Page 39

EPILOGUE

At the sound of the little bell above the door, the little black faun sprang off her stool with a happy cry. “Lilac! Ooo, and Allen too. Come in, come in!”

Lilac held the door open for Allen to wrangle an oversized carpet bag and a cauldron into the cozy little bookstore. Against all reason, there was a tiny stone fireplace nestled in one wall, artistic runes carved into the wooden mantel guarding the shop against excessive heat or errant coals knocking themselves loose of the grate—or fiery catastrophes in general. Pine garlands hung from the rafters and in the windows, decorated with red and gold ornaments, and sprigs of holly and winter-themed ceramics nestled amongst the bookshelves.

As the door swung shut behind them, the two stamped the snow from their boots. Allen leaned over to kiss a snowflake away from Lilac’s cheek, and when he straightened, she blushed.

Edith giggled. Then: “You can put that stuff over there, Allen, and then you need to scoot. We girls have lots of catching up to do.”

He winked at the faun. “Sure thing, Edith. Make sure you ask her about how much she likes my butt. She only stopped grabbing it long enough for me to make her some French toast this morning.”

The little bookseller’s eyebrows winged up into the wreath of red-and-orange winterberries she wore in her black curls. “Lilac? You ate carbs? Willingly? ”

“It was kind of amazing,” she gushed, almost embarrassed she’d enjoyed it that much. But it had tasted just like Great-Aunt Fern’s, and like Rose, she’d devoured it as much for the flavor as for the nostalgia.

“Can you believe she ate more than me?” Allen stacked the carpet bag on the cauldron in the little space Edith had made between columns of books stacked on the floor. He returned to Lilac’s side, leaning down to nip her neck. “Ravenous girl. Mmm, you still taste like syrup.”

“ Shoo ,” she admonished, her blush turning from pink to scarlet. “The store’ll never be ready for the new year if you’re constantly getting distracted.”

“Not my fault you’re so distracting,” he murmured against her skin. He gave her backside a little swat, making her yelp in surprise, then gave Edith a nod. “See you for lunch, ladies. I’ll be right next door if you need anything.”

“I might need some help shelving some books later,” Edith called after him as he exited the bookshop, her gaze already lowering to the part of him where his legs met his back. She adjusted the position of her gold-rimmed spectacles with an audible gulp. “Might need to check out the claims Lilac will make about your butt, too.”

Smirking, he saluted her and vanished from sight, the sound of the adjacent storefront door opening and closing a moment later. Lilac and Edith shared a silent look, then the two women shared an excited squeal.

“I can’t believe you’re doing it,” the faun exclaimed. “Well, of course, I can , but it’s really happening now! ”

“Me neither. It’s been a whirlwind, that’s for sure.”

Just that morning, Allen and Zofia had completed the ritual to return the opal ring of the Hawthorne Hall caretaker to the house elf. Then he’d contacted the Coalition to deliver his report, including what they’d learned about the heretic’s fork and how it did not bode well for any shifter. While he was released from Annesley Valley (and his application moved to the top of the pile for consideration), he was instructed to guard the heretic’s fork until an artifact retrieval team could be dispatched.

In the meantime, Lilac had called the town registry to inquire about the empty store beside Fireside Tales Book Shoppe. It was as empty and ready for tenants as Allen had said it was, and the registry was more than happy to rent it and the two-bedroom apartment above to her. After a breakfast of French toast, Zofia and Hobbles had practically kicked them out, the house elf citing her desperate need for a quiet night’s sleep today and for the rest of the year.

Kalina and James Root had been gracious enough to lend them their delivery truck to transport their belongings into town, James even meeting them at the door to help haul everything upstairs. Kalina followed them up to start the cleaning process, bringing her own little radio with her to help whittle away the time to the melodies of The Nutcracker .

“Are you sure you don’t mind me setting up shop here while we get the store ready?” Lilac asked. “It’s in great shape, but there are a few repairs and improvements we need to make that would just be easier to do if I weren’t also working in there.”

“Do I mind? I expect it! Your customers are trained to come to this place anyway.” The faun swiveled around to retrieve something from under her desk. She returned with a bottle of champagne in one hand and two flutes in the other. “We’ll have ourselves a little toast first, and then I’ll show you your workroom. It’s in the back, so don’t get too tipsy or you’ll trip over all the stacks of books. This little nook by the left window is all for you, too, so people can see the awesome witch displaying her awesome potions.”

“Edith, have I ever told you how amazing you are?”

“Not nearly enough. Eh, open this bottle for us, would you? My stubby little fingers are useless with this kinda thing.”

With a flick of her finger, Lilac sent a spark of magic at the cork, popping it right up to the ceiling. Bubbles overflowed from the lip, and the faun hastily filled the first glass before handing it off to Lilac. She poured one for herself and lifted it high. The cheerful little bubbles in the champagne mimicked the sparkles in her dark eyes.

“May this new chapter in your life be filled with great accomplishments, greater growth, happiness, love, and a boyfriend who never loses that shapely butt.”

Lilac took a sip of champagne, giggled, and said, “Actually, Allen’s more than my boyfriend. And he’s also a wolf, so you might hear some howling next door from time to time.”

“He’s what ?” The faun sprang to the door like a giddy kid goat, turned the lock, and flipped over the open sign. When she whirled around, her face was bright with a mixture of delight and mischief. “Girl, tell me everything .”

The End.