I blinked slowly. “Okay. That’s pretty normal for harpies, isn’t it?”
She blushed. “I wasn’t supposed to lay one for a couple of years. I don’t know what to do with it. It’s larger than I thought it would be.”
“I mean, can’t you just throw it away?” Loralie asked.
Ainsley’s eyes bulged. “I am not throwing away my egg, Loralie! How could you even suggest such a thing?”
Loralie raised her hands in surrender. “Sorry. Sorry.”
“What do other harpies do with their eggs?” I asked.
She rubbed a hand down her face. “I don’t know. Mom hadn’t had the talk with me yet.”
Oh, dark gods. I was not prepared for this. I was so unprepared that it wasn’t even funny.
“Why don’t we find someone we can ask?” I suggested.
“I don’t want people knowing,” she hissed. “If they find out I’m fertile now they...” she trailed off and I got a really bad feeling.
Loralie looked at me, and we shared a look of worry.
What had our little harpy gotten into over the summer?
“Let’s go to the library,” I suggested.
Loralie groaned softly, but stood and headed to the door. “That will be our best option for finding information discreetly.”
“Thank you!” Ainsley yelled and threw her arms around my neck and then Loralie’s. “You guys are the best creature friends ever.”
We moved down the hallway at a brisk pace, waving at people we knew.
“Did you hide it somewhere safe?” I asked softly.
Ainsley nodded. “No one will find it and it won’t get broken. The shell is actually really strong.”
Loralie pushed the library door open, and we filed inside.
I beelined straight for the card catalog, opened it to the H’s and searched for books on harpies. Then, I searched for eggs, too.
I handed Ainsley the cards for harpies. “I’ll find these while you get the harpy books. We can check them out then go back to your room to read them.”
Ainsley bobbed her head quickly and flew up to the second floor, scanning the cards and numbers on the shelves.
“Give me one of those,” Loralie said and then disappeared into the shadows.
As quickly as possible, we located the books and carried them to the checkout desk.
The librarian was an Astomi with large eyes, huge nostrils that took up half her face, and had coarse purple, oil slick-colored hair covering her body from her chin down to her toes. She didn’t ever wear clothes because her hair covered everything. She pulled out the book card, stamped the date on the page in the book and the card, then slid them into her filing system. “Books checked out. Return them within one week,” she said in a soft voice in my head that reminded me of tinkling bells.
We all three bowed to her and carried our books close to our chests to keep the covers and titles hidden.
“Hey,” Dante said, smiling wide. He stopped several feet away from us, his hands in his pockets as he faced me. His flame hair was shorter than usual, slicked back and a lighter red than normal.
“Are you sick?” I blurted out and then bit my lower lip. Zombies. I hadn’t meant to ask that out loud. He was just far enough away that I was able to talk to him without freaking out too much about his fire. With it dimmed like this, it was even easier, but it really made me worry.
He tilted his head to the side, his smile disappearing. “What?”
I raised a shaking hand to point at his hair. “You don’t have much f-fire today.” Dark gods, why was my voice trembling?
His smile returned, and it felt like my entire body warmed up. “No, I’m not sick. I just wanted to try out a new style. Do you like it?”
Now that I knew he wasn’t sick, I gave his hair another look. Truthfully, he could do whatever he wanted and it would look good. He always looked good.
“I like it,” I managed to whisper. “I don’t think I’ve seen you with short hair. It suits you.”
His smile grew and he took a step closer. “Thank you. I’m glad you like it.” He took another step.
With his flames so short, it was easier to be close to him.
He took another step, and I swallowed hard. This was the closest we had been to each other. The closest I had ever been to him. If I reached out, I could touch his shirt with my fingers.
“Are you busy tonight?” he asked.
He took another step and the heat from his flames grew even stronger.
My breathing grew erratic, and I took a step back.
His smile wilted, and he took a step back as well.
“I, um—”
“We have plans tonight,” Ainsley said and put her arm around my waist. “Sorry. I need her help with something.”
He nodded. “I understand. Another time?”
I couldn’t move. My eyes were focused on the bright flames dancing before my eyes atop his head.
Fire.
Fire bad.
Eighteen
LORALIE
Frances calmed down within a few minutes, but her eyes betrayed the sadness she felt. She opened one of the egg books and began reading.
“Is she going to be okay?” Ainsley whispered.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
She gave Frances another long look before opening one of her books and reading.
The book I had was dry, boring, and I had to keep shaking my head to keep from falling asleep. How anyone read these for fun boggled my mind.
Aside from basic harpy information, I didn’t find anything useful in the book I had. Though, I skimmed a lot of the book, honestly. It was either that or I fell asleep.
“Anything?” I asked Ainsley and Frances.
Both shook their heads.
“Can’t you ask your parents?” Frances asked Ainsley. “Or another harpy female that is here?”
“I don’t know how they’ll react if they find out that I laid an egg so early,” she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t want to be labeled a freak.”
“No one thinks you’re a freak and no one will think that either. We all go through puberty at different ages,” Frances said reassuringly.
“Really?” Ainsley asked, sniffling.
Frances hugged her. “Really.”
After a long hug, Ainsley wiped her eyes and said, “I’ll go find an older harpy to talk to. I think there's one on the janitorial staff. As long as they don’t tell my parents, I should be fine. I just don’t want them trying to play matchmaker with me already. I want to finish school first.”
Frances and I gave her more hugs and then left to head to our rooms. Ainsley accompanied us for a bit since we were going in similar directions.
“Make sure you turn those books in,” Frances said. “I don’t want the librarian coming after us.”
“I will,” Ainsley said with a nod.
We got just out of the room when Baba Yaga appeared before us.
I bit back a scream, but Ainsley didn’t.
Her piercing scream echoed in the hallway.
Baba Yaga folded her arms across her chest and scowled at Ainsley. “Rude.”
Ainsley swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. You just appeared in front of me and startled me.”