CHAPTER 67

"Loch Ness monster? Nope." She grinned. "That isn't Loch Ness. Therefore, can't be the Loch Ness monster."

He scowled, playfully. "Leave it to a lawyer to argue the semantics of a cryptid."

"It's the same reason Bigfoot can't be a Bigfoot in the Himalayas. He's called something different there."

"Actually, not true." He held up his finger for emphasis. "Bigfoot is a different creature than a Yeti."

"And you know this how?"

"I met him once." Mike started along the path again, which wound all along the cliffs.

"No you didn't! When?" she demanded, staying right behind him.

"Uh, well... it was actually a memory of Emily's that I saw. But he told her that he wasn't alone, and that there were others. Seemed really nice."

"What was he like?" she asked excitedly. "Was he as big in real life as he's always described?"

Mike made a weird face, then nodded. "Oh yeah. Big dude. Lots of hair. Can literally walk between trees and travel for miles in a single step."

"Wow," she said. If she kept living with Mike, she wondered what the odds were that she would get to meet Bigfoot someday. He had been one of her obsessions as an early teen, and her parents had taken her to a couple of Bigfoot museums during summer trips.

The path took them down toward the shore, and if not for the unwelcome reception the previous night, Beth felt like she was on vacation again. Mike led the way, and she couldn't help but watch how he moved.

He carried himself differently than usual. There was a confidence in his step now that he was away from the house. When the sea breeze caught his hair, it rippled ever so slightly on account of how thick it had become, and her gaze settled on his neck and shoulders. Though the collar of his shirt and jacket hid his neckline, his shoulders were slightly broader than she remembered.

It was often difficult seeing him around the house. He was undeniably attractive, and she had done her best to avoid crossing any lines largely due to the piece of Oliver that had been stuck to her soul. However, now that she was free of the demon's influence, it occurred to her that maybe she was overdue getting to know him better.

However, he treated her differently than the others. He was rarely shy or withdrawn around them, and she had accidentally stumbled onto him having sex more than once. The blue lightning that crawled along his skin intrigued her, and she could tell that his bedroom skills were amplified through the roof by Naia's magic. What would sex with such a man be like?

The thought made her a little wet.

Leaves rustled off to their right, and they stopped. A unicorn lifted its head to reveal a luminescent horn, and the creature regarded them for several seconds, obviously startled by their appearance. Its piercing blue eyes settled on Beth, and the creature let out a disgusted snort before bolting further into the woods and disappearing.

"Well, that was rude," Beth said.

"I guess we weren't pure enough for the poor creature." He turned to look at her, a slightly horrified look on his face. "Can you imagine how it would have reacted if we had had Lily with us?"

Beth laughed. "Or what about Tink?"

"Stupid horny horse fuck," Mike replied in a fairly good imitation of Tink. "Go shove head in tree!"

They both laughed, and continued down the path. When they were almost to the shoreline, the path veered to the right and climbed back up into more woods, leaving the ocean behind.

The shadows of the forest lengthened as dusk approached, and they were now walking along a river inlet that no doubt fed into the ocean. The cobbles of the path were broken up in this area, as if the land itself had shifted. Following the broken trail, they found themselves scaling the stone steps of multiple small waterfalls. At the last of the falls, they took the time to refill the copper tube with fresh water before continuing their journey.

"I'm nervous about how dark it's getting," she said, looking along the path. "Do you think those things will come after us again?"

"I really hope not. If we could find some shelter for the night, I wouldn't mind hunkering down for the evening." He yawned. "I'm exhausted."

"Same." Her legs were fine, but her feet were sore, and she undoubtedly had blisters. Her outfit fared no better, and the tear in the side had widened enough that her bra was visible through it. By the time they arrived at the faerie court, they would be a bedraggled couple indeed. "Should we start looking for a tree to climb, or a cave to sleep in?"

"Honestly, I'm of the opinion that anything that isn't built by faeries might eat us." He sighed and kicked a rock off the path. "When I discussed coming here with Sofia, she thought we would emerge somewhere by a faerie mound, or some kind of civilization. Worst case, we go back through the ring and come home. I didn't expect it to disappear while we were still in it, and if I thought we would be camping out in a hostile forest, I would have considered bringing Yuki along so she could build us an ice hut or something."

"She's gonna be pissed when she finds out how much trouble we got into."

Mike's face paled a little. "Maybe we can downplay the danger bit once we get back?"

"Let's see how the rest of the trip—" Beth stopped in her tracks when she spotted a man standing against a nearby tree. He was motionless, his dark brown eyes watching them, and Mike took a step closer to her when he spotted the stranger.