Page 30 of Moist!
chapter one
LYRA
“They say just throw yourself in the lake and see what happens!”
I hold back a snort as I return a book to its spot on the shelf. The trio of human-looking girls sitting at the bookstore cafe continue talking, oblivious to me in the shadows of the tall shelves.
The dark-haired woman leans closer to the other two. “I heard that he’s absolutely delicious, all dark hair and glowing eyes. Nobody even knows what he is. Half dragon? Half shark? It’s all so mysterious and romantic.”
One of the other two scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Yeah, so romantic to spurn a lover and get stuck in a lake for five hundred years. You two aren’t really thinking about going to the lake, are you? There are plenty of other hot monster men in this town without that sorta baggage.”
The dark-haired girl shrugs again. “We’re only in town for a few days and he’s practically a stop on the tourist map at this point. What if one of us is his mate and breaks the curse?! I don’t see why we couldn’t go have a little fun.”
The ‘stop on a tourist map’ comment irks me and the hair on the back of my neck rises. I grind my teeth against the need to say something about how our town’s most mysterious resident is such a sad figure. Nefkenier is not something to gawk and gape at. He is not a fish in a tank.
Except that he’s allowed himself to be billed that way, appearing for interviews and allowing authors to pen books about him. And I’ve read every one. I’ve watched every murky interview.
I think he’s lonely.
How could he not be, if the story he tells is true. That he spurned the wrong woman and she cast him into the lake, making him into a monster who can never, ever leave.
Tucking my inky, dark strands into a messy bun, I return to the books as the tourist girls make a plan to visit him later tonight.
I shrug away my irritation. He won’t like them, I’m sure of it.
The way he tells his legend, one day, his fated female will come along and her kiss will break his spell.
It’s so Beauty and the Beast I could expire from the loveliness of the concept.
But the practicalities of his story make me so sad.
Eventually, my shift at Daybreak Books is done and I head home to the apartment where I live alone.
The tiny building overlooks downtown Fairhaven.
Ignoring the throngs of monster tourists in town for summer break, I pop into Miya’s Eggrolls for a to-go order.
Miya glances at me over the counter as she shoves a paper bag with my order toward me, her eyes narrowed.
“You look extra irked today, Ly, what’s got your goat?”
I smile at the pretty dark elf. “Buncha tourist girls going to throw themselves into the lake tonight. I just…don’t you think he gets tired of it?”
Miya shrugs and turns to her cutting board.
“If he was that tired of it, he wouldn’t do interviews and play up his sex appeal, although to be honest those giant eyeballs freak me out a little bit.
He sorta looks like one of those angler fish from the deep ocean.
” She grabs a straw from a nearby cup and dangles it in front of her forehead so it hangs down to her mouth.
“Come on it little girlies, let me eat you right up!”
I snort out a laugh. “Legend has it that’s exactly what he does. ”
Not that I’m jealous.
Miya winks at me. “So, he’s a playboy and he’s stuck in the lake cuz he was a douche canoe to some poor female back in the day. Serves him right, if I’m honest. I’ve got a few exes I wouldn’t mind trapping in a lake.”
My smile drops at that, but I force it back long enough to make pleasantries and scoot out the door with my eggrolls in tow.
I’ve read every book, seen every interview. I’ve pieced together bits and pieces about Nefkenir and I think he’s reaching out through those interviews for someone, anyone to pick up the breadcrumbs.
I don’t think a woman is what he needs…not in the physical sense. Not exactly. No, I think he needs something else entirely.
A friend.