Gabriel stepped closer, hope blossoming in his chest. “Do you know what’s going on with me?”
“I might,” Aldrik said as he went back to the stack of books in front of him. “But if I talk to you about it, you have to promise to listen with an open mind. What I have to tell you will beyond anything you have ever conceived of.”
Gabriel’s heart pounded. “Yes, anything. I just need to know what’s going on with me. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“Very well,” Aldrik said. “Come into back where we can talk.”
Gabriel watched Aldrik walk to the front door and lock it. He flipped the sign hanging on the door from open to close then headed for the back of the store. Gabriel hesitated for a moment, wondering if he really was losing his mind, and then followed after Aldrik into the back of the bookstore.
Listening to what the man had to say couldn’t be any worse than not knowing anything, which was exactly where he stood at the moment. Who knew? Maybe Aldrik did know what was going on, although Gabriel doubted it. The man seemed a little kooky.
“Have a seat,” Aldrik said as Gabriel walked into the back room. “I’ll make us some tea.”
Gabriel took just a moment to glance around the spacious room, shocked to find it clean and well organized. It looked the total opposite of the rest of the bookstore. There didn’t appear to be any dust, books stacking the floors, or disorder anywhere in the room.
Books neatly lined floor-to-ceiling bookshelves along the wall. Two dark brown leather wingback chairs sat in front of a grey stone fireplace. And a massive antique mahogany desk sat situated in one corner next to a large picture window. It was a beautiful study and totally out of place for the rest of the bookstore.
“Do you prefer honey or sugar with your tea?”
Tea?Gabriel turned to look at Aldrik. “What’s with this place?” He knew it was rude to ask, but he just couldn’t help himself. “The rest of the place looks like it hasn’t seen a cleaner since the place was built, but this room is nearly perfect.”
Aldrik looked up from pouring two cups of tea and smiled. “This is my room, not part of the bookstore.” He gestured to a small hidden stairwell off to one side of the room. “I live just up there.”
“But why?” Gabriel asked. “You’d get more customers if you cleaned the place up.”
Aldrik chuckled. “Don’t want more customers.”
Gabriel frowned in confusion. He couldn’t believe he was having this conversation. It was like it came out of some fantasy movie. Any minute now fairies would come floating out of the woodwork.
“Sit down, sit down,” Aldrik said as he carried over two teacups on saucers, holding one out to Gabriel. “We’ll talk and you will understand.”
Gabriel took the small bone china saucer and cup, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt he was going crazy when he noted the small pink roses on the dainty porcelain and admitted to himself that it was really nice china.
Gabriel followed Aldrik to the two wingback chairs. He took a small sip of his tea, surprised to find that the hot liquid actually tasted good. He couldn’t quite place the flavor, but it was inviting. He found himself taking several sips before hearing a small chuckle from Aldrik.
“It’s my own blend of rosemary, mint, and echinacea,” Aldrik said. “It’s good, isn’t it?”
Gabriel nodded, not sure what to say. He decided silence was better than sounding like a blithering idiot, which was exactly how he felt at the moment.
“Here’s some for you to take with you. It will help with the itching.” Aldrik handed over a small plastic bag. Gabriel took the bag and stuck it in his pocket. “Now, about why you’re itching…there’s really no good way to say this. You’re a shifter.”
Gabriel froze with the cup halfway to his lips. He carefully set the cup down in its matching saucer and set them both on the small table between his chair and Aldrik’s, and then folded his hands together.
“Come again?”
“You descend from a long line of shifters, panther shifters to be exact,” Aldrik said. “As soon as you reached maturity, in your case the age of twenty-five, you began to go through the change. That should have been fairly recently. Your skin itches, you’re having strange dreams, and you crave raw meat.” Aldrik waved his hand a little. “Does any of this sound familiar?”
“It sounds like you’re a fucking loon,” Gabriel said as he stood to his feet, clenching his hands into fists so he didn’t reach over and try and strangle the bookseller. “I came here looking for help, not some crazy-ass story about me being some damn mythical creature out of a horror movie.”
Gabriel stormed out of the room. He couldn’t believe he had fallen for the man’s story. He actually started to think that Aldrik might have answers, but it was clear that the man was nuttier than a bed bug.
“I’ll be here when you want answers.”
Gabriel unlocked the door and swung it open. He paused to glance over his shoulder, glaring at Aldrik. “If you think I’m coming back here to listen to anything you have to say, you’re even battier than I thought.”
Gabriel was quite proud of his exit, slamming the door behind him as he rapidly left the store. He quickly walked down the sidewalk to his car and jumped in. The faster he made it back to his apartment, the faster he could start researching again. He needed to find that damn book and he needed to find it somewhere besides the Hide-Away-Books bookstore.
* * * *
