Gary, who’d crossed his redwood-length legs, gazed down at Bellamy with concern. “That’s good to hear. Now, what’s this about you and a curse, young miss?”
Bellamy’s head hung low, but Nova was right there beside her, reaching out her chubby hand to grab Bellamy’s as she explained.
Sten looked out over the horizon as Gary and Bellamy chatted, squinting. “Damn. I don’t think we’re going to make the exterior of the northside until late tomorrow. That puts us another day away from my mother’s possible safety, but it isn’t smart to travel at night through that part of the forest. We can’t save her if marauders get us first.”
“It’s not like we’re fucking weak. I’m a damn vampire. She’s a werewolf. Wanda’s a friggin’ mutant—”
“Nina!” Marty shouted. “Why are you such a jerk?”
But Sten held up his hand. “A tracking troll could easily smell what you are, Nina. It would use the appropriate weapon to snuff you out.”
“Dude, you keep telling me how peaceful you bunch of rainbow-colored nuts are, but every time I turn around, you tell me someone else might wanna fuck with us. What gives?”
Wanda’s shoulders sagged. “It means, Nina, there are bad people everywhere. Now close that vortex of a hole on your face and let’s decide what to do.” Turning to Sten, she said, “I know you’re worried about your mother, but we want get to the north alive, right? So we play this safely.”
Sten nodded, his lips thin, his face a bit stricken. “Right. I know you’re right. Either way, we’ll have to stop again tonight. You still okay with that, ladies? Or do you want me to have Gary guide you back?”
Nina cracked her knuckles and adjusted her hoodie. “In for a fucking penny, in for a fucking pound. We’re here till it’s over, and when I find out who this motherhumper is, I’m going to whip his ass like cream for making me walk from one end of the goddamn Earth to the other to find him.”
Marty yawned and stretched her arms. “I say good call, Sten, but do you think it could be anywhere but a cave? I’m not sure my back’s up to it tonight.”
Wanda nodded her head. “What she said. I think I still have some shrapnel in my hip from the dirt and gravel. I know we’re immortal, but we’re not immune to aches and pains because we aren’t getting any younger.”
Last night, when they’d finally made it to the middle of Troll Hill, they’d opted to stop because Nova had looked so ragged. Sten took them to a cave, carved out of the beautiful mountain in Troll Hill, called, what else, Troll Mountain.
According to him, people camped in these hidden spots all the time. So they’d set up a small campsite complete with a fire and stopped for the night, but it had been mighty uncomfortable and Murphy’s spine was telling the tale today.
“Then let’s do this shit,” Nina encouraged. “The sooner we get there, the sooner I can kill the Sten-alike.”
“I will warn you all, this part of the trek isn’t bright and sunny like the first half. We’re entering fairy territory, and while it’s not what I’d call hostile, they can be suspicious of new people. But I know someone there, and she’ll loan us a room or two for the night.”
“Fairies?” Marty said with a clap of her hands. “As in wings-and-the-size-of-butterflies fairies?”
Sten nodded with an amused smile. “Mostly. Though, there are some who’d take exception to that description. They’re tiny, but they’re mighty.”
Marty smiled. “God, the kids would love this, wouldn’t they, guys? Hollis still loves Tinkerbell, even if she now claims she’s too old for that stuff, I still catch her watching Peter Pan from time to time.”
Nina snickered but her smile was fond. “Charlie would eat this shit up. You know how she loves a Disney princess.”
“Of all the children I could have had in the world, Olivia isn’t all that impressed with anything feminine. In fact, she’d much rather play a rousing game of roll the football in the mud with Auntie Nina than she would enjoy a Barbie,” Wanda remarked in dry tones.
Nina pounded her chest and grinned. “That’s my baby girl!”
But Wanda jabbed her finger in the air and smiled a proud smile. “But my Sam? I swear, he’s going to be a scientist—a mad one. He’s forever mixing things together and making a mess of whatever he touches.”
Murphy smiled at their chitchat about their children. She still wasn’t sure how a vampire and a half vampire had created babies, but like most of their tales, that was surely a story for another time.
