November 19, 2024. Our apartment above Moonlight Curiosities. Four days into realizing that life kept going, and us along with it.

Aside from interviewing a ghost, the four days after Briarwood felt suspiciously normal. It was like the brisk calm after a fall thunderstorm when the air felt cleaner and lighter with a hint of gray. A subtle promise that the drama was probably over for now.

The day had come and gone, leaving me in the living room of our apartment above the shop. I studied a blue notebook, now filled to bursting with handwritten notes and a few sketches. Thoughtfully, I flipped through the pages, scanning the notes of Jacob’s life story from beginning to undeath. Arms slipped around me from behind.

“Light reading?” Cassidy asked, peeking around and pressing her cheek to my shoulder.

“Overthinking,” I chuckled. “You know… my superpower.”

She lightly snorted. “So, it’s done? All of it?”

I nodded, closing the notebook. “Yep. All done. I got Jacob’s biography typed up and sent over to an editor. She said it’ll be back by the end of the week.” I set the notebook on a battered walnut writing desk nearby. “Now? We wait and see.”

“How do you feel?” Cassidy asked, hugging me.

I turned around so I could hug her back properly. “Better. No odd nightmares or phantom sensations running through my hand.” I paused with a grin. “Dorian sent the money over. He paid double.”

“Double?” She narrowed her eyes. “Why…?”

My grin widened. “He said you’d ask that. Well, Dorian said it was for the history of the pens, our wrecked window, and… ah… all the fun.” As Cassidy’s expression shifted to something between perturbed and exasperated, I quickly added, “Dorian said it was the least he could do. Good timing since the shop repairs finished yesterday.”

She huffed a soft breath. “True. Still not sure I entirely trust him.”

“Me either,” I admitted. “Trusting Dorian is a work-in-progress.”

We let the quiet settle around us like an invisible blanket. The two of us just shared space, listening to the gentle hum of the heating and air conditioning system. Cassidy licked her lips, furrowing her brow as she stared into my eyes.

“Daniel… can we talk?”

I didn’t want to brace for the mental impact, but I totally did it anyway.

“Sure, beloved. What’s up?”

“That bargain you made with Jacob the other day?” She hesitated as if picking her words. “I get that you made a snap judgment. Honestly, I probably would’ve done about the same. But…” She pursed her lips. “Please don’t ever do that again. At least not without talking it over with me, if you can? Really. I cannot… just cannot… lose you.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I promise. It’s just…” My words faltered, losing their order. “Cassie? I panicked. When Jacob explained the Dryad’s Bargain, then said I’d somehow broken it, that felt wrong. Like the thing might just reset and start over at any second.”

She looked away at nothing, then back at me. “Okay, I think I follow this. Is it because everyone kept writing more of that never-ending story?”

“Sort of?” I admitted. “Especially when he explained the ‘dead people adding to the story’ part. That’s where my idea came from of writing Jacob’s life story. Something with an ending that gets this all out in the open. To borrow a little from Professor Barnes, it felt like part of a bigger myth.” I rubbed my hands gently along her arms. “It was still a little stupid and a really thin gamble.”

“It was,” Cassidy agreed, giving me a worried look. “Again. Teamwork, please?”

“Teamwork,” I repeated. Meant it, too. Turning to her when life got strange felt safer. I wanted a lot more of that. “So are dryads always this devious?”

She shrugged. “From everything I’ve been told? This might have been a bit mild.”

“Great…” I shook my head. “The sheriff supposedly turned Jacob and the nightjar over to the dryads. I wonder what the dryads will do?”

Cassidy didn’t reply except to hug me tight. For a moment, I wanted to say a lot of things. Such as, I hoped Jacob left before the dryads could grab him again. Then, part of me wondered what the dryads would do, but I also really didn’t want to know. In the end, I decided words were pretty useless and hugged back.

“Love? How about some hot chocolate?” Cassidy offered.

“Please?”

She breezed off into the kitchen as I put the notebook into a desk drawer.

“Good luck, Jacob.”

I closed the drawer.

That’s when the phone in my pocket buzzed for attention. It wasn’t Dorian, Sheriff Branham, or anyone else of the kind. The screen read ‘Kevin’, as in Kevin Thorpe, my former boss. The one who'd pushed me into burnout before Cassidy and I married and moved here. A headache lightly throbbed to life as I tapped the phone.

“Kevin,” I said, failing to swallow a sigh.

“Daniel! Hey, man, great to hear ya!” Kevin’s cheerful voice rattled back. “Cassidy doing well?”

I raised my eyebrows and wondered just how to sum up being attacked by paranormal stalkers. A Cliff Notes version felt the best.

“Tired, but doing better now.”

