The dark lines stretching from the book clutched in the Booksellers hand darkened and I shivered. I needed to touch that book? Could I?

"Will it hurt?" I softly asked inside my head.

"I hope not,” said the cat. “I cannot touch it, or I would do this thing." His green eyes stayed on me.

“And if I say no?”

The cat sat down and almost looked sad. “Then the Bookseller will need to keep it until your contract is up. He cannot go into that room, but the Shopkeeper can.”

The Bookseller glanced between the two of us like he knew we were talking, but didn't know what was being said. “Please, it has to be time.”

I took a long swig of my coffee and set it down on the counter. I had signed a contract to do my job. Of course, that was before I knew it involved magic and books that did stuff.

“Does it hurt you?” I asked the Bookseller.

“It is like a weight on my shoulders, increasing with every breath. At first, it was a leaf, I could barely tell it was there. After the first year, a scarf. By the hundredth year a rock the size of my head.” His hand trembled. “Now, a crushing weight that makes me tremble getting up in the morning.”

My eyes narrowed. He had to be carrying this for a reason. “Why are you bound to carry this burden?”

The Bookseller’s eyes flickered to the cat, then back to me. “I once sought to trick a Fey Lord and steal from him. Yet, he was trickier still, as all Fey Lords are, and I stole something which should have remained where it was. It was this…” His voice paused, then continued. “Book. Now I must carry it until another can guard it.”

“Guard it from what?”

“Escape.” His voice came out in a rush and the dark lines on his skin pulsed.

My eyes went back to the cat who was still staring at me. “Can the bookstore really guard it? Is what he said true?” I asked the cat.

The cat nodded twice but didn’t verbally respond.

Whatever that book was, it was bad news. I had no desire to touch it. Especially now that I know more about it. Who would want to willingly take it? I still didn’t know what it was, only that it needed to be put in that room, in the far corner, and then the bookstore would deal with it. If I didn’t do it, then the next person who signed on for this job would have to. That felt like a dick move, not to mention it would force the Bookseller to keep it.

It had to be important. I held out my hand for the book.

The Bookseller's eyes grew wide and his image flickered. For a moment, instead of the tall Elvish-like person, something else stood there. He was much taller, with bright silver hair, sharp pointed ears, but deep dark skin with dark eyes and a bare chest with puffy pants. Then I blinked and the image was gone, replaced again by how he was before.

My fingers touched the book and ice swept through my veins, running up my hand and wrist. It wasn’t painful, just cold. Like someone running an ice cube along my skin. The light in the store flared brightly and it stopped traveling up my arm. Or rather, it slowed down. I took a deep breath and my first step. I could do this.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Yet that step broke the contact with the Bookseller and the cold came back. Stronger. I couldn’t feel my fingertips anymore and the icy trail up my arm ached.

I had to move. Somehow I had to put this book in that room across the store. Quickly. Yet, I felt like I couldn’t step forward. I was frozen in this spot, holding the book that was spreading ice through me.

"Sable, you can do this. I believe in you." Something nudged my foot and I could move again.

My first step away from the counter was hard, but doable. As soon as I stepped out from behind the counter and into the sunshine, it got easier. The Bookseller was still by the counter, but it was like he was frozen as soon as I’d taken the book from him. The cat was gone.

"Keep moving,” whispered in my mind.

The first step out of the sunlight hurt. Pain shot up my wrist and my hand shook. Yet, I didn't let go. The next was the same, but the door wasn't that far. I was close enough that I could see inside the archway. The room was empty except for a table, right in the middle. Each step hurt, but the one where I crossed the threshold shook my whole body. The book did not want to move forward into the room.

"You can do it!"

Yet another voice responded, “I can free you…from the contract… from the cat…” It was a seductive voice, a pleading voice, but one that I knew I couldn’t trust.

I gritted my teeth and yanked on the book, using my chest to force it forward through the doorway. The resistance suddenly left as soon as I was across the threshold. Then it was a quick three steps to set it in the middle of the table. I backed away slowly from it, not turning my back on the book. When I made it just outside the doorway, the room heated up. I turned back to look at the counter, and in that split second the door closed behind me with a bang.

“Dumb book. The contract that is gonna pay off my student loans…” I muttered under my breath as I shook my head. Whatever was inside that book didn’t understand the amount of debt I had.

The Bookseller was still frozen next to the counter and the cat was still missing. Slowly, I made my way back to my coffee cup. The cat jumped up on the counter, and he gave me a nod.

As soon as I touched the coffee cup, the Bookseller moved, glancing around in confusion. His hand was still in the air and he yanked it down. "You took it?" whispered the Bookseller. His gaze was switching between me and the cat. "You really took it, my Lord." He looked like he was going to pick up the cat, then thought better of it. "I'm free... Truly free..." He grabbed the basket and took off at the door, running at full speed.

“No one is free,” muttered the cat, but the Bookseller didn’t hear it.

The door snapped open right before the Bookseller got to it, then closed softly behind him.

"What was that?" I asked.

"The Bookseller, a fey. He tried to steal from a Lord, and he stole that book thinking it would teach him power.” The cat shook his head. “Now we will guard it.”

My glance snapped to the doorway, but it was gone. Solid bookshelves lined the walls. "What was that book?"

"Some things should never have been created. That is one such thing. You don’t need to worry about that. Over time it will die and vanish,” said the cat. “I could use another coffee. Maybe something sweet.” He glanced up at me then nudged his teacup. “You could use another as well. I liked those hazelnut things you made for the book signing.”

I rolled my eyes as I rubbed my hands. Echos of the cold still remained. Then the cat was there under my hand and I scratched at his ears. The warmth of his fur banished the last of the cold. “I can do that.” I turned back to Betty, and started the process of making more espresso. “Cat, how long will it take to die?”

#

Sable was nervous as she went about making the coffees I’d requested. I hoped it would help steady her after that event. Her hand had been icy cold where she touched the book. Its power had tried to escape, even bound as it was. Being with the Bookseller had weakened the binding but it was better that now it would be taken care of by the shop. Somehow, her magic had reacted to the cold. She had brightened the shop, bringing warmth.

“Not long,” I said in response to her question.

She didn’t need to know that the shop would eat the creature. The one of dark and ice. All energy came from somewhere, and thanks to the fates, the shop could run on all different types of energy and magic. Little did I know one day I’d actually be able to kill it, instead of only failing, in the end, to guard it.