Page 57 of Moonlight Hearts

“You’d get the cherry for you, Amory.Just like last time.”

“Sure.And what would you be getting?”

He looked at me and narrowed his eyes.“Cherry and chocolate brownie.With real chocolate chips.”

I chuckled.“Are you sure I’d like that?”

“I’ll only know once I feed it to you.We have to find my plates first though.And wineglasses.Nice cutlery too.And napkins.”

I cocked my head.“You have most of that stuff, don’t you?”

“So sue me.I’m not letting you throw a party without getting something out of it myself.I think I need a new lemon squeezer, too.”

“Are you making anything with lemon juice in it?”I asked, actually curious.

“Hmm.Only if I can find a lemon squeezer I like.”

Soyer steered me left.I was pretty sure we hadn’t come this way the last time.

“Can I ask you something?”I said.

He squeezed my hand, just a little.“You know the answer to that, my heart.”

“Yeah.So…the clocks.And the watch.You collect them?”

“I do.I also maintain them.I’ll take care of yours as well now.”

I nodded.“Thank you.Outside your office, there’s that pretty one, the only one that works.”

“All of them work, technically, but I like that one to keep the time.”

We passed by houses, but soon, the tunnel around us widened into a thoroughfare.It wasn’t the same one we’d come through from the bodega, at least I didn’t think so, but it was about as wide, maybe even more bustling.Most everyone here was different, and I loved it.

At the same time though, I was trying to figure out how to ask what I wanted to ask, and I wasn’t even sure what that was.I bit the inside of my cheek before saying, “Did you always know witches don’t like them?”

Soyer stopped, and since he was still holding my hand, I stopped with him.He was still, and the muscles in his jaw were tight.He stared off into the distance, and worry rose inside of me, the fear that I’d said something wrong, that maybe I’d touched on something I shouldn’t have.I was about to explain myself, but Soyer’s eyes flicked to my own, and I saw his nostrils flare.

“I apologize.I just…” He looked around, then pointed.“Let’s go over there.”

I looked at the shop he was pointing at.It had a cute teacup sign above its door, the sign reaching almost as high as the tunnel’s roof above.

“Is that a café?”

“Tea shop, but they have a tasting room in the back.Come on.”

“Okay?Soyer, did I say something wrong?”

His jaw tightened again.“Of course not.Let’s talk inside.”

I’d never seen a tea shop like this tea shop.It was called Rose’s, and it smelled like flowers and spices inside.It was small, like all the shops here that I’d seen, it was also filled with teas in colorful tins and samples in glass jars.A supernatural with gray skin and three horns, black eyes and black scales on the backs of their fingers greeted us.Their shimmery, nearly black hair almost vanished where it flowed over the silky-looking shirt they wore.

“How may we help you today?”they asked, attempting to smile at Soyer, though I could see the nervous twitch of their lip.

Soyer pointed.“We’d like a private tasting.”

They nodded.“But of course.The table is all yours.Anything in particular?”

“Just the daily special and a big dose of privacy.”