Page 15 of Can't Bite This Feeling
My smile is sharp, hungry, and impossibly grateful as it tugs at the corner of my mouth. “As you wish,mea amora,” I say, leading her down the crooked street.
“The noise…” Drusilla stumbles a little as we walk along the street.
“It must be overwhelming, but I promise, Screaming Woods will feel like home soon.” I squeeze her hand, noticing how small it feels in mine.
Everything about me is bigger now. Will she still be able to take me? She’s so tiny, so delicate, that it worries me. Would I rip her in two? Gods, will I last more than two seconds after a record-breaking period of abstinence?
We don’t make it far before Drusilla stops abruptly, tugging my hand with a surprising burst of strength. Her wide eyes fix on a shop across the square.
“The Spellbound Shelf,” she reads from the hand-carved wooden sign hanging above the door, its letters shifting and rearranging themselves in a lazy, almost playful script. The warm golden glow spilling out of the front windows makes it look less threatening than the other shops on the street—a haven, almost.
Books,I think, watching her eyes soften with longing. She was always hungry for knowledge, desperate to read what the world tried to keep from her.
“Do you want to go in?” I ask, even though the answer is obvious.
She nods, a hint of that fire in her expression. “Please.”
I push the door open, a small chime ringing from somewhere high in the rafters. The smell of paper and ink wraps around us instantly, mingling with something richer—cinnamon and sugar fromConjure and Crumb, the bakery a few doors down.
The shelves seem to move on their own, adjusting their height to match the reader, shifting titles forward as though trying to tempt us with secrets.
Behind the long, scuffed counter stands a woman wearing a colorful maxi dress, her chestnut hair tied back with a silk ribbon. She looks up from a glowing parchment and greets us without a shred of fear, her dark blue eyes twinkling.
“Welcome to The Spellbound Shelf,” she greets. “I’m Alice. Let me know if anything calls to you. Sometimes, the books here have a mind of their own.”
Beside her, a man leans lazily against one of the bookcases, massive and broad-shouldered, with an easy grin. A beanie covers his head, which seems to move with a life of its own. Green eyes track me with a predator’s calm curiosity, telling me he sees beyond my enchantment to the demon beneath.
“Gordy,” he says, offering a nod. “Don’t mind the shelves. They like to test newcomers.”
“I’m Drusilla, and this is Rapha,” Drusilla introduces us.
“We’re…new in town,” I add, keeping it simple.
Drusilla steps closer to me, her voice barely a whisper as she asks, “They’re…like us?”
I smile faintly, pressing a reassuring kiss to her hair. “They’resafe,” I murmur, sensing that’s true.
Alice’s eyes soften as she looks between us, and a quiet understanding seems to pass through her gaze. “Whatever you’re searching for,” she tells Drusilla gently, “you might find a piece of it here.”
Drusilla’s shoulders relax a little. She even lets out a tiny laugh when a slim green volume pops itself off a high shelf and drops into her waiting hands, its title,Where Shadow Meets Flame,shimmering in strange, archaic lettering.
Something eases inside me as her eyes light up with wonder, instead of fear, pushing back the darkness that has been crouching over my soul.
Maybe Screaming Woods wasn’t such a bad choice after all.
Chapter 4
Drusilla
The book in my hands is warm, almostbreathing, as if it knows me already. I trace the title with a shaky finger, still trying to catch up with a world that refuses to sit still, and then glance up as more footsteps echo on the wooden floor.
A tall, striking man enters, dressed in a perfectly tailored shirt that hugs powerful shoulders. His hair is pulled back from a chiseled face—except his hair issnakes, flicking their tongues curiously. Beside him, a heavily pregnant woman practically radiates joy along with her healthy glow, as if she’s never known fear in her life.
“Sorry we’re late for lunch, Alice,” the woman says with a grin, one hand stroking her stomach protectively. “Gideon was wrestling with the stroller assembly. I told him to read the instructions, but you know what these gorgons are like.”
“Don’t slander me, sweetheart,” the snake-haired man teases, pressing a sweet kiss to her temple. “I conquered it, eventually.”
Alice laughs, shaking her head. “Verity, Gideon, meet Rapha and Drusilla. They’re new to town.”
