Page 2 of Bound By the Sleeper’s Harp

Even though we weren’t family.

“Thanks,” I mumbled as my cheeks flushed. She was trying to be nice, and I wasn’t one to turn down a discount. My finances couldn’t afford that and Tara knew it. But still, I hated the embarrassment that followed.

My burner phone buzzed with incoming texts as I pulled cash from my wallet. I threw the extra bills into the tip jar.

I thanked Tara and pressed my wallet under my arm before unlocking my phone and stepping away.

Vivi had sent two images, each with her holding a different outfit in front of the mirror. A string of messages followed.

Vivi

Which outfit says I’m going to kill my sister’s ex fiancé?

Vivi

The black one, right?

Vivi

That way I’ll blend in, just in case there are any witnesses.

I snorted, typing out a reply⁠—

And collided with a wall of muscle in the form of a broad chest. A rush of warm liquid poured down my hands and the front of my clothes and I gasped, jumping backward. My purse, phone, and wallet dropped to the floor as I regained my footing. A massive coffee spill covered the front of my lavender T-shirt. It was one of my favorites, too, with a picture of a Ragdoll cat wearing fairy wings. “What the hell—?!” My words cut off as I locked gazes with a simmering pair of green eyes.

My lips parted as I took him in.

It wasn’t just that he was tall, with layers of muscle beneath his black T-shirt. He was also covered in tattoos and piercings. His black hair was long on one side and shaved on the other, with tribal patterns etched in. Everything about him screamed danger!

A rush of warmth dumped into my stomach. A sensation I was surprised to feel when I’d felt absolutely nothing for the past two years.

I forced my breaths to calm, a technique my therapist had coached me on.

When I blinked, the male’s glamor wavered and I no longer saw a human, but a goblin. His skin changed from golden to gunmetal gray. His ears turned to points. His piercings and tattoos multiplied. A piercing appeared in his septum, another in his lip and eyebrow. I sucked in a breath.

“Maybe watch where you’re going, yeah?” he gritted out.

The moment the words were spoken, the spell was broken. I blinked and his glamor snapped back into place, making him appear human again.

“I’m—sorry! It was an accident,” I sputtered.

Wait…

Why was I apologizing?! That wasn’t who I was anymore. I wasn’t a scared, cowering girl.

“Someone grab her a towel,” Tara called to one of her employees as another rushed forward with a mop to clean the bit that had landed on the floor.

“Thanks, Tara,” I managed, regaining my composure.

“I’d like another coffee,” the male told Tara, never taking his eyes off me. I felt his stare caress my skin as he looked me up and down.

That same, almost foreign feeling welled up inside me again. Attraction. He wasn’t even my type.

“Uhm.” Tara hesitated, like she wanted to argue. “Another refill. Sure. Mark will take care of that if you head over to the barista counter.”

I ripped my gaze away, turning my eyes downward. Most of my belongings had spilled out of my purse. I wiped my hands on my yoga pants then crouched and swept everything—including my unmentionables—back inside, then grabbed my phone and stood, only to find the goblin holding my wallet, examining it.

Every nerve ending went on full alert. “What are you doing?!” I accused. I didn’t carry identification anymore. Something I’d stopped doing after Luke destroyed any hope at a normal life.