Page 34

Thirty-Three

Lira stewed on it all the next day, going through the motions of rolling out scones and making meat pies for their ever-growing clientele. By the following morning, she couldn’t wait any longer.

The bell jangled as she burst into the apothecary, and Iris's face barely had time to register surprise.

“We should come clean,” Lira said, the words tripping over each other. “ I should come clean. I should tell Durn about the book.”

When she was done with her announcement, Lira clutched her side and sucked in a breath. She’d practically run through the village to reach Iris, even ignoring the tempting smell of sweet rolls billowing from the bakery and throwing a passing wave of greeting to Pip and Fenni.

Iris's response to her outburst was a smile as she came around the counter and curled an arm around her waist. “It sounds like you’ve been thinking this over for a bit.”

No shock. No arguments. Just a patient nod as she led Lira to the back room.

Lira flopped onto one of the overstuffed chairs as Iris opened the latch on the bookwyrms’ cage, releasing them into the air to swoop overhead. Watching the tiny creatures flutter to the bookshelves and daintily brush the leather spines with their wings did make Lira smile.

Iris pressed a cup of tea into her hand. “Why don’t you tell me what happened between when I saw you last and now?”

Lira sipped her tea, the sweetness of the warm drink settling her nerves almost as much as the rhythmic beating of wings overhead. “Well, Sass saw us, for one.”

“Did she?”

“She saw us coming from the cellar.” Saying it aloud made it sound less catastrophic than it had in her head.

Iris hitched a dark brow. “The cellar that holds the food stores?”

Lira huffed out a breath. “Sass knows there’s nothing down there that isn’t rancid.”

“Did she say anything about it?”

“Not specifically, but she did mention seeing us coming from the cellar.”

Iris poured herself a cup of tea and set the kettle on the table. “And you think that she’ll think we were…what? Discussing ways to get through the wall to retrieve a book you hid years ago?”

“When you put it like that,” Lira grumbled from behind her cup.

Iris laughed and shook her head. “I taught you stealth and secrecy. Don’t tell me you were this nervous when you were with your crew?”

Lira released a heavy breath and sank deeper into the chair. “Of course, I wasn’t. That would be a quick way to get killed.” She flicked her eyes to the woman who’d taught her how to stay calm under pressure. “I’m not sure why this is so much harder.”

One of the bookwyrms landed on Iris's shoulder after she shrugged it. “Maybe because this isn’t any old job. This is something that matters to you. Keeping secrets from these people matters to you.”

Lira frowned at this. She’d snuck into grand manors, tricked unwitting guards, charmed unsuspecting castle staff. This shouldn’t be any different.

But it was.

It was one thing to divest a spoiled lady of jewels she didn’t need or snatch an ancient scroll from a collector who would hardly miss it. That was work, and she’d rarely deceived anyone who didn’t deserve to have their purse lightened.

Even though she’d made her way in the world as a rogue, Lira didn’t like lying to friends. And, she realized with a start, she now considered Sass a friend.

Hiding the true reason she was there felt wrong, even if the true reason was no longer the only reason. She couldn’t imagine getting the recipe book and gold and leaving now. Not when she and Sass had worked so hard to make the tavern flourish again, with plenty of help from Korl, Val, Tin, Pip, and even Crumpet.

Every day at The Tusk & Tail had led her farther from her original objective and closer to staying in Wayside for good. There was little reason to keep her secret any longer, if only there wasn’t a wyvern on the hunt for gold.

“You’re right,” Lira said. “I shouldn’t keep this secret from Sass—or any of my friends. I’ll bet if I told Durn, he’d let us remove a few stones to retrieve the book.”

Iris's teacup bobbled in her hands. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”

Lira sat up. “I thought you were suggesting I not keep any more secrets?”

The bookwyrm took flight from Iris’s shoulder as she twitched, darting to a stack of gilded-edge tomes on the table and using the flap of his wings to clear the dust.

“From Sass, no. From what I can tell, the dwarf has earned your trust.” Iris gestured to the bookwyrms. “And mine. She hasn’t breathed a word of my little friends.”

“Or told anyone about Crumpet.”

“But not everyone is so accepting of magic,” Iris said, wrinkles forming around her mouth as she pursed it in disapproval.

“You mean Durn.” Lira had no problem believing that the gruff tavernkeeper would not be open to magic. She had a very strong suspicion he had never recognized what had been magical in his own life before he’d lost it.

Iris nodded. “He’s not in the right headspace to be trusted.”

“I’m not suggested we tell him about the bookwyrms or Crumpet. But the man is so distracted, I doubt he’d notice if Crumpet flew over his head.” Lira gulped down the dregs of her tea and made a face. “All I’m suggesting is we ask him about removing a bit of the stone wall so I can get gran’s recipe book.”

Lira hoped he wouldn’t think to ask if there was only a book in the metal box. She didn’t believe that Durn would demand a share of the gold she’d hidden, but he might not be pleased that her stash had brought the scrutiny of the wyvern to his tavern. Still, Lira thought it was a risk worth taking.

Iris put down her teacup and fussed with the kettle. “That’s the problem, love. The book.”

“What about it?” Lira asked, her senses prickling the same way they had when she’d been on a job and only a breath away from cracking a lock.

“Your gran’s recipe book is filled with more than just baking recipes.” Iris held her gaze. “Didn’t you wonder why it had that grand cover with the moonstone embedded in it? A bit fancy for a crofter, don’t you agree?”

If Iris had hoped for an answer, she didn’t get one. Lira was too busy slotting all her memories of the book into place. The book her gran had been so careful to wrap up and hide away after every use. The book her gran had never let Lira flip through. The book that had so many more pages than she ever saw. The book she hadn’t even unwrapped from its iron box when she’d taken it from the farmhouse that last night.

Her gran had always told her that the moonstone was a family heirloom that had lost its power long ago, but it seemed her gran hadn’t been completely forthright about a number of things.

“So, it’s a…?” Lira’s voice cracked.

“Spell book.”