Chapter 38
thirty-eight
Decorations for Days
July slips so quietly into August, I don’t even notice until it’s almost September!
We reorganized the shelves to optimize sales and flow, boosting his magic and my revenue by leaps and bounds.
We’ve been so busy I had to put up a help wanted sign.
No bites though, but it’s okay. I love what we’re doing, even if I’m so beat by the end of the night I can hardly keep my eyes open.
Bastian seems to have boundless energy, caring for me when I’m struggling to care for myself.
He uses the microwave like a pro, reheating curry and stir-fry leftovers like an AppleDee’s chef extraordinaire.
When I’m too tired to shower, he bathes me, and I feel like I should be too tired from now on because the bath always comes with a thorough finger-fucking that drops me straight into REM sleep.
Just before September breaks, we get our official invitation to be a vendor at the tri-county fall fair titled, Abundance in the Air.
The name and theme for this year certainly feels appropriate.
We’ve been growing astronomically since the viral explosion of one of the social posts featuring Bastian leaning “book boyfriend” style against a shelf.
Ever since, I’ve caught him in his human form for so many candid shots.
The one of him running his finger along a page with his eyes closed did particularly well, too. We’ve had so many order for books, and even more orders for “Bastian shots.” If I weren’t so jealously possessive, I’d recommend we start him a LonelyFans account. He’d probably make more than our books…
The viral posts have done more than help with sales; we’ve been getting rebind commissions, too.
People have been sending in their old, damaged books to be refurbished in beautiful hardcover bindings, and we’ve been happy to provide.
Using Bastian’s magic felt too much like cheating, so we opted to do all of them by hand.
It’s some of the best hours on the weekend where we sit together, listening to some Swift, running our boning tools over glue.
There has been no boning for me, though…
Every time we get frisky, and I start to lead him south he says he’s still not ready.
A girl can only try so many times before she gets disheartened, so I’ve just settled for great orgasms while I wait for him to do whatever he needs to do to prepare.
The inequity of how many orgasms I’ve had compared to him is starting to weigh on me, but one day, I’ll get him back.
September leaks in, bringing a cold breeze off the lake that changes the leaves from green to gold.
We finally fill the associate role with Mike, the kid from the local market looking to get some extra hours.
I quickly discover the last book he read was Catcher in the Rye in his junior year of high school. So that needs to be quickly remedied.
I send him home with a reading list and a new subscription to Audiful, since he hasn’t read for pleasure in such a long time. He likes to go to the gym, though, and that’s the perfect time to listen to great books.
By the Equinox, he’s chatting avidly with customers about his favorite sci-fi books, and even a few romantasy reads. His bored, dead eyes have been replaced with excitement and enthusiasm. It makes my heart soar to see him fall in love with reading and stories again.
Finally, fall arrives in earnest, and it’s time to roll out the sweaters again. The town takes Halloween very seriously, and I am adoring it. Every shop has a pumpkin—or ten—out front, and so I know we need to bring the magic.
I invite Renee and Andrew over for dinner to discuss designs. They arrive with pumpkins, and I prep the pizza, even making a meatza for my dear carnivore friends. Oscar sneaks a meatball or two—okay I give them to him—and he’s just the happiest cat-sith on the continent.
“Okay, so, what’s the idea?” Renee starts as she pours each of us another glass of wine.
I accept mine giddily and sink into my chair. “I want a giant dragon emerging from the awning of the front door, breathing fire!”
Bastian grins. “You’re obsessed with me, aren’t you?”
I tsk. “Dragons are a staple in fantasy. The shop has fantasy in the name. It just makes sense, and also I can make it breathe fake fire with my magic.”
He wraps his arm over the back of my chair. “She’s obsessed with me.”
Renee and Drew laugh.
“Yeah, we know,” she adds.
I shush her, my cheeks glowing, and not from the wine.
“What else for the decorations?” Drew asks.
“Well,” I start, swirling my cup. “If we do a dragon out front, I want to have a warrior maiden inside by the primary display, and then maybe some kind of bad guy monster leaping off the second floor toward her.”
“We can do ballroom-like sconces for lighting!” Renee says.
