“Freshest buns in town!” He did a little hip bump to both sides, and the two of them grinned like this was a joke they were never gonna wear out.
“One and a fresh cup of coffee, cream?” he asked, already turning toward the case of fresh cinnamon buns behind him.
“Wouldn’t hurt to get off my feet for a bit.” She hoisted the bag and dropped it onto a chair, then sighed down into the other chair at the small table close to the counter. “You folks driving the Route?”
I raised my eyebrows. “That obvious?”
She shrugged. “It’s the right time of year. You’re not from around here, I’d guess, and Bill is giving you extra helpings of the goulash everyone in town fights over.”
“Repeat business and good reviews are worth a little extra goulash. Plus, it can’t be easy keeping that man of yours fed.” He gave Lu another wink.
“I’m not that big of an eater,” I argued. But my stomach growled and I slapped my hand over it.
Lu fought back a smile. “We manage. He’s an easy keeper.”
That drew a chuckle out of the old guy. Lu gave me a sly side-eye, and I scowled at her. She pressed fingers over her mouth to cover a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
“Owls,” Abbi said, the glass making little pinging sounds as she poked the window with her finger. “A bunch of them.”
“It’s probably just a hawk, cutie,” Bill said. “Owls are nocturnal. They’re sleeping in the trees right now.”
“It’s not a hawk,” Abbi said. “It’s an owl…oh, it’s two owls.” She backed away from the window, fear all over her, her arms stiff and hands splayed at her side. She looked like she was trying to fade back into the protective shadows, inch by inch.
The mail carrier wasn’t paying any attention. She’d pulled out her phone and was tapping at it with her thumbs.
“Three,” Abbi breathed.
I crossed to her, and as soon as I stopped, she took my hand and held tight.
Hado was still on her shoulders. He growled softly, gray eyes glowing with a little too much light.
“Where?” I asked.
Abbi pointed.
I had to duck to see the sky from her line of sight. There, on the top of the gazebo across the street, was a barn owl. Another landed beside it.
Abbi’s breathing grew quick, and she squeezed my fingers hard enough it hurt. “More,” she whispered.
Another and another landed on the gazebo. Until there were five, six, eight, twelve.
“Lu,” I said, keeping my tone easy. “I think it’s time we be going.”
She had miraculously wrested the bagged lunch away from Bill and was headed to the door.
Bill came out from behind the counter and put the plated cinnamon roll in front of the mail carrier. He ducked his head to get a view out the window.
“Will you look at that? You’d think it was some kind of omen or something. Wonder if a fire pushed them out of their roosts…”
I supposed that was as good an explanation as any, though it was not a fire that had sent those owls.
As soon as we stepped out of the shop, every owl turned its head to stare at us.
Yellow, gold, amber, ale, those eyes burned like a hundred eclipsed suns.
There was magic in those owls. There was power.
“Get to the truck,” I said, turning our fast walk into a slow jog. “Just keep moving.”
