Love Croakies by Sam Cheever (the kiss of deception read online .txt) 📕

I sighed again. Thinking about that beautiful creature living on the street broke my heart. But I couldn’t let him keep bringing in strays. We’d be overrun, and the artifacts would be at risk.

“I’ll have Grym look into her past. She can stay in the bookstore only…for a while. But I’m not making any promises. If Grym thinks she’s untrustworthy, she’ll have to leave.”

His smile returned. “Thank you, Miss! Baca wants to pay her way. She’s fixed lots of things with her tool belt.”

I looked up at the spot on my ceiling where there’d always been a water stain. The stain was gone. “Yeah,” I said, realizing she had.

Archie was coming through the door as Hobs shot out. My uncle jerked back with a laugh. “Whoa, there, son. Slow down.”

He shook his head and then glanced at me. “Well, you look better. Sebille told me you were awake.”

The void sorcerer was in his street clothes. “You’ve been signing books?”

He nodded. “We just closed up. My fingers are cramping.”

I laughed. Who would have ever thought my boring, bookish uncle would become a famous cozy mystery author.

He reached into thin air and pulled two steaming cups of tea from a void. Grinning, he handed one to me.

“You have your own personal void?” I asked.

He nodded. “A necessity now that I’m doing two jobs. Three if I count helping you.” We shared a grin and sipped. “The boy looks good,” Archie said.

“Hobs is much better.” I frowned, thinking of the pretty brownie. “I’m afraid he’s going to get his heart broken, though.”

“It happens to all of us, Naida. He’ll be fine.” He crossed his hands in front of him, cocking his head at me. “Sounds like you had quite the adventure.”

I drank tea and sighed at the warm feeling in my belly. “Did Grym tell you how it all turned out?”

“He did. Apparently, Princess Desiree is now inextricably bound to her family’s lands, unable to leave until her two brothers return and release her. Uncle Lovelace will be living with Nina and Denzel for a while, and by all accounts, is buying out toy stores for baby gifts.”

I grinned, feeling only slightly sorry for Desiree. She pretty much deserved her fate. “Lea and Grym are okay?”

“They’re fine.” Archie’s eyes sparkled. “In fact, I was wondering if you were up to coming downstairs. You have visitors.”

Grym! Excitement had me shoving blankets aside to get up. “Just give me five minutes.”

Archie stood, the sparkle flaring brighter. “Brilliant! I’ll see you downstairs.”

I quickly visited the bathroom, brushed my teeth and hair, and dressed in clean jeans and a feminine white blouse. I looked longingly at the cookies Hobs had brought me, my stomach rumbling, but decided I didn’t want to take the time to eat them.

Then I bounced down the stairs, anxious to hear what had happened after I’d been poisoned and passed out.

I hit the dividing door at a run and opened it without slowing very much.

And screeched to a stop with my mouth hanging open.

Grym was there as I’d hoped. But he didn’t look happy. He was standing near the tea counter. His arms were crossed over his broad chest, and he had a bunch of red roses gripped in one hand. He was clutching them so tightly, he’d broken the long stems and they were drooping.

Sebille stood a few feet away from him, her long, freckled face the color of chalk. She was holding a rolled-up document of some kind in one hand, and the other was stretched out in front of her as if she was considering blasting our visitors.

The ogres we’d met on our first visit to King Rhorr’s lands were standing just inside Croakies’ front door, which, I was relieved to see, was locked behind them, the Closed sign turned to the window.

The ogres were also carrying flowers, and they were smiling.

“What’s going on here?” I asked, sending a worried look toward Maxine and Rick.

Sebille handed me a scroll made of creamy parchment. I unrolled it and squinted at the abundance of teeny tiny characters written in the same language as the rental agreement we’d deciphered in the void. Across the top was a single short sentence, written in English, in large, black letters.

King Rhorr Invites You to Attend a Special Event.

“What’s this?” I asked Sebille.

She continued to stare at the two ogres, mute and clearly astonished.

I looked at Grym.

He gave me a frustrated look and growled out. “It’s an engagement party.”

“Whose engagement?” I asked, confused. Had this been what Rhorr meant after he’d called off the ogre with the club?

Sebille finally turned to me, her iridescent green gaze wide in her face. She tried to talk, but the words wouldn’t come. She swallowed hard and tried again. “Our co-engagement.” She jerked a thumb toward Maxine and Rick. “We’re apparently marrying them.”

My knees went soft beneath me. “Huh?”

Archie cleared his throat.

Grym sighed. “At least we now know the contents of the small print at the end of that contract you two signed.”

Sebille made a choking noise and dropped into a chair.

I looked at my uncle. “But I thought you went to find out what it was about. You didn’t know?”

His grin widened. “Rhorr wouldn’t see us. We decided to deal with it after we cleared up this Cupid mess.” I stared at him for a long moment, remembering Archie saying we were committed to something worse than giving away our firstborn child.

And they’d never even seen the fine print. “That was mean,” I told him, frowning.

He laughed gaily. “You deserved it. Who signs a contract with the ogres without reading the fine print?”

Rick and Maxine nodded.

Relief filled me. I laughed. “So this…” I swept an arm to indicate the two flower-carrying ogres. “You’re all just messing with us, right? To teach us a lesson?”

Grym turned a glare on me.

Archie laughed. “Not at all. You’ve made quite a mess for yourselves.”

I stumbled over to sit at the table with Sebille, the world spinning wildly around me. “Goddess on