Besides, she was more invested in their dynamic—in how they loved and cared for each other’s children like they were their own. She’d seen Wanda and Marty do it with Carl as much as they’d done it with Charlie, and she was as certain Nina did the same with the other children in the brood.
Their bond was so deep, so unbreakable, Murphy had to look away. It was a silly thing to envy, but it reminded her of how much things needed to change in her own life.
So, as they said their goodbyes to Gary and began to make their way deeper into the forest where the giant troll had removed the detour, Murphy found herself thinking about how she could open up more, give more, invite more people into her life.
She’d been so engrossed in thought; she didn’t realize how much the scenery had changed.
“Murphy,” Wanda said, tugging at her arm as they stopped in a small clearing. She grabbed her hand and held it to her chest. “Look. Isn’t it beautiful?”
Murphy’s head popped up and her eyes scanned the scene before her.
Tiny lights blinked on and off, like fireflies off in the distance, dotting every bush and tree as they zipped from place to place, making circles in the night air.
Tall trees surrounded the clearing, rich with multicolored leaves and fruit she couldn’t identify, but were plump and juicy-looking. Tiny polka-dotted mushrooms dangled from some branches, hanging so low, you could reach up and pluck them.
Cottages, all ironically human-sized, with thatched roofs and wishing wells in the yards were everywhere, some with their occupants outside and enjoying the evening, others with the lights on inside, where Murphy could see them sitting with their families at dinner tables or in rooms with fireplaces.
The hum of laughter, light and tinkling, hit her ears…and that was when Murphy realized the buzz she kept hearing belonged to the fairies—it was their wings fluttering.
Soft music played in the distance, and she wasn’t sure if it was manmade or from a radio, but it was sweet and it jingled a light, happy tune in her ear.
“Oooo,” she breathed out, her eyes wide. “It’s…”
“Magical, huh?” Wanda said on a soft laugh as she wrapped her arm around Murphy’s shoulders and gave her a hug. “And you belong to this now, Murphy. How magnificent for you. How utterly, wonderfully magnificent.”
Murphy was so busy being dumbstruck by the sights and sounds, she almost missed a fairy who flew directly at Sten, hurling its tiny body at him.
“Sten!” a small female voice chirped, full of happy excitement. She launched herself at his hair, ruffling it up as she zipped through it, the light of her wings making zigzags of disappearing color.
He laughed out loud, that rich, hearty laugh that made her bones melt, and snatched the fairy from his head to hold her up for inspection. “Serena! It’s been forever, hasn’t it? I’m damn glad to see you.”
She sputtered a tiny tinkle of a laugh and nodded with a quick jerk of her head. “It has. But we’ll fix that right this second. Now, don’t you worry about a thing. I’ve prepared everyone for your friends and given them a warning to behave. There will be no hijinks on my watch. So c’mon, over to the house, because I have a little surprise for you!”
Sten grabbed Murphy’s hand with a contented smile on his face as he pulled her toward him to introduce her to the tiny-winged fairy. “First, let me introduce you to the newest member of Troll Hill. This is Murphy—a new troll, Serena—and Wanda, Marty, Nina, and of course, Nova, and the reason we’re here.”<
br />
She zipped around in a circle before hovering midair, planting her hands on her tiny hips, her smile broad on her pretty face. “Welcome to our little village, ladies! Glad to have you. Follow me and we’ll get you fed and settled.”
She took off in a blast of light like some grand marshal in a parade as, single file, they walked through the village along the cobblestone pathway. The tiny dots of light stopped moving, and Murphy felt the hot stare of their eyes boring holes into the back of her head.
“Nothin’ to see here, lookie-lous!” Serena shouted, buzzing back and forth. “And if you think there is, you come see me, and I’ll set you straight!”
“Psst, Serena,” Sten whisper-yelled. “It’s okay. They’re just being cautious. I get it. We get it.”
“The hell!” she belted out. “Any friend of mine is a friend of theirs. Period, and I’ll have no questions asked.”
Murphy hid her laughter with her hand and whispered, “Maybe you should take lessons from her on how to rule Troll Hill? She seems to have it in the bag.”
