AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“A goblin royal gown.It covers the essentials without shredding when we slip skins.”
“It’s tissue-thin and more straps than anything.I can’t wait to see you in it.”
Was he flirting?
Oh, the act.
Right.
She’d almost forgotten.Guards could be listening at the door right now.
At least Perry had remembered.
Wriggling her fingers in a tiny opening at the back of the closet, she found the hidden compartment and two gems she’d been looking for.Apart, they were sparkly crystals of no obvious value other than a shiny keepsake.Together, they activated a privacy shield.Her mother had given them to her so they could keep secrets from her father.
Twisting them into place, she hid them under a pillow.“It’s as good as any Nahualli secrecy spell.”
“I have so many questions.”
“Of course you do.Toss me the dress.I can change and answer at the same time.Feel free to snoop.I know you want to.”
He threw her the dress and headed for the bookshelves.“Are the books here enchanted?Like the one we brought?”
For a moment, she wished for his father’s store with its paperback-filled sky.Only a few days in the goblin realm, her promises to Baba to keep, her consort to protect—she could do this.“No dimension-escape hatches or self-writing pages on those shelves, just plain old textbooks.”
“It looks like we might have plenty of reading time if we’re in lockdown.”
“Being alone could give us time to regroup, to come up with a new plan to catch the killer.”A blessing in disguise actually.Maybe they could hide here until it was time to leave.
“But it’s inconvenient for actually finding the killer or the other amethysts you promised Baba Yaga.”He turned away, probably giving her privacy.The prude.
She slipped her skin in less time than it took to strip the ripped clothes off her now-human form.“Any ideas for a new trap?”
“We’ll need bait.”
Great, something else she hadn’t counted on.“I didn’t pack killer-goblin lures.”
“Sure you did.”He didn’t look away from the books, but the muscles in his shoulders tensed beneath his shirt, bunching the fabric.“You brought me.”
