Page 62 of Not Another Happily Ever After

Instead, all I get are two nearly identical faces contorted in two entirely separate ways.

“Singing?”

“Magical?”

The twins speak in unison, and I am again reminded of how my weirdness cannot be upstaged.

I uncross, then recross my arms, throwing the whole confidence bit to the wind. “Nevermind. Just…why were you two in the well?”

The twins exchange a look before turning to Frog, who’s all but turned to stone at my side. Is he angry? Surprised?

I study his averted gaze, noting the subtle lift in his brows, the barely there creases on either side of his eyes.

No. That isn’t surprise. He’s?—

“Saving a dragon!” Merrek sputters.

“What?” I blink at him. “A dragon?” I ask, drawing the words as if that’ll help them make sense.

“Mm-hmm,” he nods excitedly, toying with the curls above his dark brows. “Isn’t that right,bugbrother?”

“I told you not to call me that,” Myrrdin sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. But he doesn’t contest what his brother is saying, which leads me to wonder…

“Where is it then?” I shrug, noting the obvious lack of pink and white feathers amidst the men’s arms.

Why I’m even asking is beyond me. If last night’s conversation is anything to go off of, these men clearly have a skewed view on reality. And coming from me, that’s saying something. But even I know dragons haven’t been seen soaring through the forest in years. They can’t fly without the wind, and there’s been none of that through here since the curse, meaning most succumbed to predators ages ago. And those that didn’t are?—

Climbing out of Merrek’s bag.

“Oh my god that’s a dragon!”

Merrek practically beams as the little creature makes itself at home on his shoulder. “Yeah. This is Buttons.”

“Buttons.” I repeat the word, unable to find any others.

“On account of the fact that he likes to steal buttons.” Myrrdin supplies, his frown finally giving way to a soft smile as he scratches between the dragon’s fuzzy, white tipped ears. “Personally, I think he looks more like a Scraps, but I wasn’t given a vote.”

“Don’t look at me. I didn’t name him,” Merrek shrugs, offering up the palms of his hands.

“Then, who…” I turn, following Merrek’s twisted grin to Frog. His sheepish smile unmistakable despite the mask. “You?”

He raises the bend of his arm in answer, and with a boost from Merrek, Buttons’ pink and white wings fan out on either side of him as he glides through the grove, with a long pink tail tipped with a white tuft trailing behind. He lands gently upon Frog’s arm.

All the thread in the world couldn’t keep my jaw from dropping. “He’syours?”

“Well—”

“Is that even legal?”

“Uh…”

“Are there more?”

“Actually—”

“And how did he getstuckdown there?” I gesture, my finger pointed down the well as the questions pour out of me so fast, there’s barely room for air or answers.

Frog blows out a shaky breath, rubbing at what I can only imagine is a pretty bad bug bite on the back of his neck, given how hard he’s scratching at it.