Falling in Love with My Vampire Cat: A Sweet Romantic Comedy (That's (Para)Normal Book 1) by Camilla Evergreen

Author:Camilla Evergreen [Evergreen, Camilla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

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I am nothing if not moved by bribery.

After confirming that what I’m wearing is fine, Pila leads me through the chilled woods until frost overruns the trees and icicles hang from the bare branches. Sunlight winks through the weeping spears, and every droplet that falls paints a snowflake on the ground.

There’s magic in the air. Tiny gleaming creatures draw frozen veins into rough bark. Pine needles shiver in the wake of wing beats above. Below, among the patches of crunching snow, Pila’s bare footsteps warm the earth and turn the brown leaves green again.

Once we come upon a sheer rock cliff split down the center with a crack no wider than an inch, I realize I’ve spent the last thirty minutes of walking in silence. “What are the rules?” I blurt, hoping we’re not about to climb the slab of shimmering stone before us. I don’t think I could manage. Once again I feel compelled to remind the deities in charge of my story that I was built to harvest green beans, not scale mountains.

Also, hi. I’m in platforms. And if I try to go barefoot like Pila, I will lose my toes to the winter winds.

Pila stops just short of walking directly into the rock and looks at me. “Rules?”

Dread explodes in my chest. “Was I supposed to bring a gift?”

A funny look creases her brows. Looking down, she plucks a dry leaf off the ground. It bursts into burning orange between her fingers as she hands it to me. “There. A gift.”

I barely get half a second to compute the fire shades now contrasting my skin before she grabs my free hand and charges into the rock face.

Collision never comes.

Freaking magic.

Toddling after Pila in my knee-high platform shoes as she tugs me through the crevice, I stare way up at the fading light pouring through the rift behind us. Note to self: becoming two inches tall is a recurring dilemma within the fae world.

Do not be alarmed.

Clearly, it’s normal.

I release a breath.

It makes more sense than asking a question but not wanting the real answer. It makes more sense than small talk about the weather. It makes more sense than a lot of things I’ve lived with.

Like telling someone who is clearly falling apart to grow up instead of giving them a hug.

Finding my resolve, I face forward and hold Pila’s hand a little tighter as we traverse the dim, gaping passage. At the farthest end of the tunnel, two sentries stand before a tall door made of glistening silver bark. Rhinoceros beetle helmets cover their faces, shining mandibles piercing upward. A sliver of the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen cut toward Pila, then toward me.

Not a word passes between them before both pull open the doors.

Breath catches in my chest.

Light and luxury spin before my eyes. The precise instant the doors close behind me—locking me in for the foreseeable future—I realize that unassuming crack in the side of the mountain was the entrance to a palace.

Sunlight shines through tall, gilded windows that frame the long room.

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