Page 21 of Last Call at the Doghouse

Well, shit.

* * *

Helen and her crew had initially been insistent that the visitors not leave the library with the precious book. They were self-appointed guardians of the hidden, magical library, and the information in the volumes they protected could do a lot of harm in the wrong hands. Armi understood, she really did. Still…

At first glance it appeared there were no spells in the shield book, just a little bit of Mystic Springs history and a few vague but dire predictions. Some of the pages were stuck together, and the paper was so fragile no one wanted to try to pry them apart. Those pages could crumble to nothing if not handled properly. The three elderly ladies looked the book over and deemed it fairly innocuous, history and prophecy rather than spells, and then reluctantly—very reluctantly—allowed it to be removed from its hiding place.

Duncan’s promise to personally protect the book went a long way with the ladies. Tobias and his brother Vince were not as impressed, but they weren’t in charge. Armi wondered if they were serving and protecting their women the same way Duncan protected her.

After turning down lunch with the crew Armi and Duncan left town, him driving, her clutching the book to her chest as she stared out the window.

“Aren’t you going to read it?” he asked as they turned onto the highway and headed toward Eufaula.

“Not here, not now,” Armi said. She’d tried reading in the car on a couple of family trips back in the day, and it had always made her queasy. Not only that, information of this magnitude should be read reverently in a quiet place, not on a winding country road with the occasional pothole Duncan swerved to avoid. “Later.”

“We can go to my place…”

“No. We’ll grab a bite to eat, I’ll open The Doghouse, then…”

“Your friends can handle the bar. This is more important.”

He was right, she knew he was, but after being told all her life what to do, where and how, she was feeling cantankerous. “From what little I know so far, you work for me.”

He sighed. “Apparently.”

“We do things my way.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said sarcastically.

They drove in silence for a while. Duncan turned left in Eufaula, heading back toward Angel Lake. Armi stared out the window, not watching the landscape fly past but pretending to. Her mind was elsewhere. Her mind was everywhere.

Whatever was in this book could change her life. She knew it; felt it deep down. Did she want to know what was coming? Did she have a choice? She closed her eyes, wishing the past few days had been nothing more than a nightmare. It was the stuff of nightmares, for sure. Except for Duncan, who she should not like but did. He was the stuff of dreams. For a moment she allowed herself to recall one of those dreams and relax…

It was easy to relax, as she recalled the sensation of being touched by Mitch Duncan, of being seduced by him. Of being the seducer. Some dreams faded away, in a few minutes or a few hours. This one stayed clear in her memory. The physical sensations were amazing, but so was the gut deep feeling that they belonged together, that this was a love like no other. She almost melted into the dream-memory, wondering if, despite all the excitement, she might doze in the car.

Until a large bird slammed into the windshield.

Duncan swerved a little, but soon gained control. “What the hell?” he muttered, then he laughed. “You never know what you’ll run into on these country roads.”

Armi’s heart had started pounding on impact, but the bird had gotten the worst of it and had been left behind on the side of the road. One feather was stuck in the passenger side mirror, flapping in the breeze until it finally came loose and drifted away. She sighed and gave a little laugh herself, but it didn’t last.

Another bird dove straight at the windshield. Then two. A large bird, maybe a hawk or a buzzard, struck the top of the pickup hard enough to make a dent.

“Stop!” she shouted. “Pull over!”

Duncan shook his head. “That’s not a good idea.”

“I thought you had to take orders from me!”

“My first priority is your safety; that outweighs everything else.”

“We should be safe enough in the truck until whatever this is passes.”

He looked at her. “And if it doesn’t pass?”

The number of birds in their path grew until they blocked out the sun. The winged creatures came from everywhere, from nowhere. All she could see was beaks and feathers, claws and beady eyes. The swarm became one being somehow, working in concert, undulating, squawking, coming for her. The windshield cracked once. Then again. If it gave and those creatures flew into the cab…

She thought about an old movie she’d seen not too long ago. Birds. Lots and lots of birds. It was supposed to be scary, but she’d just found it ridiculous. Right now, not so much.