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Adam was bored. There were plenty of tourists around, but none of them were that interested in talking to what they thought was an animatronic gargoyle. Quite a few had thrown coins in to make a wish. He made his usual comments. “Nice toss.” Or, “That’ll definitely come true.”

Just to see if he could catch someone’s interest, he shifted slightly, flexing his wings and stretching them out a bit. Man, a flight would feel good. Maybe he’d take one when his shift was over.

Several spectators started filming with their phones, so he moved his wings a little more and slowly scanned the crowd. That got a few people to stop, but no one said anything to him.

Maybe they were too scared of him? Or afraid he’d say something unkind? He wasn’t sure, but he was doing his best to be approachable. Not always the easiest when your true form was meant to be intimidating.

He knew from past shifts that things would really die down around 1a.m., and after that, he could definitely nap if he wanted to. He might. It was certainly an easy way to pass the time.

A little girl, who probably would have been in bed already if school had been in session, walked up to the edge of the fountain with her parents’ encouragement. She stared at Adam for a moment as if trying to decide something.

“Are you real?” she finally asked.

He almost smiled, but his gargoyle smile was very different from his human one, and he didn’t want to frighten her. She was cute with her pigtails. “Do I look real?”

“I think so.”

She didn’t go anywhere, so he engaged her some more. “Are you real?”

She laughed. “You’re silly. Of course, I’m real. I’m a real girl. I’m seven and a half.”

“Seven and a half what?” Adam asked.

“Years old, you silly.” She made an exaggerated roll of her eyes but again, stayed where she was. Her parents were all smiles, the father recording the whole interaction on his phone. “Can you breathe fire?”

Adam shook his head. “Only dragons can do that.”

“Aren’t you a dragon?”

“No, I’m a gargoyle. I protect people.”

Her eyes widened ever so slightly. “You do?”

“Yes.”

“Like firemen and the police?”

She was so sweet. He nodded. “Very much like them, yes. You’re awfully smart for seven and a half.”

“Well, I’m almost eight.”

“Lily,” her father called. “Turn around, and I’ll take your picture with your new friend.”

She did as her dad asked, and Adam spread his wings wide for the photo.

The flash went off, and the father shook his head at the mother. “This place is great, isn’t it? You’d swear that thing was real.”

Lily turned around and gave Adam a wave. “Bye, Mr. Gargoyle.”

“Bye, Lily.” He pulled his wings back in and was about to settle into a new position when a familiar face in the crowd caught his eye.

Sydney. And she had Mackie and Sugarbelle with her.

He was dying to ask her what they were doing out, but there were a thousand reasons why that couldn’t happen.

He watched her with great curiosity. He knew she was going to check on Sugarbelle, but she’d said nothing about a late-night walk.

Had Sugarbelle been upset in the crate? That was his first thought. And that, in an effort to calm her down, Sydney had decided a change of scenery was needed, along with Mackie’s company so he could help distract Sugarbelle. Or maybe Sydney just wanted to enjoy the beautiful evening.

Whatever had happened, he was fine with Sydney’s decision to include Sugarbelle on the walk.

A group of young women who seemed at least slightly under the influence of alcohol approached. One of them, a pretty brunette in a white tank top, cutoff denim shorts and cowboy boots, was wearing a glittery white cowboy hat and a pink sash that said “Bride” in gold letters.

The women were all giggling and talking over one another until one of them held up her hand. “All right, let’s get a group photo, y’all.”

“Wait, wait,” the bride said. She sat on the edge of the fountain and, with some effort, yanked off her boots. “I want to stand in the fountain.”

Another woman shot her fist into the sky. “Yes! Let’s all get in the fountain!”

Sydney appeared to be watching with great amusement as the rest of the women sat and took their shoes off, too. One flip-flop fell into the water and floated away, unnoticed. The women all climbed in and headed for Adam.

This had never happened to him before, but he wanted to make the most of it. Really give them a picture to remember. He opened his wings and curved them around the women. The bride leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek while one of her friends held up her phone in selfie mode.

