Troll Tunnels

by Erin M. Hartshorn

  As we stepped outside, he planted a kiss lightly on top of my head. “Did you have a good day?”

  “Not bad.” I tucked my arm into his as we walked down the street.

  When we first met, just the thought of his touch was enough to make my magic jump, usually accompanied by lightbulbs popping and electricity sparking from anything nearby. We had moved past that, but I was still leery of skin-to-skin contact in public — hence, I took his arm rather than walking hand-in-hand with him. It was close, it was progress, it wasn’t enough long term, but we would get there. Eventually.

  “Faint praise. Why not ‘good’?”

  I shrugged. Beth’s visit had left me a little worried, but I didn’t want to talk about that now. “No one quit today. That’s progress.”

  “Sounds like you’re having a rough week.”

  “And it’s only Tuesday.” My laugh was short, just enough to tell Haris that I wasn’t truly concerned. “At least Dorothy hasn’t dropped by to accuse me of killing people lately.” I didn’t mention her avoidance of me the night before. I still wasn’t sure what was up with that.

  He jerked, but his words were even-humored. “Careful. It’s only been a few weeks. Much too soon to relax.”

  “Do you know something I don’t? Is Melanthios coming back?” I’d been willing to die to keep others from dying at the dark muse’s hands, but that didn’t mean I was eager to do so.

  Haris squeezed my arm reassuringly. “No, I don’t. But we’ll face him when he comes.”

  “Together,” I promised.

  “Don’t forget it.”

  We walked a little farther, slipping into the rhythm of the street, letting people in a hurry slip past while we meandered behind a gaggle of teen girls, wearing everything from ripped jeans to skorts and running shorts. They had at least three different conversations going on, including whether the football team really had a kegger, the book they were reading for English class, and how one girl’s parents still refused to use her sibling’s stated pronouns. They might have been talking about nail polish too, but just then, Haris spoke again.

  “I ran into your dad the other day at a bookstore. He reminded me of brunch at their house in a couple weeks, then complimented me on the color of my dress.”

  I almost tripped in my surprise. My dad saw and recognized Haris as a woman? That was refreshing. The first time I saw Haris as a woman, I had known precisely who she was, and my coworkers seemed to have no trouble, either. Beth, though, saw male and female Haris as two different people, and from comments I’d heard, some of the coffee shop’s customers did as well — jokes about whether we’d ever tried a threesome, usually. I didn’t know why people fell into one group or the other, but I was relieved that my dad knew Haris as a single person.

  As if he’d said nothing unusual, Haris said, “He told me to give you his love and remind you to call your mom.”

  “Like she ever wants to talk to me.”

  “He did say that since dinner at your place, she hasn’t mentioned Jason once.”

  Thank goodness for small favors. I sighed. “All right, I suppose I can call her, even though she’s just going to nag me about whether I’ve found somewhere to live yet.”

  “Worry about that if she brings it up.”

  If. Right.

  “You don’t believe me.”

  Where I reacted to Haris’s presence with sparks and magical discharge, he caught my thoughts, especially when they concerned him. This wasn’t about him, but our close contact made the bridge easier.

  I wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that he and Dad could believe anything they wanted, but I was never going to live up to Mom’s expectations, let alone her hopes for me. But Mom had been charmed by him when they met, and she’d advised me to hold on to both him and the kids. She wanted what was best for me and might even think I knew what I was doing. “You could be right.”

  His laugh was so quiet I felt it but heard nothing. “You’ll see her as a real person yet.”

  “I do! I just wish she returned the favor.” I exhaled in exasperation. “I do not want to talk about my mother. I will call her, but right now, I just want to enjoy my time with you.”

  His arm squeezed mine briefly. “My pleasure. Have you picked our date this week?”

  Dinner at my apartment wasn’t a date. We took turns choosing actual outings. Last week, we’d wandered through the Boston Athenæum — a museum that, being a library, didn’t inspire Haris to comment on all the exhibits. “Brunch at my parents’ is coming up. Doesn’t that count?”

