Violet

by Mia Harlan

  When it’s five to nine, Nole volunteers to open the library, leaving me to sit at the desk and greet patrons. There’s no sign of Betty this morning, but I keep waiting for her to storm in, shouting at me to leave her grandson alone. Any time I see a figure with broad shoulders, I think it’s Liam here to ‘talk’ or mention my supposed twin to Nole. When I see a flash of black and white, I think it’s Cash, and my heart races at the thought of him in his skunk suit—does that make me a furry?

  All I know is that by the time we lock the doors at six, I’m a mess of nerves and frustration. Working side-by-side with Nole all day wasn’t easy, and neither was being on the constant lookout for Cash and Liam. Plus, for some reason that makes no logical sense, I’m actually hurt that neither of my mates showed up.

  Did they change their minds about being with me? Did they already lose interest? And why do I care when I plan to pack my bags and leave them behind?

  I feel pretty dejected as I wave goodbye to Nole, who’s busy turning off all the computers on the main floor, and step outside.

  The sun doesn’t set for a few more hours, so the streets of Silver Springs are overflowing with people. Supes—shifters, vampires, demons, trolls, goblins, you name it—walk past, along with humans who are oblivious to it all. Cat shifters race between their feet, tripping them up, and bird shifters fly overhead.

  I turn toward home and merge with the crowd. My walker wobbles against the hard concrete, and people pass me left and right. I let out a frustrated sigh and nearly jump out of my skin when a man throws an arm casually over my shoulder. Cash!

  “Hello, little furry.” He smirks down at me.

  “Don’t call me that! And don’t sneak up on me. You nearly gave me a heart attack, and that can’t be good at my age.” Ten points.

  At my words, Cash turns a little pale. Which is when I also realize how different he looks from the last time I saw him. Instead of a skunk costume, he’s wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt—which also somehow reminds me of a skunk.

  Is he doing it on purpose? Trying to seduce me by dressing in skunk colors, like some fancy version of a skunk mascot? If he is, it’s definitely working.

  “I’m so sorry,” he says, obvious concern marring his handsome face. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “Young people these days,” I mutter. Ten points. “But don’t worry, dear, I’m alright.” Five more.

  “Good.” Cash sighs in relief and starts to wrap his arm around my shoulder again.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to sidestep him. Of course, with my walker where it is, I don’t get far. Luckily, Cash seems to realize what I’m doing and pulls his arm back.

  “I thought I’d walk you home.” He smiles.

  “You don’t need to do that, dear.” Five points. Especially when he’s making my heart race and my chameleon magic flare. “I really should get going. It was nice seeing you, Colin.”

  “Call me Cash, please,” he says, moving into step with me as I turn toward home.

  “I really don’t need an escort, dear.” Five points. Not that it seems to be working. At all.

  “How about company, then?” Cash chuckles, keeping pace with me.

  I try to ignore him.

  When we get to a crosswalk, Cash takes my elbow, and his touch makes my heart race. I expect him to let go when we get to the other side, but he keeps his hand firmly in place and keeps walking.

  “So, what made you become a librarian, little furry?” he asks when we’re almost at my building.

  I’d say something about the nickname, but I can barely focus with him walking so close. And what was it he asked? Why did I become a librarian?

  It’s not like I can tell him it’s because Violet was a librarian, and that’s the only way she could think for us to support ourselves. She got this gig at Spell Library, taught me everything she knew, and I’ve been working here ever since.

  “Violet?” Cash presses.

  “I love being around books, and I’ve always loved libraries,” I tell him instead, since both things are true.

  Even before Violet and I moved to Silver Springs, I was a huge reader. Gwinnie used to take me to the library when we were kids, and I’d spend a lot of time there after she left. I’d sit on the floor between shelves, my nose buried in a book, and feeling just a little less lonely. And when I went off to college, I found the campus library on my first day and spent more time there than I did in the dorms. It’s part of the reason I ended up on the run in the first place.

  “Do you not like your job?” Cash asks, picking up on my sudden change in mood.

