Page 4 of Little Wing (Shades of Fairhaven #1)

A s the last of the afternoon sun’s rays retreated along with the troubling thoughts of Luca, The Black Cat Scribes bookstore finally came into view.

It was a beautiful building that I never grew tired of seeing.

Stunning Old English red bricks made it look older and refined, and a wall of vines spread across one side of the building like a dark leafy shield against the elements.

Just the sight of it settled any nerves I had.

It felt like home.

When I stepped inside the delightfully cluttered bookstore, I was greeted with the immediate aroma of anxiety, adrenaline, and… iced peppermint mocha latte? Reina, my coworker and one of my closest friends, was most definitely hard at work.

“Reina?” I called, loud enough to be heard, but hopefully not loud enough to startle.

Before I saw Reina, I first noticed the tower of books maneuvering around the store as if possessed, likely concealing the five-foot nothing woman.

“Hey,” I said as I watched her set the stack of books down on the empty table. “I thought I’d stop in a little earlier to see if I could help out? ”

“Oh!” Reina suddenly yelped and plucked out a pair of ear buds from her ear. She brushed a lavender curl that clung to her chestnut-colored skin and giggled so hard that she nearly snorted. “Lo, you scared the shit out of me!”

“Well, I did try to announce myself.” I admitted.

I watched as the curvy woman walked from around the counter and stretched her arms above her head. She was wearing a mid-length floral dress, cinched by a corset belt that sculpted her waist into an hourglass figure, and black platform boots that gave her the benefit of three extra inches.

“Right, well—” Reina paused and gave me a quick up-down as she did most days when I arrived.

Our styles certainly differed with her being more eccentric and fun while I remained on the plainer side.

I certainly enjoyed her creativity. “I like that dress, Lo. Shows you actually have a body under all those layers.”

If I could blush, I certainly would.

“You’re telling me you’re not coming in early to get out in time for a hot date? Did you finally check out that app I told you about?”

A laugh escaped me. “Date? No, I just wanted to enjoy a longer walk to work. Plus, you know I don’t really date. Especially not off an app. I’m not as adventurous as you think I am.”

Reina shrugged and walked to the counter where her half-drunk peppermint mocha latte awaited her.

She picked up the cup and quickly wiped off the condensation against the bottom of her skirt before bringing it back to her mouth.

After a sip from her straw, she smirked.

“Who said anything about dating, Lo? I like to think there’s still some mystery to you.

Who knows, you may be a freak behind closed doors, and frankly—I’m here for it! ”

Before I had a chance to react, she set her drink down and rushed to grip my hands in hers. “By the way—the event is totally booked!”

I watched her swing my arms from side to side. “What event?”

Reina stepped back and cocked her brow. “The midnight release? Don’t tell me you already forgot. I only sent you like fifty texts about it!”

Of course—the release of Sylvie Reverie’s book. How could I forget?

I quickly pulled out my phone to find that all of Reina’s texts were indeed delivered successfully.

I had every intention to respond to her, but as the notifications began to build up, the more suffocated I felt.

The pressure to feel excited about the event forced me to go mute.

The potential for more attention not only on the bookstore, but those of us working the event, worried me.

All I could do was to try and deflect with humor.

It often helped me get out of uncomfortable situations, at least with Reina.

“Maybe that’s why,” I offered her a tight-lipped smile. “My phone has a low tolerance for repetitive messages. Immediately deletes them.”

Reina rolled her eyes and nudged me playfully.

“Ha… good one. But seriously, that Facebook event I made actually blew up. I don’t know how or why, but hundreds of people RSVP’d yes!

I guess people really are huge fans of Sylvie Reverie!

” She grinned wildly and spun around to motion to the table with the pile of books.

“I thought with her upcoming release we could host an event here with trivia and costumes—you know, a real midnight release book party! Plus, maybe this will entice more vampires to come check out our store.” She paused and nodded towards me. “Well, other than you.”

“Right.”

I approached the table and gently ran my hand over the spine of the Sylvie Reverie book at the top of the pile.

Sylvie Reverie, a vampire, whose popularity in fantasy romance soared after being featured on a major news network that highlighted her as a breakthrough author in the last century.

Little did people know, Sylvie published over a hundred novels under different pseudonyms before the treaties were in place.

Plenty of us have “lived” through many lifetimes just to remain undetected.

Whether it was by changing our name or appearance, we always found a way to thrive, even from the safety of the shadows.

Reina went on to go over the details of the event and how she envisioned it. By the sound of it, we would need to bring in the part-time employees who only came by to work for a few hours a week in between their college classes.

Even as my anxiety crept up, I focused on the scent of the ancient texts around us. As Reina threw out terms like “trivia” and “cosplay”, I took comfort in knowing that there were things in the store much older than I was. And if they could withstand the test of time, I could too.

Giving the book one more pat, I nodded and looked around the store.

It was a cluttered space full of books of all varieties from self-published local authors to Shakespearean texts we kept tucked away.

Every corner was covered by bookshelves or bins full of literary delights.

Our space was already tight, so to accommodate all who were interested in taking part in the midnight release activities, there was plenty of work to be done.

“Well, where should we start?”

Reina’s squeal was music to my ears. As uncomfortable as such an event made me, I’d muster through it if it meant it would make my friend happy.

“Yes—perfect! I think we can move those—” she said, pointing to the bins of discounted books we kept at the front of the store. “We can move those bins over to the back of the store, or even to the back room so we can have more walking space. What do you think?”

“Works for me, Captain,” I said with a smirk .

“Oh, Lo!” Reina wagged her finger. “Your input is needed. How else are we going to run our very own bookstore one day?”

She did have a point. In our time together, we did talk about a future where we would own our own bookstore. One that would have a café inside it where Kait, the missing piece of our trio, would concoct delicious, caffeinated creations.

In between customers who trickled in over the course of my shift, Reina and I worked on rearranging the store as much as we could to make the space more event-friendly.

“So, you think this event will bring in more vampires to the store? I mean, Reverie is a pretty big deal for you guys, right?”

Sometimes I forgot how easily it was to group me with vampires as one people when I felt so disconnected from them. But instead of making a comment pointing that out, I stacked another book into a box and nodded.

“I’m sure they won’t be able to pass it up.”

“Really?” Reina beamed.

“Of course—when did you hear of a vampire turning down an opportunity to dress up?” I smirked before picking up the box to move to the back of the store.

“Fuck! You’re totally right!” Reina giggled and spun in place, reaching for another sip of her coffee that was now heavily diluted by the melted ice.

“Just think, Lo. One day when we have our own bookstore, we’ll be able to host more of these events without having to rearrange the whole damn store. ”

I reveled in the joy that my friend exuded, in the joy that planning for a future I couldn’t quite grasp. But I smiled nonetheless, even if I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand—cautious of what this event could bring.