  “No. Your parents invited me. You still have to pick.”

  “In that case, I’ll see if I can borrow Benjamin and Wei’s car, and we can wander around the Cape.”

  “I can rent a car,” he said. “We can even get a hybrid, something responsible.”

  “But …” No, I knew why I shouldn’t borrow the Lius’ car. One more thing to have to get used to. I wasn’t going to be living there, and I couldn’t rely on those conveniences. “All right. But I may wind up canceling, depending on what extra shifts I need to work.”

  Although Ximena had filled in the two shifts she’d said she would work, there were still a lot of holes in the schedule. If Trish and Freddy didn’t step up, I was going to be putting in a lot of extra hours.

  “If you do, I’ll come by and keep you company.”

  “Oh, that’ll make it easy to keep my mind on my work.”

  “If you’re too distracted, I’ll leave. Or make it up to you afterward.”

  I liked the sound of that. I wondered what shape making it up to me would take.

  His voice dropped, and warmth spread throughout my body. “I’m sure I can come up with something.”

  It’s not true that all good things must come to an end, or at least I don’t believe it’s true. Sometimes it is, and sometimes, there’s a reprieve. This evening, I got to extend my time with Haris. Not a date, per se, but dinner at my place with the twins.

  It still felt awkward, even though there had been no issues yet. The kids had been quiet the first time they’d met Haris — quiet enough to worry me — but they were fascinated. By the second dinner, Tina was asking questions about muse magic and how genderflipping worked and not getting answers that satisfied her. By the third, Gavin wanted Haris to help him get better at the music without Gavin needing to actually practice. He’d been a little disappointed to find he still needed to practice, but he did enjoy it more when Haris was around. I still wasn’t sure what the twins thought about me dating, but I could be content with no catastrophes.

  Jinhong, Matt’s grandmother, waited on the stairs up to the apartment. Her eyes flicked toward Haris with distaste, but then she dismissed him as unimportant and focused her attention on me. “What have you done to your door? I couldn’t open it today.”

  Her hand didn’t appear burned, so presumably the magic had simply shocked her.

  “Why would you need to go in while I’m not there?”

  Her brows drew down in anger, and outrage filled her voice. “I don’t need to give you a reason!”

  “Only because you don’t belong there.” Hsien had told me once that Jinhong resented me. I wasn’t going to make that any better with what I said now, but it needed to be said. “If there is a problem with the apartment, Wei and Benjamin can reach me at work to let me know before going in.”

  “You forget yourself!”

  “No, I don’t.” I freed my arm from Haris’s and stepped forward to stare into Jinhong’s eyes. “I signed a rental agreement with them as my landlords. That gives us both rights and protections. Privacy is one. Stay out unless I invite you in.”

  “I can’t wait for you to be gone.”

  “You have to.” I brushed past her and headed up the stairs. By the time I reached the first landing, Haris had caught back up to me.

  He reached for my hand.

  “Don’t.” I was so angry right now, I didn’t know what my anger would do.

&
nbsp; Haris ignored me and grabbed my hand anyway. There were no fireworks or sparks. None external, anyway. Inside, I felt all sorts of explosions.

  I met his eyes. “That was dangerous.”

  “When are you going to learn that I trust you more than you trust yourself?”

  “Everyone trusts me more than I trust myself.” Dorothy crossed my mind, and I amended, “Almost everyone.”

  As we continued up the stairs, he said, “Why did you lock her out of your apartment?”

  “It wasn’t really directed at her. Matt’s been making himself at home lately, and I wanted to discourage that.”

  Above us, I felt the whispering breeze of magic, and the door opened. “Grandmother?”

  “She’s still below,” I called up to Vanessa. “I think she’s angry at me.”

