Slinking into tights and a bell-sleeved emerald dress, I put my hair up into a long, flowy ponytail with a matching bow, slick on some sheer makeup including mascara and eyeliner, and slide my toes into my brown Mary Janes. A quick stop for coffee first, and then it’s just me and my mission to find out anything and everything about Irina.
“Ugh,” I harrumph a pile of dusty, old books onto my desk. This is the fifth pile of the day, and my eyes are nearing a state of permanent strain from too much staring at the pages.
“Olive, you have a visitor,” Beau bellows from the front of the store.
I slide my hands down the front of my dress and smooth the flyaways that have escaped to dangle around my face while I make my way to the front.
“Oh, hi.” A whirring breath releases from my chest when I see Sam. Not that I’m comforted to see him, but I’m glad after my search has yielded almost no results that I don’t need to discuss how to magically transform any books found in someone’s attic at this very moment.
“Can I steal you for a minute to talk?” He wears a sheepish grin, and those sparkling blue eyes tell me he’s up to something.
I glance at him sideways for a brief moment before agreeing, “Um, sure. Come back to my desk.” I turn and head in the direction. It’s not completely private, but Beau is listening to smooth jazz and I’ve seen him nod off a time or two since he returned from lunch. Sam will be able to speak freely without interruption. I round my desk and plop into my rolling chair, desperate to get off my feet while I listen to whatever he needs to say.
“Comfortable?”
“Actually, no. I’ll be better when I can take these shoes off for the day, among other things.” I dare him with a look to ask me to expand. He won’t though, I know it.
“No one expects you to get this fancied up, you know. The lady who had this job before you wore mostly jeans and romance book T-shirts. Carol was very casual.” He raises an eyebrow, then shakes his head as if he’s trying to get the picture out of his mind. I think what he described sounds rather delightful.
“Thanks? But this is just who I am. My momma taught me to dress to impress no matter the occasion.” I cross my arms. This couldn’t be what he came to talk to me about. “What can I help you with? I’m, um, a little bit busy.” I nod toward the pile of unopened legends strewn across my desk.
“I wanted to see if you had given any thought to going on a date. You left in a hurry last night, and I didn’t get to ask you properly.” Sam looks at his shoes, and there’s a shyness to his question.
“I’m sorry, Sam—” His face drops even more, and I immediately realize that wasn’t the right way to start. Trying to course correct and not hurt his feelings, I explain, “It’s just that I’ve been trying to settle in, dealing with work research and stuff, you know. I haven’t even had a second to decorate for fall, and that’s one of my favorite things to do. I have the perfect porch for it, and instead it looks like the anti-autumn scrooge lives there.” I ramble as he leans in, hovering over me and hitting me with a burst of his warm cinnamon scent. He’s close, like really up in my space.
Sam lifts my chin with two fingers. “I get it, but I’m determined. When I set my mind to something, I don’t give up easily.” The words ghost over the shell of my ear as his lips graze my cheek, sending a shiver down my spine. “Prepare yourself to be wooed.”
“I-I will think about it . . . I promise.” I’m breathless from our proximity, my face still tingling from his touch.
Sam smiles the most drool-worthy smile as he takes a step out of my space. I know he can see how he affects me, and I don’t like it at all. A part of me does want to try for a date, and that in itself says something about him. There’s just the other part of me that is scared to let him in. He already makes me feel off kilter. If I gave him a chance, he’d have the power to wreck me, and with so much up in the air (and painted on my skin), it’s a little overwhelming.
“Good. What time do you get off tonight?”Whatever time you want me to. Oh my gosh, where did that come from? Stop it, Olivia. Get your head in the game, he means work.
“Oh uh, six but I . . . I have plans with Ari,” I quickly stumble through my nonavailability before he has a chance to show up again later and think he’s going to bully me into a date. My stomach flip-flops at the thought, in a good way.
“Same time that I’m helping Mom finish the attic clean out. Text me, if you feel like it.” With that he turns on his heel and saunters toward the front of the store. I hear him say a quick goodbye to Beau and then the door chimes and he’s gone. I guess if I learned anything it’s that Sam’s still determined and his mother is not a complete liar about her cleaning efforts.
I right myself and dive into another book about the legends of Mage Hollow, scanning for anything that might be associated with Irina, but the problem is almost everything is about her. I could probably recite her entire life history at this point, or at least what’s documented, and I’m still not any closer to finding the old bat. My eyes are heavy with fatigue and dust. Am I just going to be destined to live with this tattoo? Where did that other voice come from when Irina was going on about not letting people wear their hearts on their sleeves? And what lesson did the unknown voice want me to learn? What did she say again about making a decision before Halloween? Every day that passes, the clock is ticking down.
Her words echo in my brain.If you change your mind, you must do so before the clock strikes midnight on Halloween. Once the night has passed, the change will be permanent.
. . . the change will be permanent.
“Ollie, wake up.” I’m jolted from my slumber as Ari shakes my shoulders and works to peel me off the desk. Glancing down, I notice a puddle of drool has seeped all over the book I was entranced in.Great, I’ll have to fix that.
“W-what are you doing here? I must have drifted off.” I rub my face, trying to wake from whatever I was dreaming about.
“I came at six, and Beau said you’d been out for a while. You seemed so peaceful, so I took my time looking through some of these. But it’s getting late, and we need all the time we can get. Move it, toots.” I can see Ari is trying to hide her grin.
I look at my watch, and shoot, it’s already approaching eight. “Was Beau mad? I mean, he could have slammed a book or something to wake me up. Lord knows I’ve done it to him multiple times over the past week.” I scan the store, waiting to locate him and see his disdain.
“Not at all. He said it comes with the job and something about old legends being better than melatonin. He left at six. He locked up but told me to remind you to make sure you double-check the doors when we leave.” She crosses her arms and widens her stance. “So, are we going to leave or . . . are we drinking on the job?”
“Definitely leaving.” I stand and shuffle around the desk, grabbing my stuff and making sure the back door is locked before we head out the front.
Mage Square is practically dead at this time of night. Aside from Union Tavern and the Brewhouse, nearly everything closes at four on the dot. We walk leisurely down the cobblestone sidewalk toward the infamous corner where I performed my greatest flashing event. A calm silence reverberates between us, neither wanting to discuss our findings or lack thereof where someone may overhear.
I notice Ari start to bounce with a bit more pep in her step as we approach my street. “What has gotten into you? Don’t tell me you’re excited about this.” I stop to turn and look at her directly. I don’t have it in me to be joyous about my predicament. I’m always grumpy about it when I wake up.
