I let out a sigh before turning toward Indigo, who was dragging the dragon book across the floor. “You couldn’t wait until she was gone?” I asked, taking a step forward.

‘My book! Wanted it now!’

“We can’t let normal people see you,” I said with a frown, picking the book up and setting it near the door to her hideaway. The small door wouldn’t fit the book, but magic might take care of it.

“Indigo,” I whispered lightly as she flew from the floor up to the opening to her space. “I just worry.”

At the tone of my voice, her head hung a little low, and she peeked down from the top of the bookcase.

‘Sorry, no worries,’ she replied. ‘I forgot to use my shadow magic.’

“It’s okay, you’re still little, and she didn’t see you, this time. In the future, be more careful.”

Indigo nodded, then her head vanished from sight. When the delivery guys were here, she remembered, but not when a random friend from home showed up. Then again, that book was pretty amazing, with the magical drawings.

Her hideaway was a private space, but I couldn’t help but wonder all of what she had inside there. My assumption was books and a place to rest, but I didn’t know. It wasn’t like I could visit.

“Cat, I thought you raced out here to hide her?” I asked, searching for him.

“That isn’t my problem,” he said. His voice came down from above, and still sounded concerned.

I shook my head, walking back to the counter and picking up the rest of the books before popping them into the storage room. By the time I made it to the top of the steps, the dragon book and Indigo were gone. Somehow the book had made it inside her little space.

The Cat sat near the small oak tree, staring up at it. It hadn’t changed as far as I could tell. That one bright red leaf, with the rest green, stood out and it made me pause. I didn’t want to intrude on his space, but I did want to know.

“So, yeah. I didn’t invite Jackie for a visit,” I started.

“That much was clear.” He turned to face me, his green eyes glowing. “Though, I’m not sure that was who the book warned me about.” He padded toward me and rubbed against my ankle.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

I bent down and picked him up. “Not my fault, I swear. My family can be a little crazy.” Pulling him close, I cuddled him toward my chest. “Is Indigo being a little angsty today? It’s like she’s hit her teenage phase…” While the dragon had apologized, the outburst was still out of character.

“What is a teenager?” asked the Cat, purring slightly.

“The worst time in a human's life,” I explained, while sitting in the chair next to the tree. “Everything sucks and you’re stuck in that weird place between a kid and an adult. Not to mention acne.”

“Indigo is too young to be in the adolescent phase yet.” He stood up and circled twice before sitting down on my lap. “More likely, she wants the book for her hoard. She’s young to create one, though I wondered if hers was going to be those books she listens to.”

“It is a pretty awesome book. I’d want it for my hoard, if I had one.”

The Cat chuckled lightly. “That book belongs to the shop, not to her. It might be why she’s grumpy. She knows it doesn’t belong to her, and she can’t do anything about it.”

“Can’t I just give it to her?” I asked, a little confused.

“No, it will remain in the shop for the time being. She can read it, but she doesn’t own it.”

A long list of questions ran through my head, starting with ‘What difference does it make who owns it’ and ending with ‘Why do you care,’ but I resisted asking.

The Cat broke the small silent pause as my brain raced. “I’m wondering who the next visitor is going to be.”

“I mean, we can order Chinese food. The delivery driver knows our location pretty well.” I didn’t look down at the Cat, but I knew he glared at me.

“That isn’t how the book works. Usually, I have more information.”

“Is it broken?”

Again more glaring from the Cat. “You can’t break a book from the Fates.” He stopped glaring and purred some more. “Chinese food for lunch would be tasty, though, if you wanted to order some.”

I chuckled. “Of course. I’ll get our regular order,” I swore the shop knew what we got by heart, since I rarely deviated from it and we got Chinese at least once a week. Plus, it was so easy just to hit the reorder button in the app.

‘Chinese?’ squeaked a voice from below, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yes, I will get your soup dumplings that you love,” I called out. “Though we have some time before lunch.”

***

I calmed down in Sable’s lap as she scratched behind one of my ears. Whatever was coming hadn’t happened yet, but the item on the task list in the book made little sense. I thought it had to do with the unexpected guest that had just left, but Sable’s friend didn’t cross the item off. The only hint I had was ‘Unexpected visitor’.

The Fates must be playing a cruel game on me right now, since the book was being so vague. Between worrying about that and what was going on with my lands, I didn’t know what to do with myself. Both items were things outside of my control, and even with all my centuries of practice, out of control was not a place any Fey Lord liked to be.

Plus, I now had another item on my list to figure out. What was a crazy Cat lady, and why did Jackie think Sable was one of them?