[Carmen]After dinner, Rock asked if he could look at the rooms Victor was wanting to be renovated. I could have stayed with everyone else, but I loved being with him when he worked and I’d never gotten to be with him when he was doing this part of his job. I found it fascinating to listen to my mate work. We would go into a room and he would let me go then move around the room muttering softly about what needed to be done and what things he’d need to do everything. I would spread out my magic as far as I could to see the room. Orella told me that I would be able to use my magic to fill a medium-sized room at some point, but right now I was restricted by the strength of my magic. By the time we reached the library, I had nearly exhausted myself. Rock noticed and put in the extra effort to stay next to me, so I could hold him. I knew better than to weaken myself so much, but I wanted to see what he was talking about. “Here’s the library,” Rock said and opened a door, then another one. “It’s pretty nice. They have a lot of books.” “What does he want to be done in here?” I asked. “He says he wants sturdier shelves. These all look pretty good. They’re thinner pieces of wood that are inset on wooden ledges. I can probably do thicker pieces and lock them into place on top of the wood ledges so those will just be more support…. I can see where a few shelves were broken and need a proper replacement.” “They must care a great deal about their books.” “Perhaps…. I think it’s something more, though,” he answered. “What do you think it is?” “I’ve been teaching you more about the fae, but I never told you about fae spirits. They’re fae that are not able to be seen. They’re small, but not much smaller than a tiny pixie or sprite. The most important thing to know about them is that they are invisible to the eye, which is why we call them spirits. Only other fae can sense them,” Rock explained. “Are they in every house?” I asked. “No, but they are in many of them because they love being around other living beings. A house like this will have all three types. The lucky, unlucky, and mischievous spirits all live in this house. “Unlucky, or dark, spirits give people bad feelings. They like the way anger flavors the air. They enjoy fear and sadness. Unlucky spirits cause you to feel like someone is watching you when you’re alone in the dark. Lucky, or shining, spirits give people happier feelings. They love care and peace. They can be a soothing presence in a hard time,” he told me. “And the mischievous ones?”He chuckled. “Those ones are the ones who love chaos in all its different forms. For sighted people, they may obscure items so the person can’t see them, then they’ll make it visible to the next person who looks. They hide keys, money, and anything someone puts in ‘a safe place’. And, they can influence thoughts more than the others can.” “They sound like powerful little critters.” I giggled. “They are and they don’t care about the environment they live in. So you find them everywhere. And there are at least four of them who live in this library,” Rock murmured. I pushed my magic out to try to see them. It was fae magic, so I figured I could see them, or sense them somehow. Unfortunately, I reached the end of what I could do magically and my knees buckled. Rock caught me before I fell and picked me up. I wrapped my arms around his neck. I had the urge to kiss him. Not that I didn’t always want to kiss him, but now it was a much stronger feeling than before. “I think I’ve found what these ones like to be around,” Rock said before he kissed me. He moved as we kissed and I felt him lower himself onto a chair. I repositioned myself to straddle him and we kept on kissing. I stroked his ears as my tongue explored his mouth and I ground myself against him. Rock growled and gripped my hips. He didn’t try to stop me, though. Instead, he pressed me harder onto his bulge, making me moan in response. “Oh!” a squeal came from the door. “Damn,” another voice replied. I pulled away from Rock. The mood was gone. I blushed. I didn’t mean to start making out with him in someone else’s house. That wasn’t the sort of person I was. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Don’t worry, Carmen. I’m betting this sort of thing happens in here a lot.” Rock chuckled. “A lot more than we would like,” Echo replied. “It’s like there’s some sort of enchantment on the library. People are always getting caught getting frisky in here.” Billie laughed. She didn’t smell as scared as she had before. I was glad that she was more comfortable. I started laughing, too. “If we leave, are you going to go back at it, or have you calmed down?” Echo asked. “We’re fine now. Sorry about that,” Rock answered. I got off of Rock as I heard them retreating down the hallway. Part of me was grateful they had interrupted, the part that wasn’t horribly embarrassed. That was a little exciting, though. I never thought getting caught with my mate could be. Not that it sparked something in me. I didn’t want to do that again. “Are you going to tell them about the fae spirits?” I whispered to Rock. “I don’t see why I would,” he replied. “They can’t get rid of them and keeping people out of the library will only make the spirits mad. Right now, it’s a funny quirk of their house. You don’t want a chaos spirit to be angry, especially in a house with light-sensitive vampires.” “Rock, I feel bad about not telling them….” “I’ll put it into my assessment along with a suggestion not to exclude the library from their use. Does that sound good to you?” he asked. “Thank you. I would prefer if we could just tell them, but I’m sure you have your reasons for not telling them right now.” “Because the mischievous spirits outnumber the good ones here right now. And there are bad ones creeping around, too. The environment in the house will even the numbers out as they live longer here. Their love will attract more good spirits. Trust me, Carmen. I would never do something to harm someone so indirectly. If I want to hurt someone, I’m troll enough to hurt them,” Rock said. “Let’s join