But she didn’t want to risk her paycheck in the name of petty revenge . . . or murder. So she tried to ignore the woman, which was easier than one would think. She rarely saw Maureen in town. The only place she had to deal with Maureen was the rift site, and when Dani saw her there, she generally turned right around and went back home to write. Dani didn’t feel comfortable working on the rift when someone else was already there working on it. It felt unsafe to let her work mingle with someone else’s. She tried not to think of it as avoiding confrontation. She was trying to be gracious and professional . . . and remain un-jailed.

And so, she sat at her comfy space at a table near the reference section, reading about the history of Mystic Bayou and making notes. She wasn’t lying to Zed about the atmosphere here. It was quiet, so much quieter than her office, and much more restful than her house, where Zed could show up any minute to work on her shower with his distracting toplessness. She felt at home in the surprisingly grand space in the Mystic Bayou Public Library, surrounded by golden walls and tall oak shelves, stocked with everything from mass market paperbacks to scrolls that looked like they came from the library at Alexandria. Stained glass windows throughout the building depicted famous dragons in literature, but in nearly every one, the story was flipped. St. George was slayed by the dragon. Smaug ate the Hobbit. The Jabberwocky chased Alice out of Wonderland. It was a little perverse. Dani loved it.

Over her shoulder, Dani heard Miss Bardie’s low voice telling another patron, “We should have a book on Tibetan meditation practices just over here in the religion section. As you can imagine, with so many cultures represented here, the selection is quite extensive.”

Dani glanced up, her lips already bent in a smile to greet Miss Bardie, but then saw that the patron Bardie was leading toward her was Maureen Sherman.

Dani grumbled. “Motherf—” She pasted on a fake pleasant expression and said quietly, “Maureen, how interesting to see you here.”

“Yes, I’ve found your hiding spot,” Maureen trilled. “I can’t stand the noise and bustle of the office village, can you? I prefer my own little rental property outside of town.”

“Yeah, I wonder why I would be hiding,” Dani sighed.

“What brings you to the library?” Maureen asked.

“Books,” Dani said, turning back to her work.

Bardie beamed at Dani, showing a full display of sharp, shiny white teeth. “Dani is a wonderfully thorough researcher, and never puts the books back damaged or out of order.”

Dani grinned. “Your standards are very low, Miss Bardie.”