“Would you like to know a secret?” He winked at me conspiratorially.
“Always.”
“I’m pretty sure Alexander has a team of scientists somewhere learning all they can about us. When we were kids he always said he would.”
“What’s so secretive about that?”
“The Unseen are, and always have been, forbidden from studying science. If data exists about us, data can be stolen about us. We don’t write stuff down, we don’t keep discernible records. Some of the witches have spelled books, I think, but we’d have a time trying to get them to stop.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I agree, and I was joking about Zander having a team of scientists. In this day and age, even if anyone came across it, they wouldn’t believe it. And there is enough technology and magic to keep any data safe.”
We walked around a bend in the road and the hamlet spread out in front of us. The houses on the edge of town were painted in pastel colors, and I could spot the sea in the distance.
“Here it is. You can buy about anything you need here, and if we don’t have it, we can get it. Mostly Dannan live here, but there are a few Supay families, a few shifters of various descent, and an oddball or two. I believe Cthulu is currently residing in one of the seaside cottages that we rent out.”
“Cthulu?” Even knowing the unseen creatures were real, I’d still think he was fictional.
“Indeed. Nice guy. Very misunderstood.”
We moseyed past the houses and into the town. Glass paned shops lined the streets with shingles out. There were no words describing their wares, but pictures instead. A picture of a shoe indicated a shoe store. I peered in the window as we passed and they were beautiful, what you’d find at any upscale mall.
A pub was represented by a frothy mug of beer painted on a wooden sign. A drug store, I assumed, had a mortar and pestle—or maybe a potion shop. “What’s that?” I pointed at the shop.
“Apothecary. You’ve got some modern medicine like pain killers, some potions, some ready to use spells, just a mix of health and beauty type implements.”
So a magical drugstore then.So cool.
We passed a few other practical shops before I found myself staring into a bookshop. “I need to go in there.”
The smell of the shop washeavenly. Parchment and coffee. I stood in the doorway with Roan crowded behind me, and sucked air in and out of my nose for several moments before moving further into the room.Bookstores have the most amazing smells.I caught a few whiffs of chocolate and vanilla, baking type spices. The most overwhelming smell was the sweet, musky smell of printed books.
The shelves were crammed full. I didn’t know where to start. I walked slowly up and down the main aisle looking at the sections. Modern human sections were nestled beside supernatural like it was no big deal. From “Mail Order Brides” to “Fated Shifter Mates” in the Fiction section to “Familiars and Wands” beside “Empty Nest Syndrome” in the non-fiction. I saw headings like self help, spell help, and shifting help.Oh, I need that.I decided to start there.
“Why can books like this exist, but not science?” I asked Roan as I held up a book on how to teach your teens to shift without pain. It was titled “My Changing Body.”
“I know I sound like a broken record, but they’re spelled. If that book was to be picked up by someone without magic, it would turn into a book about a human child going through puberty.”
“That’s brilliant,” I muttered, tucking the book in my arm to purchase.
I stopped, feeling like an idiot. “I don’t have any money.” My purse was probably sitting in my living room across the world in Tennessee.
“You don’t have to worry about that here. Anything you buy will be charged to the castle,” Roan said, unconcerned.
“I’m not okay with that.” I’d made my own way for nearly two decades. I had no intention of doing any differently as a dragon.
He looked up at me in surprise. “We’ve caused a major inconvenience to your life. The least we can do is buy you a book.”
“You haven’t inconvenienced my life. You’ve saved it, albeit in a verybadway. I’ll thank you to never imprison me again or make me use the bathroom in a bucket in the corner. But if you hadn’t been there that day I have no idea what I would’ve done or how I would’ve dealt with this. Not to mention apparently Riley is in some insane trouble. That could’ve ended up on my doorstep if her enemies found out about me.”
He shrugged. “I sort of saw it more like we forced you to stay here so the Leyak can’t get more of a foothold over our citizens through you. I mean, you’re free to leave, we’ll take you home if you want, but we would strongly discourage that course of action.”
“Of course we would,” Alexander’s voice came from behind the stacks.
“Zander!” Roan said happily. “It’s good to see you, cousin.”
I smiled at the two men as they embraced and smacked each other on the back. “You two keep surprising me.”
