Page 19 of Who Owns You?

“Eloise?” I yelp. “I thought you were my pizza.”

She chuckles and gives a light roll of her eyes, handing me back the bills. She gestures into the castle. “May I?”

“Uh, yes, come in.” I scamper out of the way and peek out behind her.

It’s so dark now that the sun has started to set. No streetlights to pollute nature. It’s so fucking weird, and who knows what’s out there?

“I don’t normally make social calls after six in the evening, but there is a bit more about this castle that I haven’t told you as of yet.” She releases a heavy sigh, patting one of the old wooden banisters.

“Oh god, is the castle a giant monster house?” My eyes shoot up to the light fixture that innoway resembles a uvula.

“No, but the attic is full of ’em at the moment.” She folds her arms over her chest.

“The attic?” I swear my voice won’t stop coming out in a demented squeak. The fear has gripped my windpipe and refuses to let go.

Fear of what, exactly? Unknown roommates more so than their probably very monstrous forms.

“Yes, the attic. Those boys don’t know their horns from their tails, I swear.” She titters. “But they want to meet you and work something out. They want their rooms back.”

“They have rooms? They’ve been here the whole dang time I’ve been? They’ve been touching my stuff, haven’t they? Oh my god, am I the one stealing space here? I thought my aunt owned this castle.”

My words are coming out rapid-fire, and I hardly have a chance to draw breath before Eloise raises her hands like she’strying to approach a startled animal. I knew I wasn’t going crazy. The feeling of something or someone else in the house was too real, and there were too many coincidences.

“There has been a little bit of magic and divine intervention involved, I believe. The woman who left you the castle never actually lived here but used magic to gain the deed. The four men who reside in this house are its sworn protectors and the sworn protectors of humankind. There is nothing to fear from them,” she says slowly, her eyes locked onto my face.

I try to keep my expression neutral, but I feel like I’m being told the Power Rangers are real, along with Santa and Satan.

“So…do I have a place to live for the foreseeable future?”

Do I have to live with monsters?

I hold that burning question in with my breath.

“Yes, of course.” Eloise nods, her expression tightening for a moment before it softens entirely. “These boys just don’t want to have to act like mice in their own home. That is a direct quote from the text I received, and I’m just here to do the introductions.”

“Oh great, lovely, I like ‘not mice,’” I grumble, running my hand through my hair, trying to keep from pulling the strands from the root.

The pain would be a welcome distraction from all the weird bullshit, but the last thing I need is to give myself a bald spot just because of some monstrous men.

“Fantastic. So, let’s go to the sitting room, and I’ll send off a message to Darius. He’s their alpha, the leader of their group.”

The word is out of her mouth, and I snort a laugh in nearly the same instant. Alpha, he’s their alpha, and now all I can wonder is if they have an omega and a nest somewhere. Kennedy has been forcing me to read way too much omegaverse.

Eloise bristles slightly, and I swear strands of her hair whip around in a nonexistent wind before she settles and begins walking through the castle toward the sitting room.

Glancing back at the door, I groan and open it slightly, trying to will the pizza to get here more quickly. I’m no good on an empty stomach, and I’m going to need cheese and carbs to get through this.

I take the same large leather wingback chair I selected the first time we sat in this room, nestling myself in as deeply as I can to try and disappear, but Eloise simply shakes her head at me.

“They are all fine men, I assure you. I wouldn’t have allowed them to meet you otherwise, but I will warn you they aren’t…typical.”

“Well, duh, they’re monsters,” I blurt.

“I’m a monster too, I suppose.” She crosses her arms slightly over her chest and gives me a look of disappointment that can only be bestowed by a mothering figure.

Damn it.

“I’m sorry, but you said horns and tails and most things in the real world…well, the safe mortal world doesn’t have those things,” I ramble.

---