“I…” He looks away with a frown. “Apologize.”
“For?”
His head snaps back to me. “For upsetting your morning with my very appropriate changes.”
I’m squinting again. “Your apologies suck.”
He grunts.
“Look, we can keep the books in yourflowbut we need to move the placards and the decorations and I’ll need to make a new sign to point to the kids’ section upstairs, but it can’t be over the smut because the children will be stomping around and screaming whilethe readers below are trying to get into their book.” I groan. “There must be a better option.”
“Hello?” a voice calls from the shop.
“Shit,” I murmur and head into the hall.
Bastian grabs my arm and tugs me back. “I’m sorry I made these changes without your input. I will move them back and we can discuss a better plan tonight.”
My chest aches at the sincerity in his gaze. I cup his cheek, then kiss him tenderly.
“Thanks.”
“Anyone here?” the voice calls again.
Bastian pats my butt and disappears. I run into the shop with a bright smile.
“So sorry! Welcome to Second Chance—”
The front door closes with a bang, and locks. There are three people in the room, all in strange-looking suits that are somewhere between the nineteen hundreds and a sci-fi B movie. They have suit jackets lined with blinking lights and attachments on their forearms that look like little computers.
There’s a glow at their feet, all of it different colors. Magic, maybe? If they meant us harm, they would’ve been rebuffed by the spell at the door…
“How can I help?” I ask, trying to regain my composure.
The headman takes a step forward, waving a pen in front of him. He has a crooked nose, tan skin, dark eyes, and white-streaked black hair. He’s taller than me by a good six inches, but I’m only five-three, so…
He looks at me over the rim of his glasses, something that feels so old-timey librarian, and then grimaces.
“Where’s the dragon?”
thirty-four
Hunters, Hunters Everywhere
Ismile cordially. “I have many books with dragons in them. Are you interested in romance or—”
“Ma’am, if we could just cut to the chase,” the lanky hunter says with a southern twang. “The being with wings and a tail. Where is it?”
Inky black slides along the wall by the door and I slowly shake my head at the vestige of Bastian.
“I really am not sure what you’re talking about,” I say.
I don’t want this to go to blows. For one, I have no idea how powerful these hunters might be. They could destroy the entire shop. For two, what if we lose? What if they take Bastian?
No. Better to talk them down and get them out. Plus, if they meant us harm, they would’ve been turned around already—unless they have defenses against Bastian’s magic.
The second man takes a step forward, removing his bowler hat. As his head emerges, so do long, thick feathers. The plumage is radiant colors of blue, green, and purple. They shiver and give off a vibrational hum I can feel behind my eyes.
“Where is the dragon?” the lanky glasses man asks again.
