easy way I wasn't aware was possible. And still, my last thought before falling asleep is of the strange ball of light.