The bell above the door jingled as we entered the shop, and a man peeked around a bookcase from where he was stocking and greeted us. I felt like a kid in a candy store as I eyed all the hardbacks waiting to be plucked off shelves. The smell was amazing too; leather, wood, and a unique musk I couldn’t put into words.
Book Sniffer Muffin.
“I promised myself I wouldn’t buy more until I read the ones I already have,” I said, walking farther inside. “But a peek won’t hurt.”
Briar chuckled and lifted our joined hands to kiss my knuckles. “You deserve all the books. Buy whatever your heart desires.”
“Dangerous words.”
Different sections lured us, so after a soft kiss, we pulled apart and started browsing. Shelves and shelves of leatherbound books had excited tingles bouncing in my chest. It’d been so long since I’d done this.
My wandering eye then stopped on an even better sight. Briar approached a bookcase with the same level of enthusiasm as me when surrounded by so many novels. He plucked one from the shelf and smiled as he flipped through it, then carefully placed it back and grabbed another.
And it was during my ogling of the handsomest physician to ever grace this earth that I caught something from the corner of my eye.
A glowing red flower.
An illustration of it anyway. It adorned the cover of a book on display. I neared the shelf and glided my fingers over it. Same glow as I remembered. Same thin leaves and even thinner ones that jutted upward, like a reverse weeping willow.
I grabbed the novel and flipped through it, skimming sections. Looked like a war story. The narrator spoke of marching into battle with his brothers—and then watching them fall, one by one. Red flowers then sprouted from their bodies, with leaves that seemed to be bleeding.
“What have you found, love?”
I jumped and slammed the book shut.
Briar looked amused. “Another romance, I presume? And you were reading a naughty scene when I approached?”
“N-No,” I said, confused by the sudden chill in my bones. “A war story, I think.”
His gaze fell to the cover. “Oh.Valley of the Fallen.I’ve heard of that one. The red spider lily is symbolic and is depicted all throughout the narrative.”
“Red spider lily? That’s what the flower’s called?”
“Yes.” Briar adjusted his glasses with the one hand not weighed down with books. “Several legends surround the red lily. They’re said to grow along the bank of the river in the afterlife, guiding the dead across the bridge and to their final resting place. Some say the lily represents new beginnings and life changes. The most popular belief, however, is the one depicted in that novel. However, I don’t wish to spoil the ending for you.”
“I love spoilers,” I shakily said. “Tell me.”
“Very well.” Briar shifted the stack of books to his other arm. “All throughout the story, the main character sees the red lily while he and his army are matching toward battle. In the final scene, as he lies dying in a field, seeing all of his fallen brothers around him, he finally understands. The red lily was an omen of death.”
Fear struck me front and center, and I lost my grip on the book.
“Crap!” I bent down to grab it and lost my balance, teetering backward and bumping the shelf.
“Evan?” He set his books aside and knelt in front of me, taking my hands. “Gods, you’re shaking.”
“That’s the flower,” I whispered. More chills prickled along my arms. “The one I saw in the forest.”
Briar visibly paled. “When you encountered the demon?”
I nodded. “The flower lured me closer to the forest, and that’s when I fell. I met Oreo after that… and then I saw it again.The red lily. It seemed to appear out of nowhere. A whole patch of them. They wilted just as fast.”
“Perhaps you’re mistaken.” He patted my hands. Drawing attention to the tremble in his. “Red lilies don’t grow in Bremloc.”
“Y-Yeah. I’m probably wrong.” I patted the stack he’d brought. “Find anything good?”
The corners of his hazel eyes tightened. Luckily, he accepted the change of subject. “I did. I’ll show you and Lake when we return home. He might like them too.”
“We should buy him some almonds.” Though unsteady, I got to my feet and dusted off my butt. “Maybe bring him a boar skewer too. He’d love it.”
