Page 12 of The Fantastic Fluke

I’d be in for the mother of all lectures later on, probably the second I reopened the shop, but for now, I couldn’t make myself care. Beez was right. The shop was mine, not his. He had no legal standing, and dammit, I didn’t even want to change everything. Just enough to make the shop my own.

I left the overturned rack of new releases right where it was as we went to get foxy a dish and food. Okay, fine, I scanned the mess to make sure none of the books were sitting open or bent before dismissing it. It might be a rebellion, but there was only so far aimless rebellion would take a guy.

“We can stop and get lunch at the coffee place when we’re done,” Beez suggested. “My treat.”

I turned to her and raised a brow.

She nodded, answering the question I hadn’t even asked. “Yep, I want something and it’s a bribe.”

For just a second, I thought about asking her if her on-again-off-again significant other, who was a minor dead mage, knew how to banish ghosts. I locked the door behind me, only taking a second to glance up at my father’s mottled red face before turning toward the pet shop.

My father moving on wasn’t my choice, it was his. I could only choose my actions, and I chose to get lunch.

Chapter Four

The coffee place on the corner wasn’t my favorite. Maybe it’s sacrilege for some people, but I’d have preferred if it were a Starbucks.

What?

They make great coffee. It’s what they do, and there’s a reason they’re huge. How many places can claim to make a consistently decent quality product?

Fetch, on the other hand, was perfect. They weren’t just an independent pet store—they specialized in familiars.

The woman manning the counter when we came in looked at foxy first, giving him a huge grin. Her curly hair was dyed in half a dozen shades of blue and purple, and it looked like a halo around her head. “Hey there, friends,” she said, coming around the counter. “What can I get for you today?”

The store looked like I had always imagined the inside of a log cabin would, with wood wall paneling, floor, and even furniture. The tables were all low, and when foxy wandered up to the closest one and perused the toys on it, I realized why. It was built as much for the familiars as for their mages.

“I, um, foxy is new. That is, that’s not his name. I mean, he’s a fox. Obviously.” I sighed and hung my head. “He’s a familiar, and I have no idea how to care for him, or what he needs.”

She marched right over to him, rubbing behind his ears and the scruff of his neck. With a glance at the empty spot where a tag would go, she turned back to me. “Well, you’ve got to register him ASAP,” she said, voice serious and concerned. “You don’t want the fine for an unregistered exotic, and they’ll slap you with that if you’ve had him with you more than a week before you register.”

I flinched at the notion. “What, the licensing fee isn’t enough?”

She rolled her eyes. “I know, right? And if you couldn’t afford that to begin with, how are you going to pay an extra fine on top of it? The system is ridiculous.”

Foxy gave a bark, as though he, too, agreed. Then he started wandering around the shop, sniffing everything.

I sidled up next to the woman, who was wearing a name tag that read Sapphire, and inclined my head toward foxy. “I don’t know anything about foxes. I gave him a sandwich. Twice. Is he going to be okay?”

She giggled, the sound high and musical like a bell, and it rippled through me, relaxing every muscle in my body. Maybe I was relieved that she wasn’t concerned for foxy’s life, or maybe she was a social mage. Not only that, but a social mage who used her talents in an ethical way: putting people around her at ease.

It was the sort of effort that would make me pass out. It was also the sort of thing that would never have occurred to my father to try.

“He’ll be fine, promise. He looks like he’s doing great.” She turned and watched him for a moment, nodded, and then looked back at me with the same critical eye. “He knows what he’s doing. Did you not have a familiar before?”

“He, um...” I glanced over at foxy, then back at her. “I think he’s lost. But I called the registration office, and they said no familiars have been reported missing, so maybe he’s not even a familiar. Do I have to feed him different if he’s not?”

Next to me, Beez snorted.

Sapphire gave me a sweet, knowing smile. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

That didn’t seriously address anything I’d said to her, so I wasn’t sure what she meant. What would be fine? It sounded like the kind of thing you’d say to a scared kid to calm them down. Was I acting like a hysterical kid?

Dammit.

Foxy came trotting up to her with something in his mouth, and I had to keep from cringing and offering to pay for anything he broke. It didn’t look like he’d messed anything up, though, just brought her a little clear bag of dog food.

Wait, was he making an order?

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