CHAPTER FIVE（Untitled）Naomi

CHAPTER FIVE

Naomi

“No,” I say. “No, no, no.”

The green elf can’t be here , in Ferndale Falls!

Everything I’ve just gone through can be a—god, I don’t know—a freaking fever dream or something. But if he’s standing here, on Main Street, then all of this is real.

“Where are we?” His dark eyes dart all around, and when Joe drives his ancient Ford pickup past going all of ten miles an hour, the green elf flinches away, putting his body between me and the car as if protecting me. “What are the dangers of this world?”

“Dangers? Here?” In my small town?

His eyes snap back to mine, his big body looming over me. “I can’t protect you if I don’t know the dangers.”

“Naomi!” Hannah’s familiar voice calls out. “Naomi, get out of the middle of the street!”

“Oh, yeah.” I mean, it’s not like there’s enough traffic for it to be truly dangerous, but still, she’s got a point.

I step up onto the sidewalk, and my shadow follows.

Hannah hurries over, wearing dark jeans and a well-tailored white button-down shirt—what I jokingly call her mayor uniform.

“Whoa, that is some serious cosplay.” She runs an appreciative eye up and down the guy, who is taller than I originally thought now that I see him standing beside my six-foot friend. “Who’s the elf?”

“Elf?” He rears back, a scowl making his cheekbones even more prominent. “I’m an orc, not an elf.”

“Sure, sure. An orc.” She shoves a cardigan at me, the oversized purple one she keeps in her office in case she gets a chill.

I take it gratefully and pull it up over my shoulders. My sexy dress became a lot less fun several hours ago. Speaking of which…

I hurry down the sidewalk, reaching between my boobs to pull out the key to the bookstore. I wanted to go to the restaurant last night easy and unencumbered, so I left everything in the shop. The wooden front door creaks open, the smell of paper wrapping around me like a hug.

Tall wooden bookshelves form aisles across the back of the shop, each dedicated to a different genre. A small seating area holds two battered burgundy-velvet loveseats and couple of comfy chairs, all circled up like a little book club waiting to happen.

I dart behind the wooden counter near the door, pull out my hidden purse, and slip the key inside. The movement makes my phone screen light up, showing a couple of missed texts from Hannah. Once I’ve kicked off my heels, I slide my legs into the jeans I planned to change into last night for the walk home. Turning my back, I pull them up, letting the skirt hide my butt while I fasten them over my stomach. Then I shove my feet into my fave sneakers.

A moan slips from me, the bliss of gel cushioning divine after half a day in heels.

A growl rumbles through the room, and I look over to find the orc staring at me like he wants to eat me up.

In the good way.

“I need to get back to the office, but what’s going on?” Hannah says, skirting around a display table stacked with the latest romance craze—minotaurs.

I eye the orc again. The shirt stretches tight across his wide shoulders, the sword at his hip so not for show. Yeah, I might need to expand the monster romance section, because sexy danger freaking rolls off this guy. BDE all the way. Note to self: order more orc books.

“Why are you still wearing last night’s dress?” Hannah jerks my attention back to her as she points to the man. “Did you hook up with the cosplayer?”

“I don’t know what a cosplayer is, but I do know that I’m not one.” He bares his tusks. “I’m an orc, a Wild Fae.”

She looks at me and widens her eyes a little bit, secret friend speak for: is this guy for real?

“You’re not going to believe—” My crystal necklace pulses, heat scorching my chest. I yelp, and a huge force snatches me out of the world and sends me flying.

I plummet through the air, the tall rock pillar racing toward me.

Large arms wrap around me from behind, and the orc does something that spins us, so he’s the one who’ll hit instead of me. But I don’t want either of us to hit.

“Ground, ground, ground !” I blurt.

Blink. I lie on a hard surface, but it’s not stone—it’s warm and alive.

“Are you all right?” the orc’s deep voice says, big hands moving over my arms, checking for injuries.

“I’m okay,” I choke out, setting my palms on firm muscles to push upright. My knees hit the soft, moss-covered ground, and I roll up to my feet.

I’m back in the clearing, on the ground beside the stone pillar, where this all began.

A naked woman walks out of the trees. Tall and thin, she’s got milk-white skin and long silver hair that covers her small breasts. She holds her hands in front of her face, staring at them in horrified fascination. “By the goddess, what’s happened to me?”

“Zephyr?” the orc asks.

“Yes!” she snaps, scowling over at him and flashing a set of fangs. “Who else would I be?”

“I couldn’t be sure without your horn.”

She slaps a hand to her forehead and moans, the sound desolate. “Nooo! Where’s my horn?”

“Horn?” I ask. Why do I get the feeling they’re not talking about a musical instrument?

Before anyone answers, a man strides out of the trees, completely naked. Not quite as tall or muscular as the orc, he’s nonetheless in excellent shape. He’s as pale as the woman, but his shoulder-length hair is an inky black that lightens to silver-gray ends like a fancy ombre dye job. There’s a sinuous glide to his walk, and he looks over at me with the most brilliant green eyes, a wide smile stretching his mouth and showing off fangs. “Did you do this?”

“Me?” I purse my lips. “And do what, exactly?”

“Watch it, cat.” The orc steps around me with a growl. “And put on some clothes.”

“Oh, right. You bipeds and your nudity taboos.” The pale man looks down. Then he grins, wider than should be possible and throws his arms out. “I had a nice fur coat only a few moments ago, but alas, I own no clothes.”

The orc takes a menacing step forward and—

A reverberating noise slams across my senses, felt more than heard, making my whole body jerk. The world tips sideways as pressure builds around me in a suffocating wave and everything goes black.

When I come to only a few seconds later, I’m safe in the orc’s arms. I totter away from him, dizzy, the echoes of the weird not-noise still bouncing around inside me.

A great feeling of loss wells in my chest.

“No.” I dart over and slap my palms to the standing stone. “Home, home, home !” I was just there, safe in my bookshop, about to tell my best friend the wildest story of my life!

I push and strain until a burning ache fills my body, like my nerves are on fire. But no matter how hard I try, nothing happens. My crystal necklace remains dark.

The orc’s deep voice rumbles behind me, no longer speaking any language I know.

A loud meow answers him, followed by a neigh.

I turn around slowly.

The woman’s gone, replaced by a white unicorn!

And the man… the man’s a smoke-gray and black panther with hair far longer than that of any of the big cats of Earth.

“What. The. Actual. Fuck.”

They all start talking at once, three voices making very different sounds that blur into a chorus of noise.

I don’t speak the language.

I can’t get home.

And the only thing the tiniest bit familiar is the orc.