“Sorry?”
Aurelia had been so deep in the world of her book that she shook her head to try and return to the present.
“I did something and I think you’re going to be mad, but—really—it’ll be alright.”
Aurelia squinted as if that would help her work out what Julia was saying.
“Did you break something?”
The shop phone rang and Aurelia started walking over to it.
“Oh,merde,” Julia said under her breath.
“Julia! That’s enough cursing from you. What’s going on?” Aurelia asked.
But Julia just shook her head, so Aurelia answered the phone.
“On the Square Books.”
“So, I’m a little worried about Julia.”
It was Antonia, who had jumped right into a conversation, as usual. Her tone was calm but serious, adding to Aurelia’s confusion.
“She’s right here. She’s fine,” Aurelia said.
“Is she standing next to Jane Rochester?”
Aurelia’s face fell.
“Wh—What?”
“She just called and told me a tall tale about how both of you have spent the past few nights talking to characters from books who… What was it? Who magically appear in the shop each night?”
“She told you?”
It came out in a whisper as Aurelia felt her body slowly going numb, but Antonia hadn’t seemed to hear her.
“And she insisted that you talk to them too, and that you’d vouch for her. She was very determined, Aurelia—like she’s convinced what she’s saying is real.”
Aurelia looked at Julia, who was hiding behind the spiral staircase, just as she had the night she’d learned about the characters.
“Julia?” Aurelia whispered.
She peeked out from behind the stairs.
“It just slipped out.”
“It slipped out?”
It was a struggle for Aurelia to keep from shouting.
“Aurelia! What’s going on?” Antonia called out from the phone.
“I have to call you back, alright? I’m fine, Julia’s fine—I just… I have to call you back.”
Aurelia hung up and stared at Julia.
“We talked about this. You said you understood we couldn’t tell anyone.”
