Page 127 of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding

“What? No way!” Lucy rushed outside to gawk at the snarling stone creature perched on the roof. On a stack of stone books. “That’s so cool. Hey, dude. You can come in early if you want.”

“I don’t think he’s going to do that,” Elias said.

“Why not?” Lucy asked.

“Because he needs to shift. Do you shift in public?” he asked, his gaze moving over her. “I’m assuming you don’t shift with clothes on.”

“Oh,” Lucy said, going back into the shop. “Right. That makes sense. He will be a nighttime visitor, then.”

Pandora planned to have an actual twenty-four-hour bookshop, so it could cater to creatures of the night such as herself. And the occasional insomniac human. But until she was fully confident in her staff, she and Lucy would be working swing shifts to keep an eye on things, since they’d both left their positions at Luna Bean.

Once the dust settled, though, Pandora intended to work the overnight shift. She was excited to see how many fellow vampires came in to browse the shelves. And other creatures who, for whatever their reasons, didn’t want to be out in the daytime.

“So, what book are you buying?” Lucy asked, looking at Elias. “I can show you to the self-help section, if you’d like.”

The two went on like that for over an hour before Pandora lost track of them, thanks to just about every member of her own family dropping in under their parasols to offer their congratulations ahead of the party.

“Hey,” Lucy said, showing up at Pandora’s side. Pandora had been standing behind the desk, worrying her earring with her fingers. One of the earrings that Victor had given her. She hadn’t let herself wear it, or her engagement ring that she kept “forgetting” to send back to him, since the botched wedding. But just this once, she was allowing it. It felt right, having a part of him there with her on the big day.

“Yeah?” Pandora asked, shaking off the daydream she’d been caught up in.

“It’s time,” Lucy told her, lining up a stack of books so the edges aligned perfectly. “I’m just going to hit the start button on the coffee machine, then we can unlock. Look,” she added, nodding toward the windows.

Where, sure enough, there was a small line waiting for their doors to open.

Pandora’s heart swelled as Lucy rushed to start the coffee machine before walking with Pandora toward the door.

“One, two, three.” Lucy turned the lock.

Pandora pulled the door open and invited the first customers inside.

It was a steady trickle of customers for the first two hours, people perusing the sections, getting coffee or tea, and chatting with Lucy and Pandora about their favorite authors and genres.

And for just a few hours, some of the misery she’d been feeling for months fell away.

A customer even started to get her excited about a new romance that was going to be released later that month, despite the fact that she hadn’t been able to pick up a love story since the wedding, her own heart too broken to read about others falling in love.

It was a lovely opening.

Truly, it was.

She couldn’t have asked for more.

Still, though, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was missing.

No, not something.

Someone.

The bells on the door jingled, making her turn, ready to plaster on a customer-service smile.

But it froze and fell.

Because standing there, just a foot inside the bookshop, was Victor.

“Hey, Pandy.”

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