Free Broken by Erin R Flynn Page A

evaporate I was so pissed. And then a random thought hit me, one so insane I couldn’t stop laughing for a good five minutes.
    I’d been right all along with my little snarky thought that first day after they’d moved in and I’d gone to change the lightbulbs and they had already been done. I did have little elves running around my house at night doing my chores for me and more . Okay, they weren’t little and I didn’t know if they were elves, but given they were sneaking in past locked doors without keys and somehow making me sleep when they were in my room and miraculously losing more weight than humanly possible… Elves were not out of the picture.
    There was a knock at the door right at the half hour mark, and I heard their heavy footsteps in the foyer as I threw on some deodorant in the guest bathroom, already showered, dried off, and dressed.
    “Down here, guys,” I called out as I stepped into the hallway. “I want to show you something first.” I didn’t wait for them, walking into the family room and turning on the TV.
    “Good morning,” Teak greeted, moving in as if to give me a kiss.
    I stepped away and gestured to the couches. “Sit down. You guys are going to love this. I know I did .”
    “Cara, are you okay?” Cypress hedged as they eyed me cautiously, each slowly taking a seat.
    I ignored him and plugged in the USB drive, talking while it loaded. “So funny thing. I’ve dreamed about you guys every night since you’ve moved in. Did you know that? No, I don’t think I told you that. But I do. That you enter my room and touch me. Not a dirty dream, but that you just touch me. Crazy right? And then there’s the weight loss thing that coincides with your arrival but there’s no way that could have anything to do with three men except then I didn’t lose a single pound when I was home.”
    “Cara, we can—” Aspen started.
    I spun around and pointed a finger at him. “Shut the fuck up and watch. You guys had your chance!” I stared him down until he nodded and then played the first video for them. “But see, I’m not crazy. Every night you have been creeping into my room and doing something to me. Twice I would guess from this.” I hit the button for the next one and showed them.
    When it was done, I spun to face them and launched the remote across the room, almost smiling as their mouths dropped open as they watched it shatter against the wall.
    “So what are you? I keep coming back to elves because that first night you were here my lightbulbs were changed out and I didn’t do it and I kept making this joke in my head that maybe I have little elves running around my house doing my chores for me. So tell me are we talking Seeley Court and Unseeley Court or more light and dark? Or is it more a Lord of the Rings kind of thing?”
    “We’re dark elves,” Teak whispered, his eyes practically bugging out of his head. “Good guess.”
    “Well I’ve had a lot to time to think about this as I wondered just how crazy I’ve gone.” Aspen opened his mouth but I held up my hand to him and focused on Teak. He’d be the most honest with me, I knew that already. “So you have been sneaking in here and fixing things for me, taking chores off my to-do list and physically removing them from the list, yes?”
    “Yes, but—”
    “What are you doing to me in that video? Is it the same thing I feel when you guys touch or hug me all in a row?”
    “You feel that?” he gasped, looking almost impressed .
    “Answer my questions,” I demanded as I took a few steps closer, shaking my finger at him. “It is time for answers. What have you been doing to me? Sucking fat out of me?”
    “Kind of, but it’s more complicated than that,” he sighed, glancing at Cypress. “Can he answer? He’s better at explaining it than I am.”
    “Fine.” I turned on my heel and focused on him. “Explain.”
    “The weight loss is more a side effect,” Cypress hedged, adjusting his neck before rubbing