  “Actually, I really do,” I tell him honestly. “There’s just something so peaceful about working at Spell. And fun. I like helping patrons find books, running Mood Tea and Books, reading storybooks to the little children. I really can’t picture myself anywhere else.”

  I realize that I’ve forgotten all about my points system while answering Cash. What I just said was a hundred percent me—the real Violet hidden beneath this mask—and I really don’t know what I’ll do with myself once I leave Silver Springs.

  “I wish I had something I was that passionate about.” Cash tightens his grip on my elbow slightly. “I like my job, but I keep jumping from one thing to the next, and it never feels like enough.”

  “What do you do for work?” I ask.

  Yesterday, I would have guessed he was a children’s entertainer, maybe a teacher or an actor. Today, dressed in the suit, actor’s still a distinct possibility—but so is office worker or businessman. Especially when he probably came to meet me straight after work.

  “Wait, you don’t know?” Cash sounds surprised.

  “Should I?” I frown. “Does it have anything to do with the skunk mascot?”

  “No.” Cash snorts. “I’m a mobile app developer.”

  “Oh, okay.” I frown. How would I have known that? And also, would Violet have a clue what a mobile app developer is? Time to earn myself ten points. “So you make those phone doohickeys?”

  “Phone doohickeys? I guess you could call it that.” Cash grins. “I developed an app called Screech, it’s... well... I’m not sure how to explain it.”

  The most popular Supernatural Social Network ever invented?! The app everyone’s talking about?!

  No wonder his name sounded so familiar! Practically everyone’s heard of Cash Howe, brilliant inventor and self-made billionaire. I’m surprised I didn’t realize it sooner.

  “Screech is popular among younger supes,” Cash adds. “I could show it to you sometime.”

  “I think Nole already put it on my phone,” I say noncommittally. And by I think, I mean I know. It was one of the first apps the bear shifter installed for me. We set up a profile to help promote Spell Library, and I’ve been secretly using it to look up old friends and see what they’ve been up to.

  “Who’s Nole?” Cash asks.

  “My assistant. He’s a very technologically savvy young man.” Ten points. “Always helping me print out my emails.” Ten points. “He even uses his credit card on the Internet.” Another ten.

  Cash sends me an incredulous look. And why wouldn’t he? He’s several centuries old and he invented Screech. He built an entire mobile app that thousands of supes use and he acts and talks normally. Meanwhile, I’ve spent the last year calling everyone dear and complaining about kids on the library’s front lawn.

  For a moment, I feel like a complete and utter failure—and a fraud. At least until I remember that I’ve had no choice. Cash can be whoever he wants. I can’t.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asks.

  “That we’re here.” I turn my walker toward the building. “Thank you for the company, Cash.”

  “Let me walk you in?”

  I’m about to protest when I feel it again... that creepy-crawly feeling that tells me I’m being watched. I look around, scanning the parked cars and the bushes, but there’s no one around.

  Cash tight
ens his grip on my elbow slightly, and I let him steer me toward the front door. He helps me push my walker inside—which is always a pain when I’m doing it alone—and I exhale in relief when I’m safely back in my lobby.

  I move toward the elevator, push the button—and nothing happens. Which is when I notice the out-of-order sign. How could I forget?

  “Let me try,” Cash says, stepping forward and pushing the button for me.

  What does he think? That he’ll get a different outcome?

  “Should I find the landlord?” He frowns.

  “No point. It was broken this morning, too. Probably won’t get fixed until tomorrow.”

  Which leaves me with very few choices.

  I could look for April June’s buzzer code and hope that she’s home. Except that means having her fly me up on a train of dildos with Cash watching. Maybe I could get him to carry up my walker while I struggle my way up four flights of stairs? I grimace at the thought, which brings me to option number three: send Cash home and then buzz April June.

  “I have an idea,” Cash says, and before I can protest, he scoops me up in his arms, bridal style. “What floor?”

  “Fourth,” I reply, feeling slightly breathless.

