The City of Crows by Bethany Lovejoy (novels in english .txt) 📗

sigh of relief when I saw that the last name began with an M, just as the other books on the shelf I was already standing at. My eyes traveled along the shelf as I searched for the right spot, mentally looking for the ‘MI’s. They landed just at eye level, the books were jammed closely together with the help of a metal bookend. I stepped forward, pulling them apart to shove the book in. For some reason, it seemed they wanted to resist me.

I squinted, biting the edge of my lip as I moved forward again, attempting to pry the books apart. For some reason, my body didn’t want to; an ounce of force felt like too much. I felt, for a minute, almost cold.

Strange, but not completely impossible. Sickness did overcome those who found themselves particularly stressed, and I would say I was one of those people. Or, I would have said I was one, up until I saw a form move behind the books. My heart stopped.

Suddenly, the motion became easy, my hands jerking the books apart in the proper place. Parting the books revealed the clavicles of a male chest, body clad in a white button-up shirt as the person behind the books stood far too close to the shelf. I stopped, the book still in my hand, my mouth fell open.

“Leo…?” I asked.

“Lyra,” a familiar voice responded, sending the book tumbling out of my hand. No sooner had the voice spoken than the being stooped to peer from between the gap, his green eyes looking back into mine, sending me stumbling into the shelf behind me. “It is you,” the voice replied, the person straightening and disappearing out of my view. I knew who it was, though I prayed that it wasn’t him.

Move, that as all I wanted to do, all I had to do. But I couldn’t as the footsteps began slowly to round the edge of the shelf. All I could think to do was grab my phone, my thumb pressing down on the button just long enough to signify it was turning off as I shoved it into my back pocket. It was better that Leo not message now.

The footsteps grew louder, a crop of dark blond hair appearing from behind the shelves. The thought came once more to run, and yet when I tried to, my limbs felt heavy; far too heavy. It was as if my bones had turned to cement, my body rooted in place, though not by my own will.

I broke into a cold sweat as the figure approached nearer, his fingers running across the spines of the book as he grinned, far too aware of how all the air had left my body. Sharp green eyes, dark blond hair, pointed features in every regard, prominent yet not thick stubble crawling up his jaw. He had a way of looking, as he always had, like a cat playing with a mouse. I guess in this situation, he really was. White button-up shirt, deep blue wool pants, and brown suspenders. He’d pulled himself together since the last time we’d seen each other; somehow, that only made him more dangerous.

“Lyra,” he breathed, finally stopping far too close to me, his hand reaching up to grip my chin in between his thumb and pointer finger. “Look at you,” he lifted my chin to view me properly, the rest of the world seemed to stop moving as he did so. “You know, I really shouldn’t have to do this, we should be friends. But I know that if I so much as drop this,” my eyes narrowed at the confirmation of the spell, “you would run.”

“Rowan,” I spat. “I swear to god if someone sees this--”

“What? You’ll lose your mediocre job?” Rowan scoffed, “they’ll call the cops?” He should have been a lot more concerned about those two ideas than he was. “Or will the new boyfriend be upset to see me hold you like this?” He dropped my chin. “I remember when being held by me was all you wanted.”

“He’s not my boyfriend--”

“Yes, well,” Rowan rolled his eyes, informing me, “I’ve gathered as much. Unlike my cousin, I am no idiot. Doesn’t answer why you’re spending time with the human,” my mind blanked at this statement. He shouldn’t have known that. “But I’m not here to ask about who or what you’re keeping for entertainment, Lyra. Passing phases are no interest of mine,” his tone suggested otherwise. “And for your information, no one will see us. I’ve enchanted the aisles; one look down this one and Emma will see you bored out of your mind, shelving books and wishing that you’d grown a spine.”

I withered at that statement.

“No, can’t I visit you because I miss you, Lyra?” Rowan asked, a degree of tenderness in his voice. “Six years of our lives, that’s a long time, isn’t it?” His face changed, softer for a moment as he remembered. But then, just as suddenly as it came, it passed. “No, I suppose I can’t,” Rowan admitted, more to himself than me.

“Then, why are you here?” I demanded.

He blinked owlishly like he was surprised that my voice could take on such a harsh tone. “Why’d you take a human to the Green Man bar?” He flickered back to his previous disposition, practically barking his question at me.

“How do you know he’s human,” I fired back.

He snorted, looking at me in disbelief. When my face didn’t register the same joke as him, however, his eyebrows knitted together. A mix of confusion and curiosity flew across his face one after the other. He loomed closer, looking almost happy as he asked. “Don’t you know where he is, Lyra?”

My mouth flew open, all of the air in my body seeming to escape with it.

“Astounding,” he replied, hand dropping down into his pocket. Withdrawing his wand, he made a flicking motion and with it, all weight seemed to leave my body. It appeared he’d finally found a way