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“What’s he doing, I wonder,” Daruka mused, her gaze returning to River.

I glanced up in time to see River slip into the coffee shop and pull the door closed behind him.

What was he doing? In my coffee shop.

Also, had I really just thought of it as mine? I hadn’t even officially accepted the position. And yet…

Yeah, it was mine. Or at least, I wanted it to be.

This was my chance. I could do something positive, be successful at something. And I didn’t have to use magic.

But first⁠—

“I need to go see what he’s up to.”

I sprinted through the room, down the stairs, and out the front door.

He’d better not be trying to sabotage me.

Chapter

Six

River

When I caught sight of Cassandra and Daruka up there on that balcony, I almost turned around and returned to the tattoo parlor, despite having no more clients for the day.

But Cassandra focused her attention on Daruka, and I saw my chance, rushed over to the coffee shop and slipped inside before she could glance back at the street and realize my intent.

Too bad Asmoday hadn’t given her a room overlooking the backyard instead of Main Street. I could have wandered about a hell of a lot more freely if he had.

Now I felt like my every move was on display. She’d know that I lived in an apartment above the tattoo parlor. That I liked to stay up late at night reading.

At least she wouldn’t know what sort of books I liked. Pretty sure she couldn’t see that much detail through my bedroom window.

Could she?

Shit. I may need to rearrange my bedroom so that the foot of the bed faced the window, so she couldn’t see anything but the back of my e-reader.

She’d be able to see me heading downstairs to open the tattoo parlor each morning, since the stairs were on the side of the building.

She’d know that I was chronically late on a daily basis, even though I always gave myself a thirty-minute window before my first appointment.

She’d know that while Vito decorated all the other storefronts on Main Street—the vampire really had a thing for celebrating the holidays with flair—I took great pride in decorating my own shop.

Also, it was entirely possible this was all in my head and she really didn’t care about my every move.

There was another problem, though. The reason I snuck over to the coffee shop several times a day. I needed to figure out a solution to that problem before⁠—

“What are you doing?”

I froze in the act of pouring water from my water bottle into a small dish. After two heartbeats, I slowly stood, turned around to face Cassandra.

All that glorious, thick red hair was tucked into a loose bun behind her head. Tendrils had sprung free, curling around her face and down her neck in an entirely too-becoming way.

Her face was devoid of dust and debris and makeup. The bruise on her cheek stood out in stark relief, but otherwise she had a fresh, rosy appearance.

She wore a simple button-down shirt and a pair of shorts that emphasized her long, lean legs just as nicely as the dress she wore earlier had.