Chapter 49
forty-nine
Budding Business
“Girl, when I say miles long, I mean it without hyperbole. That contract was impossible,” Renee says as she shelves the new mystery books.
“There was no way in my lifetime I could ever read it, so I just had to trust what the woman said and sign it—if I wanted to keep my memories about you and magic, which of course I do.”
“We can get Bastian to ingest it and see if there’s anything nefarious in there,” I say.
“No, absolutely not,” he says as he moves the book Renee just stocked. “I feed on stories, not legal documents.”
“But you can ingest and parse legal documents,” I say.
He frowns.
“She signed it blindly for us! We owe her this much.”
“Fine.” He sighs and puts the book back on the shelf a few feet down from where Renee had placed it. “But this is the only time I’m doing this for you, and only because you gave my mate a chance to escape.”
Renee gasps. “Oh yeah, what happened with all that? The hunters, and stuff. And the robot women? The news reported it as a festival attraction gone haywire but since Drew and I got to keep our memories, we remember those creepy robots clearly.”
I shrug and pass her another couple of books. “The IBMA said they were being controlled by some hacker type person, but they caught them, so hopefully that’s the last we’ll see of them.”
“I’ll never forget the dead stare from the waitress,” Drew says as he sets down a full box beside me. “To think, she was living here for over a year and no one knew.”
“I know…Fucking creepy.”
“I think she was sent here looking for Bastian. Or maybe powerful magical artifacts,” I say as I open the new box.
“How’d you figure,” Drew asks.
I think back to the way her eyes seemed to gloss over when she saw Bastian for the first time. It was like the Sym had seen an objective, alerted the controller, and they took charge from there.
“She had a strange reaction when she saw us for the first time, and then she kept coming into the store. She touched damn near every single book in this place, never buying a single one. It was like she was looking for—”
“My soulbound book,” Bastian interjects, and it clicks into place.
“As a means to control you.”
He nods.
“Well, they’re going to have a real hard time finding it now,” Renee says with a wink directed at me.
She called several times while Bastian and I were laying claim to one another, and I didn’t want to make her wait any longer, so I rang her back as soon as I was conscious and told her everything—in minimal detail. She knows I’m his mate, and the center of his world now.
Just like he’s the center of mine.
“So, are y’all gonna get married or anything?” Drew asks and Renee tsks at him. “What? It’s a valid question! I love weddings.”
I chuckle as I look at Bastian. “I don’t know. What do you think?”
“A gathering of all the pink flesh in one area to ogle me,” he says with a grimace. “Delightful.”
“They’ll mostly be ogling Cait,” Renee quips. “The bride is the main event, after all.”
“I’ll have to relieve them of their eyes afterwards,” Bastian says.
Renee laughs. “You are the picture of psycho book boyfriend.”
“Hey, I’ll cut eyes out too,” Drew says with a dejected pout.
Renee squeezes his cheeks together. “No. You’re my wonderful golden retriever, and I never want you to change.”
“I’ll do you doggy style,” Drew tries to whisper, but his whisper is more like an indoor voice.
Renee murmurs something at him and I cover my snicker as I sort the incoming books into their treatment piles.
Many of these are in good condition and can be sold as is, which means we can offer them at a much lower price than if we had to re-cover.
With Bastian’s magic it’s simple, but still, it takes time, effort, and energy to make it possible. Energy he can never reclaim.
“So, what’s next for the dragon, the witch, and the demon cat?” Renee asks.
I pull out my phone and open the calendar app. “Looks like a three-day pre-Christmas event in Minneapolis, and we were invited to Sinful Signatures in February in Chicago. But Bastian is on hoard duty for the next six months, so I’m looking for an assistant.”
She grins overwide. “Sounds like so much fu—”
“You can’t go,” Bastian says. “There are still hunters looking for you.”
“There will always be some danger somewhere,” I say. “That’s what pepper spray and lightning fingers are for.”
“It feels unnecessarily reckless.”
“We’ll take Oscar,” I say and the cat merows in confirmation from somewhere in the shop. “And the spell book. I’ll put protections on our hotel room and the booth at the convention center. The whole nine yards.”
He scowls. “What does this distance have to do with your safety?”
I set the books aside and grab his hands to stand up. He pulls me to my feet and I wrap my arms around his neck.
“Everything will be okay. The IBMA are watching me, too.”
He grumbles in displeasure. “I don’t trust them.”
“They seem interested in our safety, and they haven’t asked of anything from us.”
“Yet,” he grunts.
“They let us keep our friends and connected you with your brothers.”
He grunts again, but it sounds less forceful.
“I know it’s hard to trust them because of what you’ve been through. Let’s just reserve judgement, and watch out for ourselves.”
“My brilliant, trusting witch.” He pushes a curl behind my ear, dragging his claw down my neck as he does. “I will prepare contingencies.”
“Of course you will.” I push onto my toes and pull him down for a kiss.
The alarm on my phone rings loudly and I jump. Bastian smiles, then pats me on the butt.
“Opening in ten, everyone!” I shout and clap my hands. “Let’s get these books ready for their forever homes!”