Page 18 of Moon Tamed

As promised, Dad took me to the library, and he loitered for three hours while I gathered enough reading material to last me a month. The few times I had checked on him, he’d been in the graphic novel section, amusing himself with action-adventure stories featuring teenaged protagonists with magical powers. His selection amused me, but as part of my quest to be a good daughter for a change, I limited my teasing to a smirk and a raised brow.

He shrugged and continued enjoying his book while I hunted for my next read.

To get around the library’s rules on the number of books I could check out, I hit the counter with a batch from each section while the bemused librarians shook their heads and pretended I hadn’t just been there ten minutes prior. On his quest to be the best father to ever live, Dad ferried my prizes to his SUV.

Two hundred books later, I accepted defeat and thanked the librarians for putting up with me before fleeing the site of my literary crimes.

“I am getting you a digireader,” Dad announced. “During my incarceration at the book prison, one of the jailers informed me about their digital lending program. You have a net connection in your apartment. You can check out books at any time.”

I sighed at the thought of owning a digireader. The good ones boasted a black and white screen with tinting options to be easier on the eyes. The really good ones could go into the water without risk of being destroyed. In reality, if I got a digireader, no one would see me ever again, and I would be content with my new life as a hermit. Being honest with my father would put an end to the temptation—I hoped. Otherwise, I would begin my new life as a freshly minted hermit. “Digireaders are temptation. Worse, they’re a temptation I can’t afford. If I get one, I’d buy books from the comfort of home. It won’t end well. You can’t, Dad. That way leads to darkness.”

“And you will have to embrace the darkness with enthusiasm. The digireader will be your birthday present. We are celebrating having finally gotten rid of you.” Daring to smirk, he started the SUV and headed towards Moonriver’s downtown core, where we would find most of the city’s sacred bookstores. “I’ll even buy you a few books for it. You can spend the entirety of its lifespan cursing me for my tasteless choice of revenge. Like the doves, it’s a gift that keeps on giving.”

Well, I couldn’t protest his reasoning. If anything, I admired his choice of vengeance. “Well played, Dad. Will it be waterproof? I can’t take it camping if it isn’t waterproof. Do you know what the nastiest force of nature is? Me without access to books. I don’t know if those Stephans men can handle me without books.”

My dad chuckled. “Most digireaders are waterproof nowadays, but I’ll get you one meant to withstand the outdoors and everything else you might throw at it. It seems only fair; I’m sending you places your library books can’t go. Honestly, I’m rewarding you for your effective conning of those librarians. I bet they wanted to stop you, but you’d found and utilized every loophole in their checkout rules. One of them explained your general brilliance to me. Don’t be surprised if those loopholes are closed. How many did you check out?”

“Two hundred.”

“In how many genres?”

“Twenty. There’s a ten book limit per section. They’ll let you check out an entire series if there isn’t an active waitlist for it. I didn’t do that this time. I thought about it, though.”

“I’m not sure if I should be proud or concerned,” my father confessed. “And I still don’t understand why you choose to be unaffiliated. You’re brilliant at everything you decide to do.”

A few years ago, his comment would have bothered me, but I’d grown a lot since then—and I had put a great deal more thought into why I was the way I was. “Let’s say I joined Legacy. I like to read and research. I enjoy testing theories.” My jaunts to Legacy always challenged me, and I left the job energized and ready for my next challenge. But even then, I left aware of the mental exhaustion a short time doing their work created. “One of my jobs was to their headquarters. I understood I would ruin one of my joys in life. I would never be able to read another book without feeling like it’s work. That’s no good for me. I can do most crafts well enough, but I take no pride in it. I’m not driven to do it, not like you and Mom are. I’ll never be anything other than okay at the work. I haven’t done enough temp work to find my best match. I’m okay with that. I pay my bills, I like what I’m doing, and I get the variety I crave. One day, I’ll pick—maybe. Maybe I’ll meet someone in a faction and make my decision then. We’ll see.” I pointed at the SUV’s roof. “I can tell you I have no intention of leaving the planet.”

“You get that from me. Your mom went to Earth when she was twelve. I met her when she returned.”

Wait. What? I stared at my father with wide eyes. “Mom’s been to Earth? Why hadn’t you told us?”

There was something sad about my father’s smile. “She hated it, and she didn’t want to spoil your sense of adventure. You made it clear you didn’t want to go early on, as did your brother, so we dodged the subject.”

I bet it had something to do with the general ten year travel period, which served as a quarantine buffer between the planets. “Being stuck there for ten years really doesn’t appeal.”

“We’d guessed as much.”

As I’d been around too long for either of my parents to goose me, I crossed my arms to make it clear he couldn’t fool me. “All right, Dad. What are you actually after?”

He sighed and shot me a look before paying attention to the road. “Why do you think I’m after something?”

“You’re taking me to buy a digireader after indulging me for three hours at the library. You want something.” I could have bought him being nice with one of those two things, but both meant he engaged in some form of trickery.

“I feel like you have learned from us a little too well, Coraline.”

I grinned. “It helps you told us every time you caught onto our tricks. Unlike my brother, I pay attention. I don’t like getting caught.”

“I see.”

The closer we got to Moonriver’s downtown corner, the larger and more imposing the buildings became, transitioning from two to five story structures to skyscrapers. Any other trip, I would have gawked at the architecture, which borrowed from Earth more often than not in an effort to preserve the planet’s dying heritage. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“All right. It’s a plea for forgiveness that we let things get out of hand, resulting in selling you to Allasandro and his son.”

Had my parents lost their minds? If they wanted to reward me, I would not complain. “I accept your guilt, and I have a favor to request. I will need help paying for the camping supplies to go. I’ll pay it back, as I’m a willing participant.” With the ruse uncovered, I uncrossed my arms and rubbed my hands together. “I want a heritage Earth kit.”

Laughing, my father shook his head, navigated his SUV through the maze of busy streets, and found a spot a short walk from my preferred bookstore. “I should have known you’d love a new experience on my dime.”

“Yeah. I’m not even sorry I’m taking advantage of this. A week is a lot of rest time outside the city. I’m going to put together a hunting kit for rabbit.”

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