Page 27 of My Fated Minotaur Hero

The other one joins in, his voice raised in anger.

"... letting humans live among us! It's not right!"

Gods, when are they gonna give it a rest?

"Yeah! What's next, maybe we should open a coffee shop for ‘em?"

They are just egging each other on. “Oh, them humans can’t live without the stuff I ‘ear!”

“Too right! But where’s the outrage? What’s wrong with this town?”

I feel Olivia tense beside me. "Kalen," she whispers. "What's going on?"

I pull her closer, trying to shield her from view. "Nothing to worry about sweetheart. Just some hot-headed fools blowing off steam."

But even as I say it, I feel a knot forming in my stomach. This is exactly what I was afraid of.

Thankfully they haven’t spotted us this time and we are able to hurry past, keeping our heads down. When we finally reach Elowen's shop, Potions and Notions, I breathe a sigh of relief - only to groan when I see the note on the door.

I read it aloud. "Out foraging. Back Monday.”

"Well, that's inconvenient," Olivia mutters.

I grab at one of my horns, frustrated. "Yeah, no kidding. We better head back to the tavern. It's still not safe out here."

Olivia frowns. "But what about finding answers? Don't you want to know how I got here?"

"Of course I do," I say, trying to keep the edge out of my voice. "But not at the risk of your safety. And there are other angles to consider besides. We just have to be patient, okay?"

“Fine,” she says, putting on a little pouty face.

It’s adorable.

We make it back to the tavern without incident, but I can tell Olivia's getting restless. She keeps pacing, muttering half to me and half to herself, it seems.

”I’m in a freaking magical village and I’m basically grounded. This sucks.”

"Look, I wish there weren’t any knuckleheads like that out there, but just give it time. In the meantime, the tavern is closed til tonight. You can dig through here to your hearts content? Maybe take a another look around the storeroom? Can’t hurt. We still don’t have any idea why you popped up there."

Her face lights up. "Right! Good thinking."

I shrug, trying to play it cool. "Thanks, just... try not to tear the place to pieces, okay? I mean, you can dig around, just try and put things back more or less where you find ‘em. Pretty please. Believe it or not but I have a system down there."

She practically bounces with excitement, planting a quick kiss on my cheek before disappearing downstairs.

As I watch her go, I can't help but smile. Who knew a little human could lift my heart and spirits so? She's something else, my Olivia. Brave, brilliant, and utterly captivating. But as I turn back to the bar, wiping down glasses and trying to look busy, doubt creeps in.

What will the town think. They have more or less acceptedThokk’s mate, but it’s only been a week ... Those orcs seemed pretty angry.

A second later Olivia’s shouted call breaks into my thoughts. "Kalen!" Thankfully it’s unmistakably one of excitement. "You need to see this!"

I head down, curious despite myself, my heart already beating a little faster. "What'd you find, babe?"

She's kneeling on the floor, surrounded by papers and what looks like an ancient, crumbling map. "Look," she says, pointing at a small wooden door in the wall where she’s moved the beer cases away. She has obviously pulled half its content onto the floor already.

“Well, I’ll be.”

She has the map spread out on top of everything and is pointing to a stamp in the upper left corner. “Look! It’s the same design I saw back on the library ... and that we saw yesterday. The woman with the crystal ball. And look at these other stars ...” She points out where there are markings around the town.

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