“Oh, and we could make custom bookmarks to give away with every purchase,” I say, feeding off her excitement and squirrely energy.
“Daggers, swords, and arrows, oh my,” Bastian adds with a smile.
The conversation flows as we throw out idea after idea, the vibes high and the wine pouring. Drew and Bastian wander off to start prototyping wooden bookmarks, so Renee and I whip out my laptop to design custom tote bags.
By the end of the evening, we’ve solidified a beautiful tote design with some stock vector images and clever typography done by Renee. The boys wander in with their prototypes while we’re discussing magical sconces. Bastian is beaming as he holds out his creation for me to inspect.
It’s a rose just like the one in the stained glass of the front door, but the thorny vine is wrapped around a thick sword. The words “Second Chance Fantasy” are etched down the center of the blade in curling letters.
I grin up at him as I run my fingers over the gorgeous bookmark. “It’s perfect.”
He captures my chin and kisses me swiftly before whispering, “You’re perfect.”
“Am not,” I huff, giving a sideways glance at Renee.
She’s busy inspecting Drew’s design.
“You are to me,” Bastian says, then kisses me again.
Tenderness flows from him as the kiss goes on. I’m drawn into him like stars racing across the night sky. I hug him around the middle as I battle the ache in my throat and the burn in my eyes. A tear escapes me anyway. Bastian thumbs it away as he pulls back.
“Getting weepy when we have company?” He tsks as he swipes away another tear.
“Hush up,” I say with a sniffle.
I glance over to see Renee making the most intense “aww” face I’ve ever seen.
Drew clears his throat and says, “It’s kinda late, we better take off, babe.”
“Can’t I watch them being adorable for a few more minutes?” she asks with a child-like whine.
“Nah, it’s time I get you to bed,” Drew says, then slaps her ass with a loud clap.
Renee yelps and I can’t help but chuckle. They’re adorable, too.
We help them pack up some leftovers and they take the trash for us on their way out.
They come back in the evenings for the next week to help us with the giant dragon design, though Bastian is the heavy lifter on the fabrication. Drew and Renee make the magical sconces with me, and I spend my witchy energy infusing all of them with illusion magic.
We set the first pair of torches in the entrance and I activate the incantation to light them. Opalescent flame bursts from the top and dances six inches upward. Little sparks of rainbow brilliance shoot away from the flame every so often, giving the appearance of some alchemic instability.
It looks absolutely magical.
Bastian takes one night to canvas off the front of the building so no one can watch him fabricate the dragon. We make hammering noises the next day before opening to give the illusion of construction for about twenty minutes, and then, we do the big reveal.
Our neighbors come out to ogle the massive gaping maw of the dragon head coming right out of the awning. I’ve infused the inside of its mouth with the same magic as the torches and we’ve put a trigger on either side of the window to set it off when someone walks past.
Bastian hugs me close as we watch the kids from the bakery down the street run through the illusionary fire, a smile splitting each of their faces as they scream in delight. I can’t wait until it’s one of our own children screaming alongside them.
Like lightning, dread strikes in my gut. I clutch my stomach from the intensity of it, but remember to breathe. Just breathe through it.
“Cait? What is it?” Bastian asks as he bumps my head with his nose.
“I was just…thinking about the children is all. What if one falls while running, or what if my magic hurts them?”
His human hand tenses on my side and I feel the prick of claws.
“Do not lie to me,” he says with quiet ferocity.
“Why would I ever stay with a woman who can’t give me a family?”
I swallow Jeremy’s words, making the stone in my stomach heavy and hot with rage.
“Can we talk about it later?” I ask, my voice trembling to contain the emotion.
“Of course.”
Bastian turns me toward him and pulls me into a tight embrace. I hold onto him as my world tries to fall out from under me once again.
“You don’t need to hide from me. I’m not him.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” I murmur as a burn builds behind my tightly closed eyes.
“No more half-truths. No more lies. Yes?”
I nod, smearing his shirt with my salty tears.
He lets me hug him for a long time. We listen to the children scream and play until my quiet sobs dry up. I pull back and glance up with tear-stained lashes that make the light halo around him. He looks like an angel.
Maybe he is.
My guardian angel.