Luckily for everyone, Maury hadn’t counted on one thing: Cimil. She always came through in the end.
Tula stretched her sore body. She’d never been so happy to feel a little pain in her toes, hands, and arms. Being inside a unicorn’s body had been like having no body at all. Nothing solid to touch. Yet you constantly felt itchy and tingly. Hot and cold. Angry and happy. And you sparkle all the time. Tula had had the worst stomachache from suppressing all the glitteriness so Maury and the other demons wouldn’t see her. “If I never see a sequin again, it’ll be too soon. Unicorn bodies are the worst.”
Something pushed her from behind, and Tula went flying headfirst into the sand. She lifted her head and spotted a faint glimmer of sparkles.
“Dang it, what’s your damage, Minky?” Tula got to her feet and dusted the sand from the front of her pink dress.
Minky howled and grumbled.
“Yeah, well, I’m sorry, but Zac is my mate. And even you have to admit that it would never work between you two. He didn’t even want you when you had my body. And, by the way, shame on you for siding with Maury.”
Minky grumbled again, explaining that Maury had blackmailed her. Minky was with child, and Maury said he’d hurt the little one if she didn’t go along.
“That was unicorn morning sickness I felt? That’s great news! Congrats.” Tula clapped and jumped up and down.
Grumble.
“Mittens proposed? Do you love him—it—sorry, I don’t know anything about hellhounds.”
Grumble, grumble.
Minky said yes. She was in love with Mittens from the very first explosion, though Minky was very unhappy that Tula had mingled with her Mittens while in possession of Minky’s body.
Well, I guess we’re finally even. Minky had tried to steal Zac several times.
“So you’re going to live in the underworld for good?” Tula asked, listening to the unicorn go on about how they planned to raise a family somewhere less crazy. The human world was too wild these days. “Well, I’m happy for you, Minky.”
Grumble.
“Yes, I’ll say goodbye to Zac for you.”
Grumble.
“No, I will not tell him to look you up if things don’t work out. Besides, you’re with Mittens now.”
Grumble.
“Open marriage? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since he’s a hellhound and you’re an evil unicorn. Well, best of luck.”
Minky disappeared before Tula had a chance to ask what had happened after the bomb went off at the festival.
The last things she remembered were snatching up her human body, with Minky still in it, and taking it to Cimil’s piggy bank for safekeeping per their plan. The piggy bank was more of a supernatural vault, hidden deep in the Mexican jungle, where Cimil kept all her worldly possessions. Dang, does she have a lot of Thigh Masters. Anyway, with her body in a safe place, where no one could harm it or run off with it, Tula had zipped back to El Corazón to tango with Mittens. It was really weird how fast unicorns could fly, but it was even weirder how Minky’s body exploded when she touched Mittens. No, not the sexy kind of explosion. A genuine blast.
Makes for a very interesting marriage.
Tula then woke up here on the beach, back in her own body.
She gave it some thought. Cimil had promised to make sure the body swap was done, but how did she get all the way back here to the island?
Minky probably carried me here—one final jab. Unicorns are such turds! Minky knew that Zac and the other gods were coming back through the demon portal again after being wiped out in the explosion. That meant Zac would have to come all this way to find her, or she would have to find a way back to the mainland. Spiteful Minky. But at least Minky had found love and would leave them alone now.
The sound of a helicopter’s blades chopping through the air filled her ears. Tula blocked the sun from her eyes and looked up at the morning sky. It appeared to be an Uchben aircraft with camo paint.
Zac! Tula ran barefoot down the beach toward the airstrip. She prayed it was him, safe and sound.
When she got to the tarmac, Tula watched her tall, beautiful deity hop from one of the doors. He grabbed a few large duffel bags and tossed them out before closing the door.
His turquoise eyes met hers, and he ran towards her as the helicopter took off.
She ran to meet him, their bodies colliding.
“Tula! My sweet Tula!” Zac lifted her in a giant hug and spun her in a circle.
Her heart overflowed with emotion, and her body lit up with both joy and need. “Gods, I missed you.” She kissed his cheek, the only thing she could reach with her mouth as he continued to spin her until she was dizzy.