  I expect him to leave my walker and come back for it, but he somehow manages to slip it over one arm and slide my purse over the other. Then he takes the stairs two at a time, without even breaking a sweat.

  I, meanwhile, break into all sorts of sweats. I can feel his muscles flexing around me as he carries me. His chest feels warm against my side, and I long to unbutton his shirt and slip my hands inside. I want to feel his warm skin against mine. To trace the outline of his abs with my fingertips and feel each ridge and valley against my palms. And then, I want to touch him everywhere...

  “We’re here.” Cash suddenly sets me down. He keeps his hands on my waist—which makes me feel weak in the knees—and my chameleon magic comes to life.

  Then, Cash suddenly drops my walker, and it crashes onto the floor with a loud clang. He dumps my purse on the seat, and then he advances on me, backing me up against the wall.

  “Cash?” I gasp as he presses his solid body against mine.

  I can feel every hard muscle... and a huge bulge pressing up against my stomach that makes me squirm. Suddenly, all I can think about is kissing Cash. Feeling his lips against mine. Being with him. Really and truly being with him.

  Tingles shoot down my entire body, and just as he lowers his lips to mine, I can’t help it. I shift!

  Chapter 14

  Violet

  “What the hell?” Cash pulls away from me a split second before our lips touch.

  His eyes widen, his jaw drops, and it finally hits me... I just shifted in the middle of the hallway!

  “Oh shit,” I cry and quickly shift back. Old age settles around me like a heavy blanket, while my eyes dart around wildly, making sure there’s no one around.

  Cash just stands there the whole time, unmoving.

  I know he’ll snap out of it at any minute—and probably start freaking out—and I do not want to be out here when that happens. I shove him aside, grab my purse, and pull out my keys. My hands shake as I unlock the front door, but the moment it’s open I yank my walker—and the blood mage—inside.

  “Well, that was unexpected,” Cash says, sounding a bit dazed.

  “Keep your voice down,” I hiss, locking the door behind us. Not that it’ll do much good if they find me. Magic could take down a lock like this in seconds... Hell, it could take down the whole door.

  I feel like I’m about to start crying—or have a nervous breakdown. I’ve been so careful this past year, never once shifting outside the safety of my apartment. And now all that is ruined, and for what? A kiss that never even happened?

  I know there was no one out there, but what if someone saw us? A bird shifter could have flown by the small hallway window that faces the street, or a dragon shifter, or a witch on a broom. Not that witches normally fly on brooms—but one could have been especially bored.

  Deep breaths, Violet. Now you’re just being paranoid.

  “Was that the real you?” Cash asks softly. “Back there in the hallway?”

  I nod.

  “Can I look at you again? Please?”

  The weird thing is, he doesn’t seem confused, or upset that I pretended to be an old woman. Shouldn’t he care that I tricked him? And that he had to carry me up four flights of stairs when I could have easily walked? Apparently not, if the hopeful smile on his face is anything to go by.

  With a sigh, I shift back. Because why bother keeping up this form when Cash already saw me shift once?

  His eyes darken and slowly caress every inch of me, while I try not to cringe. Because I may be a whole lot younger now, but it’s not a pretty sight.

  I haven’t bothered with an ounce of makeup, and my hair’s tied back in a frizzy, unkempt mess. Why bother looking good when no one sees me, anyway? I have kept up with exercise—kick-boxing videos, mostly—but it’s not like Cash can tell. Not when I’m wearing baggy clothes—Violet’s clothes. Because even as the real me, I’m still dressed in a red, velvet cardigan, baggy black dress pants, and these bulky, khaki orthopedic shoes. The exact same outfit Violet has on today, in the exact same size.

  Okay, yeah, I know that sounds weird, but we have a good reason. And no, not because we’re those crazy bffs who wear matching outfits for kicks. When I first started shifting into Violet, keeping up my magic all day was a struggle, and we’d needed a failsafe. Just in case my magic took a page out of my sister’s book and messed up my clothes, too. It was that or risking the town’s eighty-year-old librarian suddenly ending up in a crop top, high rise jeans, and Birkenstock knockoffs. Matching outfits suddenly seemed to make a whole lot of sense.