Serena whizzed toward her, wings madly flapping. “You bet I do, and now, my surprise!” she declared, the light of her wings shimmering pink and gold.
Sten gripped Murphy’s hand tighter as they stopped at the gate surrounding a cottage at the end of the lane they’d strolled.
“A surprise?” Sten asked, and his tone sounded cautious. “What have you done, Serena?”
“Surprise!” a voice, sultry and deep, yelled as it burst from the doorway.
“Oh, Odin,” Bellamy murmured.
“Who’s that?” Nova asked as she clung to Bellamy’s hand.
Bellamy sighed, shooting Murphy a sympathetic look. “Sten’s ex-girlfriend, Anitra.”
Oh. Odin.
Chapter 18
Sten looked as surprised as Bellamy did at the gorgeous blonde with wavy hair who slinked her way out of Serena’s cottage, but that didn’t make Murphy feel any less like a big fat lump of soft dough, freshly popped from her can.
Talk about gorgeous. She’d obviously opted to use her human form, and as she threw her long, very human, very svelte body at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, she planted a wet kiss in the area of his lips.
To Sten’s credit, he turned his face so she only caught the corner of his mouth, but it didn’t make Murphy feel any better. It didn’t even make her feel better when he firmly set her away from him.
Still, his voice was amicable if not a bit stiff when he said, “Anitra. Good to see you. What are you doing here?”
Bellamy leaned into Murphy, who’d taken a step back to let the two greet one another without interference from the newb pink troll. “They broke up about a year ago. Amicably, but I don’t get why she’s here. I bet she was visiting and Serena thought it would be fun to reunite them because they parted on good terms. She doesn’t mean anything by it, I promise. I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, Murphy.”
She licked her lips nervously. That was ridiculous. She had no right to be uncomfortable about Anitra—or anything regarding Sten and his romantic life. They’d just met.
“Why are you sorry? I hardly know your brother,” she replied, hoping it didn’t come off sounding too defensive.
Bellamy tucked her hands inside her sweatshirt and smiled her heavenly smile. “Stop, Murphy. Let’s not kid each other. You like him, he likes you. I know Sten about as well as I know myself, and I know he’s into you. In fact, you’ll probably hook up when this is done, and that’s cool. I’m just reassuring you that Anitra was no big deal in his life. They wanted different things and that was that.”
Murphy’s cheeks warmed at her words regarding how Sten felt, but she patted Bellamy on the arm. “You don’t need to reassure me of anything. I’m focused on fixing Nova’s problem, and that’s it.”
Bellamy nodded, the cascade of her hair gleaming in the torches lining the path to Serena’s. She said, “Yep. Cool-cool-cool.” But her eyes and her smile said something entirely different.
And again, she had to give it up to Bellamy for being sensitive to her feelings.
Taking Nova by the hand, Bellamy smiled at her and said, “Seeing as your sister has this on lock, how about I show you Serena’s backyard? It’s amazing, and then you can rest your legs and we’ll get something to eat. You must be hungry. Are you hungry?”
Nova smiled wanly at Bellamy and nodded, leaving Murphy worried she was exhausting herself.
They skipped off together to this mysterious backyard, where sounds of cheerful laughter and endless chatter drifted to her ears.
Nina draped an arm around her shoulder. “What is it with GD hot blonde ex-girlfriends—always showin’ the fuck up at the wrong time?”
Murphy tried not to stiffen and she kept her words casual. “I don’t know, but here she is.”
Nina snorted a laugh. “Yeah. Here she is. Slobbering all over your man.”
Murphy rolled her eyes even as Anitra talked to Sten and Serena, her hands always finding a way to touch his chest or arm. “He’s not my man, Vampire. We’ve known each other for what, three stupid days?”
“Yep. All three as fucking stupid as the next,” Nina retorted.
Marty placed her hands on Murphy’s shoulders and squeezed. “She’s nowhere near as cute as you. Just you remember that.”
Right. She was at least four inches taller and thirty-pounds lighter, tan and toned—all the things Murphy was not. But whatever.
