“I’m not sure how we should act, then—or if they’ll know. The movies usually end soon after that kiss, after I’ve dashed across town to find you and tell you I love you. If anything happens beyond this point, it flashes forward to the wedding, and I don’t think that’s a logical next step. I mean, I just had another guy proposing to me an hour ago.”
“That would be rushing things,” he deadpanned. “But maybe we should quit worrying too much about being movie characters and just act like normal people. We should be okay as long as we don’t do anything that doesn’t fit this reality.”
“Do you think the elves are spying on us remotely, even when we’re in private, or only when we’re in public?”
“If they can spy remotely, we can expect to be put in more secure custody at any moment because they’ll know we broke the spell. I think they’d have already done something about us discovering magic if they’d been watching us all this time.”
“Good point.”
He checked his watch. “It’s almost closing time. If I’m being normal, I’ll make a pass through the store and close out all the registers. Then we should probably do something appropriately date-like. Want to go out for a drink?”
“I could really use a drink.”
“Drink it is, then, after we close. You’re welcome to hide out in here until then.”
I shook my head, stood, and stepped back into my shoes. “Nope. I’m not letting you out of my sight. I’m too afraid that the next time I see you, you’ll be a mild-mannered bookstore owner again.”
I was nervous about leaving the store after we closed because I wasn’t sure what we’d find outside, now that the spell was broken. Was whatever magic that made this place look like New York tied to the magic that gave us our false identities? It looked the same when we stepped outside, but then as I scanned the area while waiting for Owen to lock up, I noticed something very different. There were elves all around us—elves who actually looked like elves, pointy ears and all. They all wore gray outfits that looked like something in a science fiction movie from the era when they apparently thought bland jumpsuits were the clothing of the future. Some of the elves in gray stood near us on the sidewalk. Others were across the street. Nobody who passed by them seemed to notice them. And they were definitely watching us.
I put my arm around Owen’s waist and leaned my head against his shoulder while he was still facing the store and whispered, “We’re being watched, and I don’t think we’re supposed to be able to see them. Josh must have alerted the powers that be that I was resisting the spell.”
He put his keys in his pocket, put his arm around me and murmured, “All we have to do is look like we’ve just discovered we’re in love with each other.”
“And have no idea that we’re in some kind of fantasy elven concentration camp. That’ll be the hard part. I think we can handle the other.”
“If we’re convincing enough with the other, we shouldn’t have to worry about convincing them we don’t know.” He tilted my chin up and kissed me like he hadn’t kissed me in ages. “Just getting into character,” he whispered.
“Well, it worked. You’ve made me woozy.”
We headed down the sidewalk with our arms around each other, gazing at each other as if we were the only two people on the planet. We stopped for quick kisses at each intersection, then laughed and ran across the streets holding hands when impatient motorists honked. The whole time, I saw the gray guys out of the corner of my eye. It didn’t seem like all of them had followed us, but there were enough of them.
The bar we found was a relatively quiet, elegant place rather than a raucous neighborhood pub, but it was still too loud for intimate conversation. Between the music on the sound system—the kind of music that would have been called “soft” if the volume hadn’t been turned to maximum—and the sound of dozens of conversations in a small space, there was a dull roar of background noise that made it necessary to shout from inches away in order to be heard. The gray guys followed us inside, but they didn’t find a table or order drinks. They just stood nearby.
Owen got wine for the two of us, and then we leaned against the small open spot near the end of the bar. He did a slight double take as he looked at me, and for a moment I wondered if he’d been re-enchanted while ordering drinks. Instead, he grinned and said, “That’s a really nice dress, by the way.”
I looked down at it, remembering the important date I’d dressed for in another lifetime, and said, “Thanks. I have no idea where I got it.”
