Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70014 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70014 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
There was magic.
But he also gave me a few more new ones to add.
“Would a human riding a dragon be visible? Is riding a dragon considered bad manners? A social taboo? Something personal? I heard Kenzie giggling with Lorne and he was talking about riding his Daddy and now I’m not sure I know what their conversation was about.” Normally I wouldn’t ask about someone’s private life but Kenzie didn’t seem to know what that meant, and it might be the only time I got to ask nosy questions without Boyd thinking I was rude.
Besides, it was knowledge and I was a librarian…so that made it fine.
But it took him a few seconds to respond, so I was back to worrying there was some kind of social taboo I didn’t know about.
“I would say it falls under the personal side of things, but it’s not bad manners. The visibility question might vary based on the protection that the mage made, but I know my personal one would keep my rider invisible too.”
Boyd could take me flying.
No, we couldn’t talk about that until I knew what else we were going to talk about because it was personal.
“That’s…that’s good to know.” Yes, that was fine, but just to be on the safe side, I ate another cracker stack before opening up the next layer where my grapes were hiding.
Boyd looked like he wanted to smirk but he was doing his best not to, which just made him look cute. “I’m glad you’ve got some fruit too.”
Because he was a Daddy.
I’d started off thinking of Daddies as magical creatures too, but after hearing Kenzie talk and seeing everyone at the playdate party, I had to admit I’d been wrong.
Daddies were just as real as dragons, evidently…and just as interested in making sure littles ate a healthy diet as they had been in books.
“I have cucumbers too.” I tilted the box so he could see. “And ranch.”
Because that was important and I had a spot for it too.
Of course, sometimes I used that spot for something like chocolate sauce to dip my fruit in but I wasn’t sure I needed to volunteer that…or that I had a squishy applesauce pack in the bottom layer.
He’d definitely think that was cute or silly or something that would make him smile.
“That’s good. I’m glad you’re eating such a healthy lunch.” Boyd seemed sincere enough that I decided I’d made the right call about showing off my veggies.
“Thank you, Sir.” That sounded…no, I wasn’t going to think about that. I had practical questions that needed to be answered first. “Now, does me knowing more about our local citizens mean I finally get access to the other part of the library?”
I was really curious about what I wasn’t supposed to know about and I figured I’d been patient long enough.
“You know about that too, huh?” Boyd sighed when I nodded. “Of course you know about that. Why did we think we could keep this from a human librarian?”
That was a very good question.
Chapter 6
Boyd
We needed better planning before hiring any more human outsiders. That was abundantly clear, but I pushed the frustrated thoughts to the back of my mind and focused on Stefan.
“How did you figure that out?” I’d been assured the mages in charge of that had been top-notch.
Stefan’s expression said he thought that was a silly question. “Well, there’s missing space in the building. At least a ten-by-ten room if I’m pacing things off correctly and nothing will stick to that blank wall at the back of the building. I can’t even get a poster to stick there no matter what I use. I even got desperate and tried Gorilla Glue but that only held it about an hour.”
For fuck’s sake.
“Yes, there’s a room at the back of the building that has old documents and local histories. It was supposed to be well-hidden until we knew you could be told but clearly that didn’t go as planned.” Someone had taken the instructions too literally. I knew it. I just couldn’t figure out which one had gone pear-shaped.
Mages were a pain in the ass.
Stefan just perked up and started stacking crackers and cheese again, thoroughly enjoying his homemade Lunchable. “That’s wonderful. I’ll be very careful, of course. Were you aware that I did an internship at The National Archives?”
“Yes, that was one of the reasons you were hired. You had the right experience for every level of managing the library.” And he’d been very good at keeping everything he’d seen there private…which had been even better.
Stefan blushed and wiggled excitedly in his seat. “I’m glad that came in handy. I love learning and enjoyed my time there, but I prefer the more intimate library you have here.”
His comment about loving learning was the most adorable understatement I’d ever heard.