Kevin didn’t miss a beat. “Great! Anyway, glad I caught you. Look. I know you’ve got the whole cozy antique shop thing happening. That’s great! Living the dream, am I right? So, listen. We’ve got this new customer coming on board. Big one. Lots of revenue. Triple the volume, but the returns will be fantastic.”

I sighed. “Kevin…”

“Hey, hear me out. Just a little dev work and finish out the documentation. Pitch in and really dig in to support the team. Could help with your little shop you’ve got going on.” He paused. “Look at it this way… you could finally turn the application into something really great.”

The next words tumbled out of me automatically, as if some part of my brain was primed and Kevin was triggering the switches.

“Overhaul. The main platform’s UI isn’t rated for triple the volume. It’ll need an update to the framework so the system can buffer the data grid. Database? Yeah, that…”

I caught myself before the rest spilled out. Hot memories drifted back, clear as day. How stark and sterile the gray-white canvas cubicle walls looked under the fluorescent office lights. The speckled mud-brown of the commercial carpet. Arriving two hours early in the morning, leaving one hour or more late. Working alone in the office on Christmas. Canceling dates with Cassidy just to work for a future that never really arrived.

That headache spiked behind my eyes as my hands trembled. I drew a long breath.

“Kevin… with all due respect, no. I—”

“Whoa. Hold on, man. This’ll bring in some nice change. Maybe… come back full-time! Salary with benefits. Do the team a solid, and the company will turn a blind eye to your hobby business with your wife.”

I barely heard what he said. My eyes were locked on the fading ink stains splattered across my fingers. I thought about Jacob and his stolen life… his story. Once Kevin had somehow run out of words, I let a quiet silence hold court.

“Daniel?” Kevin asked.

“I’m here.” Lowering my head, I worked my jaw. “Kevin, I’m a little tired of people trying to steal the story I have here with Cassidy. Especially you. My life with her and this shop isn’t a hobby.”

“Hey, whoa—”

“I’m not done.” The words came out sharper than I wanted, but instead of apologizing, I just owned it. “You and the team nearly put me in the hospital. Thirteen to fifteen-hour days. Six days a week, alone, while all of you went home.”

“Well…”

I talked over him, snarling out the words. “No. I’m done.” A ragged breath tore out of me. “Done with you and all of that, Kevin. Go deal with a dryad, because I am not listening.”

“Daniel, come on. Be—”

“Goodbye, Kevin. Have a nice life, whatever that looks like for you.”

I ended the call as he started again. Bringing up my contact list, I found his number and tapped ‘block’. After that, I tossed my phone in the drawer on top of the blue notebook and closed it all up. I pressed both hands to the desk and just breathed. Old tension slowly drained out of me.

Once I stopped shaking, I turned around to find Cassidy curled up on one end of our couch in her gray sweatpants with the blue stripes and a t-shirt. There were two mugs of hot chocolate steaming on our tiny coffee table, and a sappy grin spread across her face.

“Hey there, Trouble,” she said.

I lightly snorted, grinning back as I fidgeted where I stood, not sure what to do with my hands.

“Hey, beloved.” I furrowed my brow, mouth a little tight. “So. How long were you… er… listening?”

“Oh, I heard everything.” Cassidy sat up straight, then patted the adjacent couch cushion. Cheeks flushed, I joined her. The moment I sat down, she wrapped her arms around me in a hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

My cheeks grew hotter. “Kevin’s had it coming for a long time. Slimy corporate ass stole a chunk of my life.” I squeezed her arm. “Holidays. Stole time from both of us. I can’t get that back, but I don’t have to give him any more.”

“My hero,” she said, still grinning.

“Yeah, well…” I scoffed, then pursed my lips. “It reminded me of what happened to Jacob. In a way, I sort of understood.”

She rested her head against my arm, her grin fading. “Yeah.”

A fall wind ran loose outside, and the building whispered back. Low, soothing moans that somehow felt like home. We didn’t talk for a long minute until a thought hit me.

“Cassie?” I turned, raising my eyebrows. “There’s something that doesn’t make sense. How did you get out the Briarwood estate basement so fast?”

She shrugged, giving me a half-smile. “Oh that. Dumbwaiter. It still worked. Besides, love, don’t forget that skinshaper bats like me can climb. We’re pretty good at it, too.”

I nodded and laughed. That got her going. Once we both quieted down, I held her hand, staring off into nothing.

“Cassie? Think everything is all right? We’re all right?”

With exaggerated effort, she turned me around and clutched me gently by the front of my t-shirt. A slow smile curled up over her lips as her emerald eyes danced.

“You mean aside from a basement of haunted antiques and a murderous bloodleech who is just desperate for us to help with his housewarming party?” She leaned in, kissing me tenderly. “Yep. We’re fine. This is our story. So, next chapter, please.”

I grinned, kissing her back. “Next chapter it is.”

We forgot all about the hot chocolate, but the couch?

Oh, that was perfect.