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“I understand,” Ms. Booker said. “Although, please allow me to assure you that once she is inside Book Nookery, she’s perfectly safe.”
“I’m sure she is,” Joy said. “It’s why we’re thrilled she’s working here.” Her phone beeped. Joy glanced down at it and tsked. “I need to run. Be safe, Chloe.”
“I will be.” I joined Ms. Booker behind the large desk and tucked my water bottle away. “Have a great night, see you in the morning?”
“Yep. I’m on pickup. See you then!” Joy waved, then hurried out the store’s front door, the bell jingling with her exit.
I picked up the clipboard that held the list of books that needed restocking. “How was the afternoon shift?”
“Quite fine.” Ms. Booker adjusted her ever-present string of pearls. “It was busy, until a touch after six. A wolf Pack came through, that was most interesting indeed.” She glanced at me. “Any news from the Curia Cloisters?”
I shook my head. “There’s a vampire in Magiford who is more than old enough to remember shadows, but apparently he’s still out of the area due to an emergency. I’m not sure they will arrange for a meeting anyway. In the latest message I received from the Curia Cloisters, he said he never interacted much with shadows. I doubt he can tell me anything more than I already know from my time with Noctus,” I said.
Ms. Booker knew about my time with Noctus, and had been surprisingly fine with keeping Noctus’s existence a secret from my siblings. It was a relief to be able to tell her—I couldn’t even tell Pat or Joy about my latest visit to Noctus’s place since the Paragon had been clear only he knew Noctus’s location, and only those on the Regional Committee of Magic were aware there was an elf in the city.
“That’s a disappointment,” Ms. Booker said. “I thought the Curia Cloisters were making an effort to help you—finally.”
I shook my head. “I think they’re more desperate to find whoever is responsible for the shadow monster and blood spell that were set off by that artifact earlier this month.”
Which is probably that shadowy organization the Paragon told me about, which would make them evenmoredesperate to uncover them and end this.
“I’m just one shadow,” I said. “I can’t help them with everything that’s going on. Magiford is only just recovering from all the wizard House drama they’ve been talking about in the Curia Cloisters’ newsletter,” I said.
Ms. Booker slightly pursed her lips as she studied me. “You are, perhaps, too understanding.”
I laughed. “No, I’m just thankful they’re letting Pat use Cloisters resources to look for the tracker.”
I trailed off when I heard the unmistakable sound of a loud engine idle outside.
“Do you hear that?” I asked. “It sounds like a bus.”
The front door flew open, and a handsome man—fae, going by his appearance and the slight tapering of his ears—stepped inside.
His long black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and he had blue-ish-purple eyes that were so striking they reminded me of Queen Leila’s. His white smile was turned dazzling by the warm tone of his olive skin, and with his black trousers, pinstriped vest, and a black bowtie, he looked fashionable, but from a different time.
“Night Court,” he declared in a loud voice that had a sort of raw charisma to it. “This is Book Nookery, the bookstore and workplace of Chloe Anderson, the last known living shadow!” He pointed to me with a wooden stick that had a purple pennant flag attached to it, and was topped with a plastic crescent moon.
I leaned to the side so I could peer out the open door into the inky night. Shapes of other people were clustered out on the front porch, and a large bus was parked in front of the store. “What?” I said.
People began to pour into the store, dressed in what I vaguely recognized as 1920’s fashion. The women wore black, purple, or dark blue beaded evening dresses with hemlines that went just past their knees, matched with plain pumps, pearl necklaces, and silk wraps. The men wore tweed or pinstripe, sheep’s wool suits with matching fedoras or flat caps.
It took me a moment to place the new flood of customers with otherworldly beauty, oddly colored eyes and hair that ranged from platinum blond to streaked pink, and olive skin as fae nobles from the Night Court.
“Oh my,” Ms. Booker said at my side as the front room was rapidly filled with fae—all of them wielding cellphones. “You said you were curious, Lord Linus. You didn’t say you intended to turn my place of business into a zoo.”
“Ahh yes, perhaps I should have warned you.” The handsome fae with the wooden stick and purple flag forged his way through the crowd. “But, then again, the demand for a meet and greet greatly outweighed my expectations.” He flashed a smile at me and rested his forearms on my desk. “Chloe Anderson, it is lovely to finally make your acquaintance.”
I looked from the charismatic fae to the rest of the fae nobles who were gawking at me. I could hear the click of their phones’ camera apps. “I’m sorry, what’s going on?”
“Chloe, this is Lord Linus—the father of the highly esteemed Queen Leila,” Ms. Booker said. “He’s become something of a regular at Book Nookery these days. I realized during his last visit it was because he was keen on seeingyou, and informed him of your night shifts.”
Lord Linus—who looked barely older than his daughter, but that was fae aging for you—grinned at me, oozing charm. “Officially I am here to send my greetings on behalf of my daughter. She instructed me to introduce myself, as I am the unfortunate soul left in charge of the Night Court when my dear daughter and her deadly husband leave to visit other Courts.”
“I’m Chloe Anderson,” I said. “You have a lovely daughter. The fae are lucky to have her.”
As much as my parents would have chided me for not thanking the fae lord, thank yous and fae were tricky. Fae were master wordsmiths who could contrive favors from words.
Queen Leila wasn’t like that, so I doubted her father would be, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
