Page 54 of The Orc and the Innkeeper

It’s been a little over a month since everything happened with Thorak, and I haven’t seen him or heard from him since. That was what I wanted, I know. I told him to get out my life. I told him I couldn’t trust him and didn’t want to be with him.

And yet…every time the door to the inn opens up, I half-expect to see his huge frame crossing the threshold. Every time I walk through town or by his brewery, I brace myself to hear him say “Mariah” in that low, rumbling growl of his.

And every night when I close my eyes, laying in that bed where he worshiped my body for hours on end, I feel the phantom touch of his mouth on my skin, his tusks pressing into me.

I shake myself out of my memories and focus on my mom rushing down the steps, her arms outstretched. I was overdue for a visit and I’ve desperately needed this break.

Experiencing some unconditional, simple, impossible-to-doubt love might shake me out of this funk I’ve been in ever since I told Thorak to go.

I gather my things from the backseat of the car and turn to my mom.

“Mariah, sweetheart,” she murmurs, enfolding me in a warm embrace. I breathe in the familiar scent of her perfume. “We’ve missed you so much.”

Dad ambles over, his eyes crinkling behind his glasses. “Hey, kiddo. You holding up okay?”

I force a smile, not quite ready to share all the details of my recent heartbreak. My parents didn’t ask a ton of questions when I sprung a last-minute visit on them, but I’m sure they know something is up.

“I’m...I’m hanging in there. Just needed a change of scenery, you know?”

They exchange a knowing glance, and I feel a pang of guilt for not sharing more, being more in touch. But as we head inside, Mom’s arm draped around my shoulders, I’m comforted by the support they offer me nonetheless.

As I settle into their guest room, I wonder about the life I might have had if we’d never left this city behind. Would I be a different person entirely? Or would the call of magic have found me just the same?

I flop down on the bed, my thoughts drifting back to Elderberry Falls, to the inn that’s become my true home...and to Thorak.

The memory of his gentle touch, his rumbling laughter, sends a bittersweet ache through my chest.

Sighing, I close my eyes and try to banish thoughts of Thorak. That’s in the past. I need to move on. Words I’ve repeated to myself so many times…

Maybe with some distance from Elderberry Falls, I’ll finally be able to act on them.

Dinneron my first night with my parents felt a little stilted, the easy rhythms of my family taking some time to return. It’d been more than a year since I’d last come to see them, and my parents don’t make it to Elderberry Falls often either, the town a painful reminder to them of a tough time in their lives when they had to rely on Great-Aunt Ida just to put a roof over my head.

I get it, but sometimes it still hurts.

But waking up to the smell of my mom’s pancakes cooking—apple and cinnamon, my favorite kind—melts something in me, and I give my mom a grateful smile as I walk into the kitchen.

“What are your plans for the day?” she asks me as she plops way too many pancakes onto my plate.

“Mmmm,” I mumble around a huge bite of pancake, then swallow. “No plans. And I don’t want you to have to change your schedule for me. Can I just come along and help if you have any errands?”

Which is how I find myself trailing after my mother through the fluorescent-lit aisles of the grocery store. Another part of the human world that is so different from Elderberry Falls.

Our town grocery is small and cozy, with a mishmash of human and magical brands of food, catering to cuisines for monsters and people of all shapes and sizes. The endless rows of canned vegetables and soup here, all so uniform in size and color, make my eyes ache.

As we round the corner into the beverage section, a familiar logo catches my eye, stopping me in my tracks.

My heart stutters as I reach for the bottle, my fingers trembling slightly as they brush against the cool glass.

Orc’s Anvil Brewing Co.

He must’ve gotten the distribution deal after all.

“Mariah?” My mother’s gentle voice pulls me from my reverie, and I glance up to find her watching me with a concerned look in her eyes. “Is everything alright?”

I swallow hard, the weight of my emotions rising in my throat.

“This...this is Thorak’s beer,” I manage, my voice thick. “My…I mean, Thorak is…”

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