Page 6 of The Little Shop of Grand Curiosities

He unsheathed a long, curvy dagger and twirled it in his hand with infuriating carelessness. “I bet you wish you could take back your earlier statement now, darling,” he said, and he lunged at the creatures, wielding the dagger in deft, sweeping movements. But my gods, there werecountlessof them, squeezing out of every corner of the Shop like sentient mold. They slithered around, knocking down vases and crystals and bottles, everything clanging and cracking and shattering on the floor.

“No, no, no!” I gasped more in disbelief than anything else.

This had to be a nightmare. A horrid, hyperrealistic nightmare—

The cauldron howled from the other side of the Shop, trying to warn me about something. Out of nowhere, one of the creatures toppled on the desk before me, spattering everything with its grey, glossy slime.

I beat my parasol down on it, smacking it again and again, only for it to reform its boneless blob of a body around the lacy fabric. “Die, you supernatural cockroach, die!” I hysterically screamed at it.

The creature swung its tail and knocked down the oil lamp from my desk. For a crippling, dreadful second, as I heard the rough shatter of the glass against the gnarly floorboards, I imagined the whole Shop going down in flames and froze under the weight of my dismay.

But, thank the gods, Apollo was quick. He stepped on the wick and stomped the flame out before spinning around to shout at me in warning, “Nepheli, up!”

I craned my neck. Another creature was crawling on the shelf above me and was about to land right on my head.

I popped my parasol open just as Apollo came and snatched me around the waist. He shoved me behind him and slashed the air with his dagger, trying to hold them back as more andmoreof them crawled out of the shadows.

“We need to leave. Now,” he panted. “Where’s the door?”

“Are you blind?” I squealed, flicking my parasol shut so I could use the pointy end again.

He glared at me over his shoulder. “Theotherdoor, Nepheli.”

Oh, no.

No. No. No.

Just, no.

I had not been entrusted with the Shop’s care only to abuse it like this. Of course, there was another door. Every Curiosity Shop in the world was built upon sacred ground. It was what made the Shopscuriousin the first place. But these doors were not meant for humans to use. These doors were remnants of the Old World, when gods and titans lived among mortals. It was not only my duty but also my honor as a proud Curiosity to guard the Shop’s Celestial Door with my life if need be and to never, ever,everlet a human pass through it.

A creature sprung in mid-air, making a horrible screeching sound, and Apollo lurched forward to gash it in half with his dagger, only for another and another and another to follow. “A little faster, please,” he snarled, going for the kill again.

“You can’t use the Door. It’s disrespectful to the gods,” I heaved, shaking from head to toe. “Not to mention that it can be very dangerous.”

Apollo swiveled with a flourish and met my panicked gaze. For a second, I feared he might slit me in half like a creature too. “Ican be very dangerous, Nepheli.”

With my heart pounding like a broken drum in my ears, I stole a guilt-ridden glance at the purple taffeta curtain behind my back.

Suddenly, the whole Shop tilted to its side as Apollo grabbed me around the waist with one arm and tossed me over his shoulder.

“What are you doing, you bastard! Let me down!” I screamed, jabbing at his back with my parasol. I tried to kick my knees into his sternum too, but his arm tightened around the backs of my thighs and immobilized me further as he continued to march straight down the Shop.

At the unmistakable swish of the curtain, my entire life flashed past my eyes. “No, Apollo! Wait!”

I knew exactly what the pointer inside the engraved disk on the Door showed. It hadn’t changed directions for as long as I’d been alive. The larger, blue needle was pointing North. But the smaller, secondary needle was not pointing at land or sea.

“Apollo, wait, we’re going to—ahhhh!”

Oh, yes. We fell from the sky.

2

nepheli

Icould not die. I simply couldn’t. I had so many more books to read, and kisses to give, and stargazing to do, and people to meet, and risks worth taking.

And I certainly could not die in the arms of this inconsiderate delinquent who had not only led those filthy, atrocious creatures into my poor Shop but had also forced me through the Celestial Door, an offense no Curiosity had ever committed in the entire Shop’s history.

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