Wanda nodded her agreement, crossing her arms over her chest. “What Marty said. Also, she’s very obvious. I don’t want to be that person who shames another woman for her looks or her behaviors, but could she touch him like one of those gorillas with the clanging cymbals you make work by pressing a button? He doesn’t have a ‘try me’ sign on him anywhere, for goodness sake.”
Murphy tried to play it off, even if she did feel a little jealous of the familiarity of Anitra’s hands on Sten every chance she got.
“Maybe she’s an affectionate person. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”
Marty sighed a raspy breath directly into Murphy’s ear. “Nope. There’s nothing wrong with it. Though, if you ask me, Sten doesn’t exactly look like he’s enjoying it.”
That was a fair point. Every time Anitra put her hand on his shoulder or touched his chest, Sten moved an inch away or shifted his stance.
“Yeah,” Nina grated out with a nod of her head. “He looks like he’s going to puke any fucking second.”
Murphy whirled around to look at the three women. “What is it with you guys? He’s talking to someone he was once involved with because a friend of his thought it would be nice for them to see each other. It’s not a felony.”
Marty and Wanda both shrugged their shoulders and folded their hands behind their backs. “Nope,” they replied.
“No crime here,” Nina agreed rather flippantly, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans.
Murphy smiled at them, realizing what they were doing. Booyah to girl power and all.
“Listen, I appreciate that you guys have my back, but there is nothing going on between me and Sten. We’re in a sticky situation right now. Nova needs me, and she needs my focus. Sten’s worried sick about his mother and his stepfather. The last thing we need is something else to muddy the waters.”
Wanda cupped Murphy’s cheek. “There is something going on. You just haven’t admitted it yet, Murphy. All we’re suggesting you do is own it—because owning it is putting it out into the universe. It makes you strong. It makes you secure enough in your feelings to say it. That’s all. Accept that you’re attracted to Sten, that you’re interested beyond the troll lessons, and own it.”
The meeker half of her cowed and deflected. She wasn’t going to put up a fight for some man she hardly knew.
“But does that mean I have to wrestle her and put her in a headlock? And besides, why am I the one who has to stake a claim? Is that what you’re suggesting? Isn’t that a little archaic? Is Sten
’s ego so fragile and weak that if I don’t speak up and plant my flag on his mountain, he’ll crumble and go off with Anitra because she’s paying more attention to him than I am?”
Marty giggled, tucking Murphy to her side. “Plant your flag on his mountain. Funny. No. That’s not what we’re saying at all, honey. If you knew thing one about us, you’d know that’s not what we’re saying. What we’re saying is, acknowledge the feelings exist. Accept them. Don’t close yourself off to them because everything has always centered around Nova. Because if you were giving yourself the proper care, you’d see it’s okay to like Sten right now while we have a quiet moment. It’s okay to like him—or if you’re comfortable enough, to let him know you like him—even in the midst of chaos. What we’re really saying is, it’s okay to admit to yourself not everything can be about Nova anymore.”
“Because while you’re thinking about him, you’re also thinking, ‘how am I ever going to squeeze in time to pursue anything if Nova needs me?’” Wanda said, flanking the other side of her and linking their arms. “Am I right?”
Murphy blew out a breath when she realized that was true. She was worried about how she was going to find the time to be a troll, date, and run herself ragged being Nova’s assistant.
There was no time for all of those things. But she wanted to make the time.
Clearing her tight throat, Murphy nodded. “Yes. I’m worried about who will make sure Nova doesn’t do something stupid and look out for her welfare while I’m trying to get a life of my own.”
Marty smiled and patted her cheek. “Right, honey. We get that. But Nova’s a big adult girl who needs to learn how to do those things herself, Murph. There’s no reason someone her age shouldn’t be self-sufficient—or pay more than one person to run behind her, doing her bidding. It’s unreasonable for her to take such advantage of you, especially when she’s rich and can afford a staff of people. But what we’re saying is, you let her. Maybe out of guilt from the loss of your parents, maybe just because you’re a good person. Either way, good people should have rich, full lives, too.”
The Accidental Troll Page 17
