The next day was my first encounter with Ava since I’d learned the truth. My dreams woke me early again, and I lay in bed for over an hour before giving up on going back to sleep, disgusted by the time shown on my phone. I spent some of the morning reading and sketching events from Heirs, the rest pouring over the website again.

When it was time, I quickly dressed for the day, leaving Ani behind and heading straight for her shop. The bitterly cool fall air was a wake-up call, akin to splashing cold water over my face. I opened her shop door to the jingle of it’s bell, unconsciously relaxing in the scent of coffee and old books, before remembering what, exactly, Ava had done. Having beaten Ember yet again, I led myself to our usual spot, sitting down in the same place I always did.

Ava arrived at our table not much later, cheerfully carrying my morning coffee and Ember’s morning latte. “Good morning, Hayden! How are you? Ember running late again?” She asked sympathetically as she placed the drinks on our table, going so far as to tilt the handles for easy grabbing.

“A typical Tuesday, I suppose.” She gave a cheerful laugh at my answer, brushing her dark braid over her shoulder. I looked for any sign of the atrocious things she’d done and found none.

The bell on the door gave a few dings. Ava checked over her shoulder, then said, “Well, business never ceases, I suppose. I’ll bring out your usual when your sister gets here.” She sauntered over to the middle-aged man who’d walked in for a quick breakfast, showing him to his seat. I sipped at my coffee as I watched them chat, Ava giving the man a pat on the shoulder before heading disappearing back behind the counter.

A warm hand grabbed my shoulder firmly, and I jumped, sputtering and nearly spilling coffee all over myself. An irritating laugh exploded from behind me, the thrum of fear which had shot through me fading into irritation. “Ember.”

“Hey, Hay.” She said, walking around the table to her usual spot across from me. As she pulled out her chair, she said, “You know she’s too old for you, right?”

I choked on my spit. “What?!”

Ember leaned over the table, conspiringly. “She’s pretty, but her shop’s been open almost as long as we’ve been alive, and she’s got a kid around our age.”

“She has a kid?”

“Yeah. She won’t talk about what happened, but the dad stole custody or something. Like I said, too old for you.”

Alarm bells went off in my head. Was her kid…? I waved my hands in front of my face. “I’m not interested in her that way. At all. Trust me.”

Ember hmm’d, her lips disappearing inside her mouth. She was never able to hold her tongue for long “You were staring at her.”

“That’s because–”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Ember raised her eyebrows. “Because….?”

I shook my head and sighed, dumping more coffee down my throat to buy more time. “I was trying to figure out what kind of person she is.”

Ember tilted her head, her finger on her cheek. “What do you mean?”

“We don’t know much about her, do we? I wondered if this is what she’s really like, or if she’s a secret criminal.”

Ember laughed, clutching at the table. “Ava?” she brushed away tears “she’s too nice.”

I leaned forward and said, “There’s a reason she’s not raising her kid, right? And isn’t that what they said about Ted Bundy?”

Ember stopped laughing to give me a serious look. “I’m sure there’s a good reason for that. Hayden, have you started watching true crime shows again? Because I can tell you from experience that just because you’ve watched true crime and think everyone’s a criminal now doesn’t mean they’re actually a criminal.” Her lecturing tone was as irritating as the rest of her.

I dropped my voice down to a whisper, “What? No, I just heard…” that she destroyed an entire dimension “...something is all.”

Ember looked taken aback by my words. “What did you hear? Are you sure you trust the source?”

I nodded.

“Well, maybe–”

I glanced around the room, worried Avalynn would pop back out at any second. “Can we talk about this later?”

Ember nodded once, slowly. I changed the topic “What book did you read this week?”

“Oh, you’re letting me go first this time?”

“Don’t push it.”

“I read this really interesting series called Phoenyx, with a ‘y.’ It’s meant to be a play on the phoenix and the goddess of the night, Nyx. I know you have this ‘thing’ against modern novels, but I really think you’d like it. It’s a sci-fi set in space–so it kinda reminds me of Dune and Star Wars–about these thieves–think Leverage– who….”

I let her chatter on about the series, only paying half attention. My thoughts rested with Avalynn and her kid.

As Ava set our food down, plated clanking on the table, I looked for any sign she was the mother of the person I was thinking of, categorizing her face, her dimpled smile, her dark eyes, and her features. I didn’t know them well enough to be sure, but the resemblance was there. “Sorry about the wait!” Ava said cheerfully.

“No problem! Thanks, Ava.” Ember replied back, matching Avalynn’s cheerfulness beat for beat.

“Thanks.”

“There’s another customer today, so make sure not to get too loud, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Avalynn turned towards me, jerking me out of my daze. “Speaking of your discussions, did you give Heirs a chance?” I straightened up, my eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Ember’s eyes jumped eagerly at me.

“No.” I said dishonestly.

“Pity. I read it and quite liked it myself.”

Excitedly, Ember barraged her with questions. “Who was your favorite character? What was your favorite ship? What magical creature would you want to be bonded to?”

The dimples in Ava’s cheeks deepened as her smile widened. “Sky was my favorite.” her eyes slid over to me. “I don’t know why, but I always get attached to the shifters.” they slid back over to Ember. “I think Helia and Faust would have made a good pairing, a pity it didn’t work out.” Her hand cupped her chin as she considered the last question. “I’d want to be bonded to a cat, I think,” she said with a smile, her eyes focused on something outside the window.

I followed her gaze to see Ani, who was bullying a poor bird. A chill crept up my spine, and my fingers twitched. There was no way that wasn’t suspicious, right?

Ember opened her mouth to ask even more questions, but Avalynn shushed her, giving her an apologetic smile, “Duty calls, I’m afraid,” before retreating behind the counter.

When I looked back at Ember, she was giving me the ‘see? Everything’s fine’ expression. My lip curled in irritation, and I returned her look with ‘sure.’