“Hello. Welcome to Pages of Wisdom Bookshop. I’m Rosaanne. Can I help you find something?”
“Hi. Yes!” I stepped up to the counter. “Do you have a copy ofThe Wizened Navigator?” It was Fletcher’s favorite. I was dying to know why.
Her eyes widened, narrowed, then widened again with a giggle. “I love that book! Great choice. Let me go grab it for you.”
Then, a gruff voice chimed behind me. “That’s my favorite book.”
I wheeled around, spotting a man leaning against the bookshelf, gazing at me with a book in his hand. The book looked so small and dainty against such a muscular build. Fletcher would have looked as skinny as Jarvy next to this guy. But in the height department, Fletcher had him beat. His head of thick, jet-black hair was messily arranged in short strands. Long sideburns led to his pointed chin. His vibrant jade eyes shone brightly against his dark skin. When he smiled at me, a set of pearly white teeth brightened the room.
I grinned, letting my eyes dart down his gray short-sleeved shirt and dark cotton pants. Two leather bands wrapped around either of his wrists. I peeked at the book in his hands, but before I could read the title, my eyes latched onto something else. His fingers. They were curved and slightly unmoving. Just like the man at the market, this man’s fingers wouldn’t close all the way around the book, just his middle, ring, and thumb.
I brought my gaze back to his playful green eyes and grinned before turning back to the counter to wait for the woman.
The man sidled up to me, coming to just slightly taller than my height. The fragrance of strong colognewas so intense that it made me cough. I couldn’t even figure out what exactly it was supposed to smell like. It just assaulted my nose as intense chemicals. It might actually have smelled good had there been less of it.
“Hi. My name is Decksin.”
I grinned, turning back around. “Hello.”
“What is your name?”
I kept my lips sealed, mainly because I could practically taste his powerful scent.
He chuckled and leaned an elbow on the counter so his head was more in my view. “I like a rude girl.”
The shopkeeper returned, eyes landing on Decksin then letting her shoulders go slack. Her face scrunched as she said, “Decksin! You know I’m allergic to your sheer amount of scent.” She slid the book across the counter to me.
“I don’t make fun of the effect ocaberries have on you, miss sparkles,” he sneered, nodding to the streaks of glitter shining in the shopkeeper’s hair.
She rolled her eyes, “For the last time, ocaberries don’t have a physical effect on me. I was born this way!” She let loose a growl.
When her fingers releasedThe Wizened Navigator, I couldn’t contain a squeal as my eyes scanned over thedeep mauve book cover, a golden embossed image of a pirate ship marooned in the soil of a forest.
“It’ll be two coins.”
My heart sank. Fletcher’s book was right in front of me and I didn’t have money. I could practically smell the adventure. But my coins were with Aldris. “Darn. I don’t have anything with me right now.”
“Allow me to pay?” Decksin’s brows raised suggestively. His hand went into his pocket, jingling coins.
Icouldpay him back. But, I also did not want to have to see—or smell—him again. I let out a grunt of annoyance and looked back at the woman. “Will you put it on hold for me?”
“Sure. I’ll keep it aside for the next twenty-four hours.”
“Ma’am,” Decksin said, “do you know who this is? This is Princess Ripley Griever. You will give herwhatevershe wants,” he asserted. “She’s been through enough without you causing her any trouble.”
The woman’s eyes bulged.
My breathing hitched at the sound of my name being spoken by this stranger to another stranger.
“Are you really?” she asked.
I sent him a glower. “No,” I spat. “My name is Etta.”
The woman’s brows lifted with a knowing smile. She was a woman of books. Of course she had heard ofInvisible Ettabefore, the novel Fletcher had gifted me a little over two months ago. Perhaps she had made many connections between me and the character already. “Her name is Etta, Decksin. You’ve got to learn tolisten.” She waved a hand, shooing him. “Gosh, get the hell out of my store and stop harassing my customers. These books are far too advanced for you anyway.”
I covered my mouth and giggled.
He huffed then sent periwinkle magic down his arms.