  “Good, you’re home!” She came out to her landing, and I could just see her from where I was on the stairs. “The twins are in here with me. I told Grandmother you said the lock had been sticking, but she didn’t believe me.”

  “Thanks for watching them. Did you want me to take Kane and Aniyah for dinner, too, to make up for it?”

  “No, I’ve got Jian and Bella here because Celeste’s helping Mom in the dining room. It’s fine. You will still watch them on Thursday, though?”

  “Absolutely.” I wondered if a hex on the work schedule would encourage someone else to sign up for that shift. Ximena was on open, and I didn’t think she’d welcome the suggestion that she close instead. “You are a far braver woman than I, dealing with all six of them at once.”

  “Compared to investment bankers? They’re easy.”

  Laughing, I waited for Tina and Gavin to come to the door. Haris, however, leaned his head in. “Hurry up! I’m starving!”

  The twins responded with alacrity, and Gavin asked, “You are going to stay after dinner and listen to me practice, right?”

  I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

  “What are we having for dinner tonight?” Tina asked. “Do I get to help?”

  “You mean we’re not just having pizza?” Gavin wailed.

  I couldn’t keep the laughter in any longer. “No, we are not. We are having pork chops and broccoli and bulgur.”

  He made a face. “Broccoli?”

  “We are having broccoli. You are having a pile of baby carrots.”

  “Oh, that’s okay, then.” He bounced up the stairs to wait for us by the door. “What did you do to the lock anyway? Tina couldn’t open it, and even Ama—”

  “Shhhh!”

  Assuming her objection was merely because she didn’t want to get in trouble and not because she was covering up for Jinhong again, I ignored this interaction, simply unlocking the door with my key and pushing it open. I felt my magic pulse back against me when I first inserted the key into the lock, but it welcomed me as it should.

  “I told you yesterday the lock has been sticking. I don’t know why you didn’t listen.” I nodded toward the table. “I assume you have homework?”

  Tina’s sniff was layered with disdain. “We already got that done. And Aunt Vanessa doesn’t make us be quiet when we do it, either.”

  “I’m sure she doesn’t. Fine, Gavin, you set the table. Tina, you said you wanted to help cook? Next time, you can switch.”

  “And what am I supposed to do?” Haris asked.

  I could think of a few things, but not with the twins underfoot. His eyes sparkled with laughter, and I blushed. When was I going to learn? Turning away, I said, “Why don’t you open some wine?”

  Chapter 8

  We got through Wednesday’s morning rush with minimal crises — one customer turned with her drink and bumped into the person behind her, sending her latte with extra foam all over both of them, and one heavyset guy yelled at me when I told him he couldn’t bring his Chihuahua into the coffee shop. After it calmed down a bit, Trish half-sat, half-leaned on a tall stool.

  “I left my new address in the inbox. Did you see it?”

  “Not yet. I’ll check later when I get to paperwork.”

  “All right. I just wanted to be sure you knew I’d moved. Rich said you gave Freddy a bad time about his address.”

  Only because Freddy had lied on his application, but I wasn’t going to tell Trish that. “Did Rich also tell you that he planned to quit without giving notice?”

  “Of course not!”

  I raised my eyebrows and waited. Not that I thought she was lying — I wanted her to realize if Rich wasn’t telling her everything, maybe he hadn’t told the whole truth about Freddy. If I said that, though, she’d resent me tearing Rich down, and would most likely leap to defend him. So I said nothing.

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” she protested. “If he’d said something beforehand, that would mean he had it planned. Sometimes, things just come up.”

  When I was in high school or college, sure. I would’ve quit a job that interfered with what I was supposed to be getting done. Maybe even one that interfered with what I wanted to be getting done. But as an adult? If something came up and you cared about your job, you talked to your boss. You might not be able to work things out, but at least you tried.

  Give her half a dozen years, and Trish might see things that way, too.

  “So what did your parents think about you moving out?”

  “Are you kidding? They want me to move back in with them, to quit, to have an abortion … pretty much anything but move in with my boyfriend.”

