“I hear you.” I handed Gretta her cup of coffee. Gretta and Charley were cousins and had run The Deliberate Squirrel Antique Bookstore and Collectibles for years, somehow managing not to kill each other by having separate workspaces for everything—and by having Rafe as the third partner. Nothing settled down rascally, anxious squirrels like an ice dragon.
Normally. I’m pretty sure Rafe had them on a coffee restriction as part of their partnership contract, which made me feel like an enabler. Especially since I hadn’t insisted they shift to human first. But as they’d said, there was a lot more work to be done with Rafe still out of commission. Coffee made the work go faster.
“Only you two working inventory tonight?” I might be able to spare an hour or two.
They both shook their heads and said in unison. “No, Josie is here.”
“She’s often here,” Charley said. “Helps Rafe.”
Gretta flicked her tail. “Quiet! We don’t know what parts she helps with.”
“Whoa, just a question.” I already knew about the questionably-legal antiquities, including books, that these two traded in. One might question why two squirrel shifters worked with a dragon shifter until they realized that all three loved hoarding things. Especially rare, shiny things.
But dealing with those shiny things was not in my jurisdiction unless they got into interracial or relationship conflict. So far, nothing on those fronts.
“Can I see Josie?”
“Why?” both squirrels asked, their tails flicking even more.
I took another swallow of coffee. “Wanted to say hello. That’s all.”
Gretta’s foot started tapping again. “No. No-no. Josie’s working on special inventory.”
“She gets all grumbly when she does that,” Charley added. “Doesn’t think Rafe treats the weapons—the books, I mean, with enough respect.”
I shook my head. “All right, you two. I’ll just be leaving then.”
“Wait! Wait-wait-wait.” Charley’s speech had gone triple time since he’d inhaled that coffee. Quick as a lie, he shifted to human, now a scrawny man dressed in a pair of rumpled khakis and a faded t-shirt. He pulled out a large book from under the counter. “Theiya-Theiya left this for you. Said it would be a good education.”
The square tome was larger than a dinner plate and covered with plain leather. Embossed on the front were the words Lyrium Legendarium: Creatures and Entities You Might Encounter from Other Realms.
Gretta leaped over from her counter, jumping from shelf to shelf until she reached Charley. “I’ve never seen that book. Can we keep it?”
“No, it’s Allis’s now,” he scolded. “Unless she doesn’t want it.”
They both looked up at me expectantly. I slowly picked up the book as if I was facing a loaded gun. Such was the intensity of the two rabid book squirrels.
“Ah, I think I’ll take this, since Theiya wanted me to have it.”
Charley’s thin shoulders collapsed. “Oh, very well, very well-well-well.”
“Keep it then,” Gretta twitched her whiskers.
“Yes. I will. Thank you.”
With my coffee in one hand and the giant book in the other, I teleported back to the treehouse, appearing in the living room. Shouts and groans filled my ears, and I was temporarily blinded by the sudden, brilliant lights from the drop-down projector screen. I blinked, clearing my vision. Akira and Cendric were sprawled on the couches, video game controllers in hand, entirely focused on the screen.
I laughed. “Cid, you told me you had a critical meeting with Akira.”
“Crushing his army of Pikmin is very critical.”
“You will not!” A slew of French came from Akira, and Cendric responded in kind. Ignoring the trash talk, I flopped next to my mate on his sofa, beside an end table where Gideon sat. My otter shifter brother’s furry head had almost disappeared into a bowl of corn chips.
“Really, bro?”
He emerged with a defiant wrinkling of his nose—then gave me a smile. “You’re welcome to share.”
“I guess that makes it better. But if you get sick, no blaming me.” I raised my voice. “Next racing game, I’m in, okay?”
A few absent agreements came from the gamers.
Curling up, I tossed a handful of corn chips in my mouth and opened the book. Gideon scurried over to sit on the arm rest next to me, his head resting on my shoulder.
“Strange creatures and entities of the universe,” he read. “Huh. What do they mean, strange?”
I glanced at my otter-brother. Thought of the coffee-colored tarantulas in their individual cages in the corner of my bedroom. Recalled the cement sheep that now followed Casimir around like a dog. The cockatrices in their cages, and the squirrels running a bookstore with a dragon.
“I dunno.” I shrugged.
The universe would have a lot to live up to.
*waves* Thanks so much for reading! I really appreciate it, and I hope you enjoyed the story. I’d love to hear back from you! Feel free to leave your thoughts in a review on Amazon and Goodreads. Book three, The Long Wish Goodnight, is on its way soon.
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The Steel City Genie Series:
If Wishes Were Curses
Wish You Weren’t Here
And if you’re in the mood for steampunk fantasy with adventure, romance, and snark, check out my Ironfire Legacy series, published by Uncommon Universes Press:
Lawless: The Ironfire Legacy Book 1
Priceless: An Ironfire Legacy Novella Book 1.5
Faithless: The Ironfire Legacy Book 2
Want more of Diza and Casimir? Check out The Star-Fae Trilogy by Sarah Delena White:
Halayda
Rothana
Are you a science fiction and fantasy author? Check out my world building series:
World Building From the Inside Out: Textbook
World Building From the Inside Out: Workbook
Irresistible World Building For Unforgettable Worlds: A Creative Writing Guide
Have a fantastic day!
About the Author
Janeen Ippolito writes steampunk fantasy and urban fantasy, and creates writing resources, including the reference book World Building From the Inside Out and the creative writing guide Irresistible World Building For Unforgettable Stories. She’s also an experienced teacher, editor, author coach, book marketer, and is the leader of Uncommon Universes Press, a small traditional science fiction and fantasy publishing house. Plus, she cohosts the podcast Indie Book Magic. In her spare time, Janeen enjoys sword-fighting, reading, pyrography, and eating brownie batter. Two of her goals are eating fried tarantulas and traveling to Antarctica.
Acknowledgements
Always in humble gratitude the Creator, who is more gracious and merciful than I could ever deserve.
Much thanks to my husband Stephen Ippolito for continuing to cheerlead all of the bookish and writing things!
Major appreciation to the epic alpha reader trio of Hannah Keeler, Sarah Delena White, and Bethany A. Jennings for your faithful readership and cheerleading of my books before they are ever fit to publish.
Huge shout-out to beta readers Cathrine Bonham, Brittany Gnizak, Rachel Harbour, Sophia Heotzler, Michelle Bruhn, and Heidi Lyn Burke. Thanks so much for your feedback, enjoyment, and critiques!
Thank you to Sarah McConahy for another great round of line editing! Even when you had to investigate other story worlds for consistency.
Much thanks to Rachel A. Marks for another great, eye-catching cover!
Full gratitude to Sarah Delena White for proofreading/ebook formatting and Julia Busko for print typesetting.
Special shout-out to Hannah Keeler and Sarah Delena White for letting your awesome characters show up in my w
orld and get involved. Crossovers for the win!
Extra thanks to Heidi Lyn Burke for the personality feedback on Kiran Singh.
A huge thank you to Julia Busko for much creativity with Melrose, Akira, and all the rest of the vampire gang.
Thanks to Pittsburgh, even though I did kinda have water monsters wreck Point Park. No worries, it’ll get put back together!
And last but NEVER least, a major thanks to my Marvelous Misfit readers. Y’all are flat-out spectacular in all your epic uniqueness and wonderful weirdness. It’s a thrill to have your support!
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