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As I look through the books that Sera ordered over the weekend, I can’t help but be grateful that Isaac and Ezra didn’t follow through on their, uh, promise to bring me some kind of trophy from the guy they killed. While some sick part of me thinks that, okay, maybe that would’ve been alittlecool in the edgy, terrifying kind of way, the rest of me is sure Idon’tneed severed body parts delivered to my door. Or to me personally.
I sigh, sit back against the wall behind the counter, and bring my gaze up to watch the two women who whisper and pull spicy romance from the back aisle where they stand, half-obscured. Once in a while, they’ll cast a look up at me as if to see if I still know they’re there, and whenever that happens, I put a smile on my face and wave.
Yes, grandmother, Icansee you, I don’t say. Because that would probably chase them right out of the store, and that seems counterproductive when I want them to carry their armful of books, check out, and go enjoy them in the privacy of their homes.
Since when has it been illegal or wrong to look atromancebooks, anyway? I can see flashes of covers that they’ve picked out, so I know that neither of them have gone for anything in the truly filthy section yet. If they just move another inch down, however…
The door opens, bell clanging against the glass, and I pick up my iced coffee to sip it through the straw as Sera comes in with an armful of boxes and a slightly troubled look on her face. She looks at me, mouth opening, and I glance to the back of the store pointedly in case she needs to tell me something in private.
Sera nods and puts the boxes down, fixing a smile on her face as she turns around and approaches the two old ladies. “Ladies, can I help you find anything?” she asks, and while the two of them wouldn’t givemethe time of day, they immediately launch into questions and paragraphs about what they’re looking for as they hope that Sera can help them out.
I roll my eyes and take another drink of my coffee. Why couldn’t they just askmethat? Is there something special about Sera?
Yeah,my snide inner voice says.She isn’t dressed in all black, with black hair and enough black eyeliner for someone to wonder if they’ve gone back to the early 2000s. To these ladies, I suppose my appearance may be something close to sacrilegious, which is a real shame. I’ve read most of the books back there, and I could’ve helped them out however they needed.
Whatever.
Soon enough, both ladies are coming to the counter with their books that they’ve narrowed down to about four, and with the friendliest smile I can manage, I check them out quickly.
“I hope you ladies have a good day,” I call after them, which is not reciprocated back to me while Sera holds the door open. Instead, both of them givehernods and act as ifshe’sthe one that’s been here the whole time trying to be nice.
“Is everything okay?” I ask when Sera lets the door close and walks back to the counter. Already I’m arm deep in one of the boxes and sorting through the books there.More bird books. I’d thought we were done with this, though apparently not.
Not thatIhadn’t ended up enjoying the bird books. I’d read them while waiting on customers, flipping through pages to look at wild birds of the Americas during my downtime. The information had been nice, and I’d even learned a few things I’d never cared to know before.
I’m just not sure how we’re going to selleven moreof them unless Sera is using them as a front for some business I’m not aware of.
“I…” Sera puts her hands on her hips and frowns, looking off at the shelves. I follow her gaze, half expecting to see a surprise customer, but find nothing there. Is she looking at ghosts? Has Sera turned into some kind of medium?
If so, she should stop stocking the bird books and find some on exorcisms or possessions.
“I might have messed up,” she says finally and looks back at me, still with that worried frown that creases her forehead between her eyebrows.
I sip on my coffee, sit back in the chair, and wait for her to figure out what to say. “Does it have to do with me?” I ask when she still doesn’t answer after a few more seconds.
“I think so.”
A small thrill of fear curls my stomach, but I push it away. I don’t like the idea that something might be wrong that applies tome, but I know I need to sit still and wait for Sera to say what she’s going to say. Is it really that hard, though? Did she do somethingillegal? Take out a credit card in my name, or try to embezzle from me? That would certainly lead to disappointing results on her part.
“This morning when I was picking these up, a woman confronted me at the post office,” she says finally. “She said she knew you. Or at least that the two of you had met.”
Given that I haven’t talked to a lot of women other than Sera and the baristas next door for a bit unless one counted The Den’s employees, her words only lead to more puzzlement on my end.
“She was really worried about you. Said that you’d gotten into something you shouldn’t, and you were going through a really hard time.”
Was I?
“Which hadmeworried…you’d tell me, right, Ari? If things were gettingbadlike that again?” Her eyes pin me in place, and I nod a few times, trying to reassure her. “That’s what I thought. But this lady, she seemedsonice. And she was really upset for you. It sounds crazy now, but she said that thosemenyou’ve been seeing have put you into a really bad situation that you can’t get out of.”
Uh oh.
“That they’re forcing you to stay with them and that they’rehurtingyou.”
Definitely, uh oh.
I’m on my feet in a second, shaking my head back and forth as I set my coffee on the counter. “That can’t be further from the truth, Sera,” I tell her vehemently. “There’s literally nothing credible to that at all. And I don’t know who she was, but she’s full ofshit.”
Yeah, okay…” Sera looks down, then sighs. “I guess I should’ve thought of asking you first. So I do take the blame for that. But Ari, you have to understand that sheknewabout you. I was sure you knew her and that the two of you had at least spoken before like she said.
