Page 81 of Bianca and the Monsters

Archie’s gaze latches onto me, performing an intense survey of my health and welfare. Pennie’s eyes hold just as much concern as he appraises me. For their benefit, I do a quick twirl, smile, and wave coquettishly. Their obvious relief humbles me, but it doesn’t seem to diminish their fury.

“No touching,” Remy warns while I mock him by turning my hand into a judgy, snarking puppet version of him. My other hand, not to be left out, creates his antlers to make my puppet more realistic.

Archie and Pennie soundly ignore Remy’s existence and proceed to the cells two down from mine. Archie enters the one on Bastien’s row, while Pennie claims the one on mine. Once my monsters are locked inside, Remy pockets the key and marches out of the dungeon like an antlered fuddy-duddy.

As soon as our officially designated killjoy is gone, I wink at Bastien and then look at Pennie and Archie through the bars. “Hey, guys, how’s it going?”

Bastien fights the good fight, but he simply can’t restrain a gale of nervous chuckles, probably inspired by my ridiculously perky tone. Unable—and uninterested, if I’m being honest—to stop myself, I also devolve into inappropriate giggles. It takes a few minutes of Bastien and me murmuring anything to make each other laugh, before the aura of intense rage dissipates enough that I finally hear Archie and Pennie collectively exhale.

Then I rest my forehead on the bars, aiming my wantonness at Archie. “I’m thinking about what you did to me against the bars in your rutting shack.”

“My Lady!” His exasperation is now directed at me and, as I watch, his violet hue lightens to almost his normal lavender. He’s shaking his head and then mutters to the ceiling, “Completely improper.” Then his body releases its remaining tension and hetuskilysmiles at me. “I love you, my Lady.”

His declaration is so earnest and I know my eyes are wide, because that’s what they do when I’m hit by the shock train. “I love you too, but… I expected anger, possibly some huffy proclamations about my poor judgment, not for you to declare your love… injail. That’s kind of hot. We’re outlaws now.”

Archie huffs good-naturedly. “Don’t worry, my Lady, I can still summon a wealth of prickly proclamations about your poor judgment, but I can’t endure even another second without you knowing what you mean to me.”

Archie struggles with his emotions, growing violet again for an entirely different reason. “We already loved you, the person you were on our television screen, but what we felt then is nothing compared to the power of actually knowing you and being known by you.”

I feel floaty and tingly, but also curious. “Wait… a television screen? Am I famous here? Is there a show about me living my bland life?”

Pennie releases a deep, sexy chuckle. “If we’dactuallygiven you a tour of the castle, we would have explained the technology that allowed us to watch over you, to get to know you, to listen and arrive when you were finally ready to embrace your adventure.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault I didn’t get a tour, though I’m certainly not complaining about the quality ofallthe distractions that kept me so busy.” My lust travels from Bastien, to Pennie, and then to my rutting buddy… sure, no tour, but plenty of other good stuff.

“You’ll have that tour, my Lady,” Archie declares with vehemence, “and when you do, you’ll be Lady Clumberton and the castle will be yours.”

I’m picturing that happy day already. “So you don’t think we’re going to be here forever?”

Archie appears dubiously amused. “Well, your father is planning an uprising using his knowledge of military history, but we know what he actually watches and reads, and neither involve military history.”

“I know,” I groan. “It’sallgolf,allthe time with him. Was he drunk on the cherry wine?”

Pennie gives me an arch look. “He’s consuming large quantities and often playing the role of a charmingly inebriated fellow, but after his time in my pool, it’s unlikely his performance is genuine.”

“Wait, your pool provides a lasting cure for intoxication?”

He smugly inclines his head.

“That’s awesome.” My thoughts abruptly throw a lasso and reel in an unanswered question. “Is that how you did it?”

“Did what, my Lady?” Archie asks.

“When Nico first arrived at my place, I should have been hungover to the point of pleading with my maker for a quick and merciful end. But I was fine, better even. I hadn’t been in the pool yet, so did Nico fling some shiny liquid on me while I was sleeping?”

I expect a ready answer, but they seem entirely flummoxed. Flummoxed looks kind of adorable on them though. “You remember how much I drank, right? I was hammered when you called. But the morning after, I was great and Nico’s scent… best thing I’ve ever smelled. If it wasn’t Pennie’s magic pool, was it Nico? Does his fragrance cure things?”

Pennie stills completely while he considers. “Nico can comfort, confuse, or repel, but those are mental and emotional responses rather than physical ones. He can keep a person asleep by soothing them into unconsciousness, but not heal an injury.”

“But he could kill that sparkled donkey,Remy, with his scent—that seems fairly physical.”

Pennie’s lips twitch. “That has more to do with a weakness in Remy’s species, and even if Nico wished, he couldn’t heal Remy of the damage. If Nico didn’t show exceptional restraint, he could wipe Remy’s kind from this realm.” He shrugs. “Perhaps he will one day.”

Pennie looks to Archie, something conveyed between them, a question without an answer.

Finally, Archie says, “We don’t know how he cured you, but I hope we’ll be able to ask him very soon.”

I turn to Bastien. “Do you have any ideas? Has he ever healed you?”

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