“I can’t get everyone in,” she fussed.

“Here,” Sydney said, her hand outstretched. “I’ll take the photo for you.”

“Oh, thank you, lady with the cutie-patootie dogs,” one of them said as she waded back to hand over the phone.

The women all waved at the dogs. One of them, who seemed the most inebriated, shouted, “Puppies!”

Sydney took the phone and held it up. “All right, everyone get a little closer together. That’s right. Say?—”

“Hey, you look like Sydney Marlowe, the model. Anyone ever tell you that?” One of the women asked.

“I get that a lot,” Sydney said.

Another of the women gasped. “You are Sydney Marlowe. What are you doing here?”

Sydney was a famous model? He’d thought she looked familiar, but famous?

“Just visiting, like you are. Okay, focus on the camera.”

“Give us a posing tip so we look like models, too,” one of them shouted.

Sydney laughed. “Okay, everyone press the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Makes the cheekbones pop. There you go. Ready? One, two, three!”

The flash went off, then Sydney took a few more.

Adam couldn’t get over that Sydney was famous enough to be recognized. How about that? She’d never said a word. She hadn’t denied she’d been a model, but not to mention how successful she was? That was a level of humble he wasn’t used to.

Veronika never failed to mention that she was an attorney and the firm she worked for.

The bride kissed Adam again, which led to the rest of the women kissing him. He almost scowled. He could feel their sticky lip gloss on his cheek.

They all made their way out of the fountain and got their shoes back on, helping their friend retrieve her missing flip-flop. Then they insisted on taking a group selfie with Sydney, promising to tag her in it, before wandering off to whatever stop was next on their list.

Adam pulled his wings in and settled lower on the platform.

As the women left, Sydney sat on the edge of the fountain, watching them go. Mackie jumped up next to her, but Sugarbelle and her little legs couldn’t quite make it. Sydney helped her up. “Is that better?”

Sugarbelle looked at Adam. Her head tilted to one side. Then it went to the other side. Suddenly she straightened and let out an excited woof, her little tail going back and forth like a metronome.

“What is it, girl?” Sydney asked. She glanced at Adam. “Do you like the gargoyle?”

Sugarbelle barked again and inched closer to the water like she was going to jump in.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Sydney grabbed her. “What’s got you all worked up?”

She stared at Adam. “Do you think that’s your daddy? That’s not your daddy, silly goose. That’s a robotic statue.” Her eyes narrowed. “It does kind of look like your daddy, though. It’s big and got muscles and that scowl…”

Adam forced his face to relax. He changed positions, turning away slightly. Did Sugarbelle really recognize him? Animals were canny like that. Maybe she did.

Sydney set Sugarbelle on the ground. “Come on, you two. Let’s finish our walk.” She took one more hard look at Adam, then pulled out her phone, snapped a picture of him, and got the dogs moving.

Did she suspect something? She couldn’t, could she? Nick had told him that the town’s bespelled water was supposed to keep tourists in the dark.

Except Sydney wasn’t a tourist, she was a citizen. Could the magic in the water wear off after a while? Could a person become immune to it? How long would that take? Sydney hadn’t been here long.

He would have to talk to Nick about this and find out. He needed to know. If Sydney found out who he really was, she’d probably never want to speak to him again. He’d lose her. He just knew it.

In that moment, he realized how much he valued having her in his life. And how he really didn’t have anyone else. Sure, he had Nick and Willa, but they were busy living their own life, as a married couple should be.

How had he ended up such a solitary creature?

He knew how. He’d done everything he could to keep Veronika happy, and a lot of that had resulted in him isolating himself. Focusing on her needs to the detriment of his own.

No more. He had to remove her and her influence from his life. He had to find a way forward. And while he and Sydney could never be more than friends because of their differences, this town was full of supernaturals.

There had to be a woman here who was interested in him. Or was he asking for heartache all over again?

He didn’t know what to do. He wanted someone in his life, but he did not want to suffer the same kind of pain and betrayal again.

Was love worth the risk? He really wasn’t sure.