  Cash gives me a slow once over, but instead of judgment, his eyes fill with heat. “You’re so beautiful, little furry,” he murmurs, moving toward me, almost like he’s in a trance.

  “What? Huh? What’s going on?” Violet suddenly grunts.

  I spin around to find her in the exact same spot I left her in this morning, wrapped tightly in a purple throw. Is she sick? Did she stay in that one spot the entire day?

  Except, no, there are empty dishes on the coffee table. And she doesn’t look sick—just confused—like maybe we’d startled her awake.

  “Who is that with you?” she asks as she squints at Cash. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

  Her glasses are on the coffee table, and I know from personal experience that she can’t see well without them. Cash probably looks like a blur, yet she doesn’t seem the least bit worried that there’s a strange man in our apartment. Just like Cash doesn’t seem upset that there are two Violets, and the one he tried to seduce turned out to be someone else.

  “Violet, this is Cash,” I tell her. I mean, what else am I supposed to do? Pretend she’s not here? That he’s not here? That none of this is happening?

  “Violet?” Cash looks taken aback for a split second before breaking into a grin. “That is absolutely brilliant!”

  “What’s brilliant?” I frown.

  I’m seriously starting to wonder if Cash is all there. First, he spent yesterday afternoon and tonight hitting on who he thought was an old lady. He literally tried to kiss me while I looked eighty! Now, he finds out it was all a lie, but instead of asking questions or being all confused, he seems seriously excited over being duped.

  “This! It’s absolutely, positively brilliant.” Cash gestures between Violet and me. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it. If I had, I’d be a billionaire!”

  “Aren’t you already a billionaire?” I frown, suddenly feeling a lot less trusting than I did earlier. If I could lie about who I was, why couldn’t he? He’s probably not even a mobile app developer, let alone the inventor of Screech.

  “Good point.” Cash shoots me a sheepish grin. “So you did know who I was?”

  “No. But I know Screech. Everyone do
es.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Are you sure you invented it?”

  Cash takes his phone out of his pocket, hits a few buttons, and starts to hand it to me. Then he pauses. “You do know how to use this, right?”

  “Yeah.” I don’t quite meet his eyes.

  It’s weird, because for the past year, I’ve been proud of what I accomplished. I’ve been able to shift into Violet and maintain her form all day, every day. I’ve managed to keep myself from shifting around Nole, and I never once gave in and half-shifted when it would have been easier. Plus, I’ve convinced all of Silver Springs—including actual seniors—that I’m an eighty-year-old librarian. And managed to hide from them.

  I should be proud, shouldn’t I? Except, knowing that I outright lied to Cash—that I tricked him—just makes me feel guilty. And terrified, because now he knows the truth, and he literally holds my life in his hands.

  “What am I looking at?” I ask when he hands me his phone.

  “My Screech account. Proof that I’m—”

  “Cash Howe,” I say as I stare at his verified profile.

  He shrugs and takes back his phone. “I’m just mad I didn’t think of it first.”

  “Think of what?”

  “Your chameleon gig.” Cash shakes his head.

  “What gig?”

  “Didn’t Violet hire you to pose as her at work?” Cash asks.

  I shake my head. I could lie and pretend she did, but honestly, what would be the point? If I want to convince him to keep my secret—and help me keep my identity hidden—I’m going to have to tell him the whole truth.

  “Wait, so you’re not a chameleon for hire?” he asks.

  “What does that even mean?” I ask. “Wait, are you calling me a prostitute?”

  “Of course not!” He shakes his head vehemently. “Wait, you are a chameleon, aren’t you?”

  “I thought it was obvious.” I roll my eyes and shift into Cash.

  He grins in relief. ”But you weren’t posing as Violet at work?”

  “I—” I hesitate.

  “Violet’s been working at Spell Library since we moved here,” Violet answers for me.