  “Would they feel better if you got married first?”

  She laughed. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But no, they’re so upset by the whole situation they never want me to see him again. They even tried to buy him off. Didn’t work, of course.”

  It didn’t surprise me that they’d tried. I’d gone with her for moral support when she first told her parents. They were convinced she was lying. They’d never told her how to get pregnant, so it just wasn’t possible. “We know you want to keep seeing him, but this isn’t going to convince us. He’s a bad influence on you.”

  So she showed them the paperwork from the ob-gyn, which only convinced them that Trish’s boyfriend was a bad influence and they should chaperone her everywhere from that point on. How they thought that was a good idea, I don’t know, but the next time she was at work — where they couldn’t shadow her — she started looking for somewhere else to live.

  “Sounds like you got a keeper there.” I picked up a cloth and absently started wiping down the counter, though there were no visible spills. “I’ll be sure to change the address in the system and forward it to the insurance company.”

  Over in the corner, a pair of regulars pushed back their chairs and stood up. That meant it was quarter to eleven — just enough time for them to get to class. I nodded at them, and they smiled and waved before exiting. They’d bused their table, but it still should be cleaned before the next customers arrived. It was our most popular table.

  “I’ll get it.” Trish stood and grabbed another cloth.

  That was fine. I had time before the lunch rush to deal with some office work.

  “I’m going to go check the ads I posted to try to get a couple more people on staff, make sure they’re running as they should be. Yell if you need anything.”

  She nodded, and I headed to the office.

  The ads were running as expected, so I turned my attention back to the schedule. Normally, I’d be posting next week’s, but I still needed to patch the holes for this week. Eventually, we’d have enough people to cover all the shifts — Kendall had agreed when I told her I was getting two new hires, which would help a lot. “As well as you’ve managed the place, I trust you to know what you’re doing.” Right now, though, I needed to figure out what to do about this week, particularly Thursday.

  Both Freddy and Trish had marked themselves available for tomorrow, so that was promising. Before I could decide what to do about it, however, oily magic crept up my spine — one of Tiamat’s witches. I concentrated — Svetla
na, I was pretty certain. She might not be coming here, but she had been here before, so it was probably safe to assume she was. Time for me to head back out front.

  Sure enough, within a few minutes, the door opened to admit Svetlana. She had on a heavier coat today, white with faux fur trim, and looked almost stereotypical ice princess. Pausing just inside the door, she looked around, but her eyes didn’t seem to be focused on the mural or the tables or even the plants, which looked as if they might actually survive this time. Just how much of the ward could she see or sense? Did the different layers stand out to her, or did she simply, as last time, feel it was welcoming?

  “Pepper.” The right corner of her mouth lifted in a tentative smile. “I hope you don’t mind me coming by your work. We didn’t get the chance to talk much the other night.”

  About a third of the tables were occupied, mostly by regulars, but we weren’t in any danger of being inundated. I wasn’t wild at the thought of time in close proximity to Tiamat’s unfiltered touch, so much clearer and thicker than what Beth carried. Still, I had nothing against the other witch personally.

  I nodded at Trish. “Why don’t you take your break now? I’ve got the front.”

  She sighed. “It would be good to get off my feet for a bit. Thanks.”

  I waited for her to finish the table she was wiping down, and after she headed to the back room, I motioned Svetlana to a table near the register. “Can I get you anything?”

  “Blonde coffee, extra cream. Gingersnaps if you have them.”

  I hoped she meant what she said; our blonde roast was much lighter than the medium roast Starbucks sold as blonde.

  “No gingersnaps, but the coffee will be right up.” I reached for a mug. “If you’re going to stop by regularly, I can see about stocking the cookies.”

  She busied herself taking off her coat and hanging it over the back of her chair. “Let’s wait on that. We might decide we don’t like talking.”

  But she said it with a smile, so I didn’t take offense.