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Sterling chortled. “So, when can we expect you to come back?”
I bent to help collect the papers from the ground. “Soon enough. I have some plans for this place. But I need your help with it.”
“What kind of plans?”
I smiled at my assistant. “Sterling, how much do you know about wolves?”
Chapter 23 - Liam
Kylie parked near a boba shop in town, sighing as she unbuckled her belt and playfully whacked my shoulder. “I can’t believe you made her assistant faint.”
“In my defense, Anita told me to shift in front of him.”
“Humans can’t always handle our nature, Liam.”
I chuckled while popping my belt off. “He insisted he could handle it. I think he thought we were on drugs for a minute.”
“And then I bet he thoughthewas on drugs.”
Sunlight glared over the windshield as I stepped onto the sidewalk. Wind whipped around us, sending leaves swirling across the sidewalk as I studied our surroundings with a critical frown.
I scratched the back of my neck. “Ky, I thought you said there was a store here.”
“It’s hidden. Follow me.”
She drifted past me to the brick alley several yards ahead of us. I trailed after her with my hands in the pockets of my windbreaker. Three days ago, I’d stepped into Anita’s human world. I showed her assistant the truth about shifters, and the three of us sat down to discuss how we could improve the vet clinic to include shifter medicine.
That was the day I knew I wanted to propose to her. I just needed help finding a ring. Which was where my sister came into play.
If she even knew where she was going.
I clicked my tongue and sighed, sounding more annoyed than I intended. “Ky—”
She gasped and grabbed my hand. “Come on.”
“But there’s not enough room to—”
None of my opposition was heeded. She yanked me after her into that cramped alley, no wider than our shoulders put together, and forced me to walk with her. The alley shrank as we progressed. With the brick closing in and the sky above shrinking to a sliver, panic grew in my chest.
My heart thudded in my ears. Sweat slicked my palm and made it harder to hold on to Kylie. Just when I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it, I stumbled into Kylie on a cobblestone path. The brick widened. I sucked air into my lungs, noticing the tented courtyard a few yards ahead of us.
Stringless lights glowed over rich tapestries and fabrics around us. Lanterns floated above our heads. To the left was an antique table that held silver objects, tiny trinkets that winked in the ethereal light. Had I stepped into a dream?
“Hi, Eassie,” Kylie called to the opposite corner of the courtyard. “How’s the haul today?”
A creature with bamboo-colored braids woven with silver tinsel peered at us from a stool near a tall wooden podium. Black eyes rounded most of her blue face, visible through the glasses set on the edge of her nose. Her hands were occupied with a crochet project.
“Ky,” she greeted with a watery voice. “You’ve come back. One of you needs something, eh?”
Kylie patted my back, startling me into tripping over the cobblestones. They seemed to wiggle like they weren’t exactly real. Again, it felt like a dream.
I coughed anxiously. “Yeah, me. I need a ring.”
Eassie gestured to a table across from us. I took a step forward, surprised by how quickly I trekked across the space. The whole place seemed to be under some kind of magical spell. Kylie stood beside me with her hand on my shoulder.
She pointed to a curio cabinet in front of us. “There’s some nice ones.”
A moss agate ring on a rose gold band caught my eye. My sister must have noticed my interest because she requested that Eassie open the cabinet. With a wave of the woman’s hand, the doors squeaked open, and I reached in to lift the ring.
