Love Croakies Sam Cheever (red queen ebook txt) 📖

its dainty hands on the air and making rolling motions, like waves on an ocean. Several books on the shelves below straightened up and one that had been left out of its slot slipped back with a hearty snick.

“Who are you?” I asked.

The creature giggled again, its long, brown hair swaying as it threw its arms into the air and, with a saucy wink, disappeared on a soft gasp of displaced air.

“What in the world?”

I turned and looked at the door. Had whatever…whoever that was, just broken through my ward again? I rubbed the gooseflesh on my arms as dread slipped through me. I’d enjoyed the feeling of safety my security measures had given me. But, suddenly that feeling of safety was gone.

The dividing door opened behind me. I turned to look at Sebille. She was dressed for bed in a red onesie with white horizontal stripes. Her fire-engine red hair was pulled back from her face, no doubt woven into a single thick braid that trailed down her back. Her expression was filled with concern.

Adrenaline pumped instantly through my veins. “What’s wrong?”

She sighed. “Don’t go all drama llama on me. I just thought you should know.”

“Know what?” I asked, closing the distance between us.

“It’s Hobs.” Despite her impatience with my reaction, I couldn’t miss the lines between her red brows that highlighted her own worry.

I grabbed her hand. “Is he hurt? Sick?” My chest tightened. I tried to remember the last time I’d seen him. It had been a couple of hours. Just before the book signing. “Where is he?”

“He’s upstairs. Sitting on your couch.” The worry lines deepened. “He doesn’t look good, Naida. I…” She clamped her lips closed and frowned.

“What?” I asked, clutching her bony arm with both hands. “Tell me, Sebille. You’re scaring me.”

“I think he took some of the love serum.”

Oh, goddess, no!

I dodged past the sprite and flew up the stairs, taking them two at a time. My toe caught on the last step and I started to fall, only managing to stay on my feet by fast-stepping and windmilling my arms.

I slapped a hand against the unlatched door and all but fell over the wooden threshold, stumbling awkwardly through the door.

I caught myself on the back of my couch and stopped, panting like a puppy.

I really needed to get in better shape.

Hobs was sitting in the middle of my couch, his short legs sticking straight out from the cushion and his spidery fingers wrapped around a heart-shaped box of candy in his lap. His head drooped on his tiny chest, his pale blue eyes closed.

He was still wearing the tuxedo from that morning and looked adorable.

I hurried around the couch. “Hey, buddy. What’s going on? Who’s the present for?”

He didn’t respond.

“He won’t talk. I’ve been trying for a while.” Sebille was leaning against the doorframe, her bony arms crossed over her flat chest. From her negligent posture, someone who didn’t know her might think she was bored. But, I knew better. I saw the worry darkening her green eyes. They didn’t even have their usual sheen that made them seem to glow.

I sat down next to Hobs, lowering my head to look into his face. “What’s wrong, Hobs? Do you feel sick?”

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t even blink. I wasn’t sure he could even hear me. I glanced at Sebille. “This is bad.”

She nodded, her lips tightened. “We need to get Doctor Whom.”

I reached out and wrapped my fingers around one of Hobs’ little hands. They felt like ice. “What makes you think he took some of that serum?” I asked, giving his hands a squeeze.

She shrugged. “I told you this morning that drama was his.” She motioned to his clothing. “That getup was his idea. I helped him find it, but it was all him.”

I gave her a disbelieving look.

She held up a hand. “Okay, I was guilty about the puckery lips.” She giggled. “You have to admit the customers thought it was a hoot.”

I narrowed my eyes to slits.

“Okay, you don’t have to admit it. I can see it in your eyes. You loved it.”

“Sebille.” My voice was a growled warning.

“I put the bow tie and vest on the cat too. But this…” She waved a hand at Hobs. “This is all him. He’s in love.”

“He doesn’t seem very happy about it. Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent sure. I’ve seen this kind of thing before. Hobgoblins don’t respond to strong emotions like the rest of us. They live life in overdrive. They do everything at five hundred percent, going five thousand miles per hour. So, when they love, they love completely, to the point of making themselves sick.”

I frowned. “Which means that, yes, he might be in love. But it doesn’t necessarily mean he took the serum, right?”

“Wrong. The other thing about hobgoblins is that, because it affects them so deeply, they’re slow to embrace emotions. Think of it as a biological safety valve. If Hobs fell naturally into love, we’d have seen or heard it building for months. Maybe years. But there’ve been no signs. None.”

She was right. I’d been caught totally off guard that morning when Hobs had declared he had a date. I winced. “You think he broke the ward and took the serum?” I didn’t want to believe it. I’d gone against all the advice of my friends to let him live at Croakies. Even though several people had warned me it would be dangerous. Hobgoblins were tricksters. And having a trickster living in a place with tens of thousands of magical artifacts was risky.

I sighed, my own heart breaking. It might be hard for hobgoblins to embrace emotion, but it wasn’t hard for me. I loved the little guy. And he was in serious trouble.

“I don’t think he stole it,” Sebille said, chewing her lip.

I wanted to believe her, but Sebille loved the little guy too. We could both be fooling ourselves because we didn’t want to consider the alternative.

“If he did, he’d have hidden