Page 125 of The Tenth Muse

There’s a knock so loud at the door of the shop it can be heard all the way from the back parking lot, where we sit.

“No!” Runa’s voice is filled with worry, the look in her face is pure desperation.

“It’s too soon!”

The knocking morphs into aggressive banging, incessant and impossible to ignore.

There’s no reality in which my father actually sees Chewbacca and just … leaves her be. He’ll figure out a way toexploit the situation and turn it into something he can profit from, something he can use to grow more powerful.

“What do we do?” I ask her, “You’re a witch, can’t you do something … magical?”

“It doesn’t work like that.” She shakes her head. “Chewie, be a good girl, andbe quiet.” She urges the plant, a firmness in her tone that makes me clench my thighs together again and remind myself the instructions are not for me. “If you make noise, you won’t get to see me again, or America, understand?”

Chewie replicates the throaty Wookie sound, her volume soft though, like she can somehow comprehend that she’s being hidden.

“Listen,” I want to warn her but there’s only so much I can do, “My father is a lot so I just want to say–” I don’t get a chance to preemptively say my apologies on his behalf.

We are barely three feet inside the shop again, the backdoor closed and locked when my father’s assistant bursts into Runa’s shop. Bursts is a word giving the action far too much power than it deserves. Williams’ uses a rock to break the glass panel, sliding his dainty little wrists in through the opening to unlock the door from the inside.

“The Portal is closed today.” Runa’s tone is stern, borderline unrecognizable in contrast to how tender she is when dealing with Chewbacca or…me.

“Oh.” Williams plays dumb, walking in anyway and gesturing to my father inside the metaphysical store. “Then why was the door unlocked?”

“Young lady,” my father’s voice makes me wince as I brace for the worst, “I could charge you with kidnapping the daughter of a politician!”

Runa stands there, mouth left open from shock at the accusation, but it takes me even longer to register what he’s trying to say. “Daddy I wasn’t–”

He raises his hand to silence me, the motion so familiar that my lips seal on command.

I can feel the heat of Runa’s stare.

Is it judgment that makes it so uncomfortable?

“I employed your daughter, I didn’t kidnap her.” Runa says confidently, not shrinking in my father’s presence.

There’s something about the way she stands up to him that gives me faith that there might just be someone out there who isn’t afraid of him. That maybe he won’t control my life until his or my last breath.

“She didn’t answer her phone.” Williams puffs up his chest, like intimidating a woman half his size is some sort of accomplishment.

Runa refuses to give him any sort of reaction, her response lacking inflection, “We fell asleep.”

My father’s scowl takes over his face, his outrage only growing as her explanation goes on. He sputters out some nonsensical noises, spittle flying through the room, landing on Williams. He’s a lanky one, all legs and arms with bright orange hair, his glasses are round with gold rims and he keeps a matching gold silk handkerchief in his suit pocket.

I hate every inch of him.

My father’s mindless drone with a hunger only for climbing the power ladder.

“For two days?” Williams inserts himself into my business, peering through the shelves and tables in Runa’s store.

I clench my jaw, peeling my upper lip up to bare my teeth at him, but he holds his ground, his gaze full of malicious intent, his smirk so sinister.

“Well?” My father asks, looking between the two of us, “Were you working or were you sleeping?”

“Uh-um,” I stutter incoherently, my nerves getting the best of me.

Williams takes the opportunity to leave through the front door, seeing that he’s done the task of disarming me enough for my father to trample over, as usual.

“Both,” Runa’s voice drips in annoyance, “We worked, got tired, and slept. I’m not a monster, I let my employees rest. Can you say the same?” Her stare drifts to the door Williams left from.

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