Page 45 of Violet

There’s another collective gasp, and then everyone starts talking all at once. Well, almost everyone. Betty stares at me with a look of utter betrayal, and Nole still refuses to look at me. Because he’s responsible. Because he turned me in. Because he betrayed me.

The deputy mayor clears her throat, and everyone goes quiet. “Violet, for violating your contract—” she pauses. “Violet violating, that’s quite ironic, isn’t it?”

No one laughs.

“Right, where was I? For violating your contract with the city, being employed under false pretenses, and impersonating another citizen, you are hereby dismissed from your position, effective immediately. And rest assured that a search for the real Violet has already begun.”

“A search?” I frown. What are they going to do, force her to work at Spell Library? Arrest her for helping me get this job? “Is she in trouble?”

“We merely want to make sure that Violet’s safe,” the mayor says.

“And we have it on good authority that you’ve been in contact with her over the last week,” one of the police officers—who looks more like a male model, if I’m being honest—steps forward. “Can you provide us with any information on her whereabouts?”

I shake my head.

“Just tell us where she is,” Mayor Shchnarl demands.

Deputy Dragon digs her speared tail into my back. Not with enough force to harm, but enough to hurt.

I just shake my head again, and the mayor’s eyes narrow.

“Search the library!” he shouts, and the two officers take off.

It’s only a matter of time before he sends them to my apartment, and I need to get there first. To grab my bag. To say goodbye to Violet. Because one thing is clear. Now that my secret is out, I’m no longer safe in Silver Springs.

Chapter 19

Violet

My heart breaks as I look around the library. At Nole, who betrayed me and still won’t meet my eye. At Betty, who looks hurt and confused. At all the regular patrons, who are shaking their heads in disapproval.

I have no doubt that by tomorrow, I’ll be on the cover of the Silver Springs Herald... and all over Screech, unless Cash somehow prevents it. Not that he’ll bother, after he realizes that I’m gone.

I take one final moment to memorize all the things I love about this place. The light streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the faded carpet. My solid oak librarian’s desk, where I spent most of my shifts. And the reverse harem romance section, which I started soon after getting hired.

I silently say goodbye to it all—to my life over the past year—and take off.

It was always my plan to shift into a homing pigeon. I’ve been detouring by the park at least once a week, making sure to pass at least one of the shifters before heading home. I’ve never gone more than six days without my chameleon magic picking up their shifted form, just in case.

The moment I shift, Deputy Drayca lets out a pissed off roar. I should be worried—she is a fierce dragon, after all—but she’s no match for me. Sure, she’s faster and bigger and she breathes fire, but she can’t fit through the door—let alone between pedestrians or through narrow alleys.

I have no trouble losing her, but after that, avoiding obstacles becomes a challenge. Not because I lack control—after all the practice I’ve had, I should hope not—but because the tears streaming down my face make it impossible to see.

Why do birds even have tear ducts? It’s not like they ever use them. Apparently, it’s just a lovely little gift evolution saved for us bird shifters. You know, to make sure we crash into something if we’re having an especially bad day.

Today—this moment—really puts those tear ducts to the test. Everything hurts. The thought of abandoning Violet after she left her entire life behind to save me. The idea that I’ll never see Cash again—my wampitch, my mate—who I’ve already started falling for. The image of Liam—my big, hot, muscular troll, whom I never even got to know—which makes me wonder what could have been, and mourn the loss of what never was. And finally, there’s that nagging awareness that I’m losing it all because of Nole—my friend, my mate—who I fell for, deeply, irrevocably, sometime over the past year.

My building looks blurry as I nosedive toward the fourth floor, but I have no trouble flying through the hallway window or landing in front of my door. The moment my claws touch the ground, I shift and pull out my spare key.

“Violet?” I shout, not bothering to keep my voice down as I race inside the apartment. What does it matter, anyway, when I’m leaving?

I don’t get a reply, and there’s no sign of her in the living room. Did she go back to bed? Is she fast asleep? Is she...

The word dead echoes through my head as I race across the living room, past the open bathroom door, and into the bedroom. She’s not in bed, or on the floor, or in the closet—though, how would she even get into the closet?

I check the tub, then the kitchen, and even the hallway closet, each time expecting to find her unconscious form. Except each time, there’s no sign of Violet, and she’d never—ever!—leave the apartment without telling me first.

They took her! They kidnapped Violet, and Chameleon only knows what they’re doing to her right now, or if they ever plan to let her go.