the rest.” We went back out to the living room, where people were chatting. Rock took me over to where Harmony and Cam were talking with Sean and Rosario. They teased us about getting caught in the library. “Yeah, looks like the curse of the library got someone else.” Cam chuckled. “It got us a couple of times while we were living here,” Sean answered. Couldn’t Sean and Rosario sense the spirits? Rock said other fae could, so I assumed Rosario could, maybe Sean didn’t know what he was sensing. That certainly explained it. “I guess we joined the club of those who have fallen victim to the library’s charms,” Rock laughed. “It’s not an exclusive one. I’ve caught Echo and Victor in there,” Harmony replied. “I’ve caught her and Gray in there.” Rosario snickered. “I’m pretty sure everyone except for Billie and Dennis has either been caught there… or not caught. Even Trent and Lily,” Harmony said quietly. “Really? Even Trent and Lily?” I asked. “Yeah, Echo said Gray caught them one of the times they had them over for dinner. It was hilarious. She told me he kept saying he could never have his parents over for dinner because he would never get that image out of his head if he saw his mom and dad going at it in there,” she laughed. “I can hear you, you know!” Gray growled. “We know,” I replied with a giggle. The rest of the evening was wonderful. I got to know Harmony and Valor a lot more. Not as well as I knew Echo, though. I really hoped Val’s soulmate search went well, but he wasn’t planning to do it for a few months. Instead, he was headed to Marius’ territory to experiment with an idea he had. Apparently, the coven here wouldn’t give him space or help him with ingredients for it unless he joined and he wouldn’t join as long as they wanted to arrange a marriage for him. They weren’t giving up on the idea of marrying him into a local family to make them stronger. “They say they understand how important it is to follow the goddess’ plan, but then they tell me I have to marry someone of their choosing if I join them. It’s bullѕhit and I refuse. I have a soulmate out there, a perfect match and I know she will be someone I’m supposed to love. I’m werewolf enough that my soulmate is my mate, not a friend or a rival or someone who is supposed to help me grow in a different way,” Val told me. “I understand. The bond between mates is sacred. My parents tried to marry me off to a Beta from another pack because they thought they knew better. I belong with Rock, not with a werewolf. Pack life wasn’t my destiny,” I said. “So, wait, none of you pick who you marry? It’s some goddess? I thought your goddess gave free will. Picking who you marry for you isn’t giving you freedom,” Billie interjected. I turned to her and tilted my head curiously. “The goddess doesn’t force us. You can reject your mate if you don’t want them. My first mate rejected me because I was blind and he didn’t think I could take care of him and a family. Rock is my second chance and he knows I can live a perfectly normal life.” “Your mate is your perfect match, but you are under no actual obligation to accept them. You lose out on life with someone who is in sync with who you truly are, but you aren’t cursed or anything for it. We all prefer accepting the gift the goddess has given us,” Cam added. “Our mates make us stronger. They help us to be better versions of who we are,” Rock explained. “Like any gift, you can refuse to accept it. There can be some downsides to not accepting the mate you were given, though.” “My grandfather rejected his mate and the genetics that our family needed. That was how I ended up blind,” I told her, being vague about the Beta blood and other things that outsiders shouldn’t know about. If Billie became a vampire, she would probably learn more about how werewolves worked but letting a human know was too dangerous. Who knew who she could tell? We talked a little more about the difference between humans and supernaturals, avoiding topics like our weaknesses and the structure of our hierarchies. Soon, Rock’s alarm went off. Of course, he set one. The conversation stopped. “We have to get going. Carmen and I have work in the morning. We’ll see you all later,” he said. I said goodbye to everyone and Echo gave me a hug. I appreciated her making me feel like a member of her community. We thanked Victor for inviting us and Rock told Cam and Gray their start date for work. Both of them seemed very happy. Once we were out to the truck, I started feeling tired. That was a lot of people when Rock and I were fairly solitary people. We had friends over every other weekend, but we spent the rest of the time alone with each other. I found that I liked it that way. For most of my life, I had been closed up inside whatever house we were living in and rarely went to bigger celebrations because my parents were worried I’d get hurt. When I was outside, it was with one of them or with my friends. My mom even hovered when I started school. I was relieved to have a more relaxing life where I could do what I wanted. If I wanted to go take a walk, I could. Even without Rock if I wanted. Not that I wanted that. I loved spending time with him. “Did you have fun tonight?” Rock answered after he joined me inside the truck. “Yes. It was nice to be at someone else’s house for dinner and Billie is the first human I’ve actually had a chance to talk to for any length of time. I really like Echo and Victor seems nice. I’m glad Gray has them. He seems happy, right?” “I think so. It looked like Victor is his friend and they both love Echo a lot. This job will make him feel like more of his own person. I think he’ll be a great fit, Cam, too. Cam seems to be excited about work.”“He seemed to be to me, as well. Shall we go home and get started on those bedtime activities, my big, strong troll?” I asked. Rock chuckled. “How could I ever say no to my sweet little wolf? Let’s go home, Carmen.” I smiled and held my hand out. Rock grasped it and squeezed it for a moment before letting it go so he could drive. I hoped the rest of our life together could be as perfect.