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Dropping my basket to the floor, I dodged around the centaur and the Orc and ran as fast as I could for the exit.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ihit the door running and then rushed down the street with my head down, not making eye-contact with anyone. My only goal was to go straight home and never go into that horrible grocery store ever again!
Unfortunately, I was headed in the wrong direction—a fact I didn’t realize until I was halfway down the main street across from a bakery called The Lost Lamb.
I stopped abruptly when I realized my error and looked in the window. The place was crowded with customers of all kinds—both humans and non-humans—and the girl behind the counter looked harried and run off her feet as she tried to wait on all of them at once.
Just then someone tapped me on my shoulder.
“Hey—sorry about what happened back there,” a low, rumbling voice said.
Whirling around, I saw the Orc again.
“You!” I exclaimed, finding my voice at last.
“Yeah, it’s me again.” He shrugged, his big, muscular shoulders rolling with the gesture. “Look, don’t be too mad at Chester—he’s hard of hearing—that’s why he shouts like that.”
“Well what he was shouting wasn’t true!” I exclaimed. I was relieved to find my words flowing somehow, because I wanted desperately to explain myself. “I never wanted to buy that…that stuff. I was just curious, that’s all. I’ve never seen anything like it for sale back where I live. Or, er, where I lived before.”
He rumbled laughter.
“I imagine not, if you were living out in the human world.”
“I was,” I said stiffly. “And I’m beginning to think I ought to go back to it.”
“No, don’t do that.” He shook his head earnestly. “If you were drawn to Hidden Hollow, it’s because you belong here. Only people and Creatures who have magic or are magic can pass through the barrier.”
“You didn’t seem to think I belonged yesterday,” I pointed out sharply.
“Yeah, I know.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I really am sorry about that. Did you get the apples?”
“Well…yes,” I admitted grudgingly. “And the note. It was nice of you to apologize—most guys wouldn’t do that.”
“It was the least I could do after scaring you and chasing you up the hill that way,” he said. “I’m Azo’rath, by the way, but you can call me Rath.”
“Rath,” I repeated. “I’m Sarah.”
He smiled, a surprisingly charming expression considering his tusks. I thought again that he was handsome…for a supposedly mythical creature.
“I know your name—your Grandmother talked about you a lot. She was really proud of you.” He held out a hand to me. “It’s nice to meet you, Sarah.”
Tentatively, I held out my own hand and watched as it was swallowed up in his much larger one. As we shook, I felt a kind of warm tingle run up my arm. It passed through my whole body, making my nipples tight and the spot between my legs was suddenly hot and wet.
I jerked a little at the strangely sexual sensation and looked up at Rath.
“Hey—did you do something to me?” I demanded, pulling my hand out of his.
“Did I what?” He frowned down at me.
“What was that feeling?” I demanded. “That…that weird tingling?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know. I felt it too, though—I thought it was your magic.”
“I don’t have any magic,” I said impatiently. “Or at least, I don’t think I do.”
