Page 25

She was not going to cry, she told herself. She was going to make a plan.

The emergency exit door creaked open a crack and Priya poked her head out. She had her coat on and her work bag over her shoulder.

“Oh, thank the goddesses, I found you,” she said. She stepped out into the alley and handed Tempest a cup of tea in a paper to-go cup.

“I thought you might need this,” she said. “Are you okay?” She followed Tempest’s gaze to the stack of boxes, “Oh! dragon dung! That’s a lot! Much more than I realized. I didn’t know we had so much used stock. When you see it all here like that…”

“There’s over a hundred boxes here, and probably thirty books per box.” Tempest swallowed hard, trying not to allow herself to do the math.

Priya shook her head slowly. “It’s just so wrong. This shouldn’t be happening.”

“It wouldn’t be happening if⁠—”

If my mother were still alive. If my stepfather had a heart in his chest instead of a cash register. If I was a little more magical like you…

Tempest couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Well, I handed in my notice,” Priya announced. “I’d been thinking about it for a while. This made it easier. I’ve loved being a part of the Owl’s story. Even with those dumb stepbrothers of yours and Clement making a mockery of the history. But the new company? They’re just fowl.”

“Did you just crack a pun?” Tempest almost choked on her sip of lavender chamomile tea. Priya had put in extra honey, and it was exactly what she needed. Almost as good as a hug.

Priya looked at her, biting back a tiny smile. She nodded and Fortune piped up, imitating a clucking, crowing rooster. For a moment or two they both giggled at the preposterousness of the new store’s name.

“I’ve also been thinking,” Priya said, “that it would be a terrible shame if all of these books were still here when the moving trucks showed up on Monday. Given that they’re going to be pulped.” She paused, lowering her tone. “I’m quite good at compression work. If someone needed to, say, fit a lot of books into a relatively small space, very quickly.” She snapped her fingers. “Piece of cake!” Another pause. “Hypothetically.”

Tempest looked at the boxes. She looked at Priya, whose brown eyes were shining. And then she thought about the bus.

“I know where we can put them, and it’s not that small a space,” she said.

“Is it far? Do you need help getting the books there?” Priya asked. She hitched her tote bag up on her shoulder.

“No. That won’t be necessary. I could use some help loading, but I’m thinking I can move them myself.

Priya smiled. “You can get a truck? Even better.”

“Not exactly a truck,” Tempest said. “You’ll see. But I’d have to go and get it. It’s parked over on the east side.”

“No worries, I can wait here.” Priya reached in her bag and pulled out a thick novel. She sat down on one of the boxes and made herself comfortable. With a wave of her wand, she produced a tiny orb of floating light that hovered just above the pages of her open book. Fortune flapped her wings and fluttered to Priya’s side to see what she was reading.

Tempest bit her lip. “Are you sure?”

“Go!” Priya waved her off. “I just got to the good part. I’m not going anywhere. And I’ll watch Fortune.”

The lockup was only fifteen minutes from the shop by bus. Tempest walked the last two blocks quickly, clutching her mother’s sign and atlas to her chest like armor. This wasn’t the best neighborhood in the daytime, and she knew it wasn’t safe to linger on these streets alone at night. She tried not to think too carefully about what she was doing, because thinking too hard about leaving was how she’d talked herself out of it for years.

And look where that had gotten her.

The gate slid open with a slow scrape of metal on metal. Most of the vehicles parked here were oversized, outmoded antiques. Rusted recreational vehicles, a decommissioned taco truck. There were a few retired shuttle buses, an old stretch limo and even a hearse. But hers was the only school bus. Its headlights seemed to flash at her as she approached. The grill looked like a grin. Back so soon? She imagined the bus was surprised to see her twice in one day.

Tempest climbed in and sat in the driver’s seat. The engine surprised her by turning over on the first try. That had certainly never happened before. All the lights on the dashboard lit up in a wave that felt like an enthusiastic greeting. Her seat even felt warm, as if the seat warmer had been pre-heating it for her.

She’d been practicing driving the bus for ages; short trips mostly, around the block. This would be her first trip at night, and the first time she had crossed the bridge. She glanced around the lot, at her spot that was paid through to the end of the month. Something told her they wouldn’t be coming back. She placed the atlas up front on the book stand a prior owner had added to the dashboard. It fit perfectly, like the stand was made for it. Tempest threw the bus into gear, pulled out of the lockup and turned back toward the city.

Tempest backed into the alley behind the bookstore with a confidence she hadn’t known she possessed, until the moment it was required. Driving the bus wasn’t a struggle at all. It was almost as if it knew what it was supposed to do, responding to her thoughts as much as her steering.

After she’d parked, she walked to the far back and threw open the rear doors directly in front of the stacked boxes. Priya was standing there waiting with her sleeves rolled up. She looked awestruck.

She looked at the bus. Then she looked at Tempest, who had jumped down to stand beside her.