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"When I was younger. I saw some space movie. I can't really remember what it was about now, though," I admit.

He nods, watching as part of a sheet falls. Laz swears, cuts his palm, and mutters an incantation. The sheet snaps back into place, and they quickly start pinning it before it can droop again.

"Funny how you were the loudest about opposing the protection spell changes, yet you've been one of the first to reap the rewards. A pretty little mate." He gestures toward Will with one smoking, talon-tipped hand.

The air leaves me in a rush, and my palms go slick with sweat.

I don't want Nick anywhere near my mate.

He chuckles without humor. "Don't worry. I won't go near him. I'm just wondering what you'll do when life really starts shifting around here."

I glance at Nick before my gaze returns to Will, who's laughing with Amy. "I don't know what you mean."

"Movies and a single human are one thing. But what about when more humans start arriving? What about when more monsters move in? Not everyone was an easy member of the community before the old wards went up. Some of them were violent."

My eyes find Amy this time, and my chest squeezes.

I remember the goblins that attacked her family. I remember why protections became necessary in the first place.

"Food for thought." He plucks one of the popcorn bags from the cart I used to bring them over from the café.

He wanders away as I begin retracing the steps of old anxieties.

Willoughby

The last rays of sun disappear beneath the waves of Lake Huron. I search for Randy and find him tucked into one corner of the crowd. Smiling, I grab a couple popcorn bags and a cupcake covered in black and orange sprinkles.

Randy is sitting on a large checkered blanket with several pillows stacked on one side so we can lean against them while watching the movie. The entire island appears to have shown up for this. Many monsters are cozy on blankets and chairs like us, some hang from trees, others float midair, and a few bob in the offshore waves. I notice the mermaid-kelpie pair who recently bonded lounging in the waves.

I lower myself onto the blanket, my side brushing Randy's as I settle beside him. "It's a really nice night, isn't it? Just a little chilly and so clear."

As I speak, more and more stars become visible overhead.

Randy doesn't reply. He simply wraps an arm around my shoulders and presses his lips to my cheek just as the itching starts to prickle beneath my skin again.

I'm instantly aware of everyone in our immediate vicinity.

And I very much don't care if they're watching.

I'm glad to be warm from my head to my toes in Randy's hold.

"God damn technology!" Ivy curses at the little black rectangle in her hand. She calls it a cell. Very mysterious. Very frustrating.

Finally, light streams out of another white box with a round glass piece at the end, and pictures begin moving against the sheets. A collective gasp rises from the crowd, mine included.

Randy chuckles, and I feel his lips against the top of my head.

We settle back into the wall of pillows, my head on Randy's shoulder and my body pressed against his side. He pulls a spare blanket over both of us.

The movie starts, but I find it hard to focus. My attention is fixed on the heartbeat beneath my cheek and the warm hand slowly dragging up and down my spine.

After a while, my gaze wanders over the community around us.

A deep sense of pride and comfort settles in my bones. The island has its ups and downs, but these are my people. I include the newest among us, like Ivy and the kelpie, Cheryl. And all those who have yet to come. Mates and monsters. People in need of shelter and safety.

That's what this island has always been to me. Not a fortress to wall others out, but somewhere safe for families to build homes.

My home.