Chapter 30 Shaken and Stirred
Shaken and Stirred
The seraph alpha at the bar clinked the ice in his empty glass at me playfully. “Hey Briar, can you make me another whiskey sour when you get the chance?”
“Sure thing, Ephraim!” I chirped, opening up the little bartender’s book Selene had given me. I had no idea how to make half the cocktails these old guys liked to order.
But they were patient with me, especially since it was my first night, and either happily finished my mistakes without complaint or offered kind advice on how to fix them.
When I reached for the bottle of bourbon behind me, Ephraim cleared his throat. “Sorry, sweetheart, can you use the rye instead?”
“Um…”
“Black bottle, second to the right, middle shelf.”
I blushed and nodded my thanks, getting to work.
“Can’t you make it a little easier on her?” the merfolk alpha two stools to his right scoffed, picking up his bottle. “Just get a beer like the rest of us.”
“Some of us have more sophisticated palates, Nereus,” Ephraim huffed, his wings shaking in annoyance.
I laughed, putting the lemon wedge in the citrus juicer and squeezing tightly. “I don’t mind, really! Keeps things interesting.”
“See?” Ephraim said, his chest puffing out. “I’m more interesting than you.”
Nereus rolled his eyes. “And we all know what ‘interesting’ means…”
“Keep it in your pants, alphas,” Selene growled as she entered, bringing in clean glasses. “And give Briar a break. She’s here to make drinks, not coddle your fragile egos, for Vorrak’s sake.”
“Well, since she didn’t make my drink, she can work her charms on my ego instead,” Nereus winked. “Ain’t that right, sugar?”
I gave Ephraim his whiskey sour and then headed towards the merfolk, leaning in front of him with a playful smirk. “I don’t think there are enough charms in all of Lundaria that can help your ego, sugar.”
The other patrons laughed and Nereus chuckled shyly, taking another swig. “Worth a shot.”
“You doin’ alright?” Selene asked me quietly, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.
The alpha werewolf, my “older sister,” wasn’t the most outwardly cuddly person to the guys, but with me, she was different. Werewolves could be dangerous, but once they considered you “pack,” they were the most protective Magiks around.
“Great, thanks. Haven’t spilled anything yet, so I’ll count that as a win.”
She offered me a warm smile and then whispered in my ear. “Morgana wants to talk to you. Why don’t you take your break?”
I dried my hands on the towel hanging from my apron. “Okay, I’ll be back in fifteen!”
Sprinting through the back and out the swinging, screen door, I took the dark path to her house behind the bar—a two-story farmhouse with peeling paint, a sagging front porch, and creaking wooden floors.
The grass outside was as tall as my knees, long overdue for a good mowing and weeding.
I’d told Selene that once it got warmer, I’d help her grow a little garden.
Witches were natural green thumbs, after all, and I thought she might like having fresh herbs for some of her fancier cocktails.
Not that many of the customers ordered them, but still.
Ember meowed loudly as I entered, hoping to trick me into giving him a second dinner.
But Selene had not only already fed him, she’d immediately taken to him, and had spent the few hours I’d been here slipping him extra helpings and treats whenever she thought I wasn’t looking. And Ember had never looked happier.
I had a burner phone in my room upstairs, and I texted Morgana to let her know I was ready to take her call.
About twenty seconds later, the phone rang.
“Morgana?”
“Hey Briar, how are you? Those old alphas treating you okay?”
“Sage” wasn’t a safe name for me anymore, even in privacy.
“Yeah, they tip very well,” I laughed. Not even in runics, either. Ephraim, a mechanic, had offered to change the oil in my car tomorrow, while Marcus, a long-haul night trucker, had said he’d get me a box of my favorite candy bars after his next trip.
And then there was Arroth, the demon carpenter and self-professed oenophile, who had told me he’d bring me a bottle from his private collection when I’d mentioned that I didn’t know the difference between a Pinot Noir and a Cabernet.
“You will soon,” he’d said with a small smile.
I probably wouldn’t, but I could pretend.
I’d gotten good at that.
“Glad to hear it. So your ex pulled out the big guns, but nothing we weren’t expecting.”
I sucked in a deep breath. He’d already hired a bounty hunter, then. It was his only option to bring me back to Noctis after all, so it wasn’t a surprise. But it did start to crack the facade of freedom I’d built for myself. A reminder that I couldn’t get too comfortable.
“Are you safe?” I asked.
She chuckled, Vesper cawing his own amusement in the background. “Oh, I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Let’s just say I’ve got someone mulling over his life choices in my basement.” Then Morgana cleared her throat. “I did want to let you know about your parents, though.”
I froze, my body beginning to shake. I had asked her if she could find out what had happened to them.
No one had messaged me back when I’d started trying to get in touch, but there hadn’t been any obituaries for them, either.
Nor any missing persons reports. It was like they’d completely disappeared…
“They’re alive.”
A shuddering gasp escaped my chest and I fell to my knees, tears pouring down my cheeks. “Oh, thank you. Thank Hecara,” I blubbered, Ember now rubbing on my legs in circles around me. “Where are they? Are they safe? Did you talk to them?”
“I don’t know, relatively, and no.”
“You don’t know? Relatively?”
“I went straight to their house after dropping you off and found a note they’d left for you.
Apparently, Cindralis police—or witches posing as CPD, more likely—showed up five years ago to tell your parents you’d gotten mixed up with the Carvassi family and placed them in some witness protection program. ”
“What? And they just went along with that?” I knew my parents were a little gullible and had fallen for fake stories and images on MagikGraph, but to just leave their home, no questions asked?
“What would you do if a bunch of alphas with convincing cop badges showed up in the middle of the night and told you that you needed to leave immediately?”
Probably go with them, I supposed. And it wasn’t like I could really judge, considering how little fight I’d put up when Victor had shown up at my apartment.
Besides, no matter what, the important thing was that they were alive.
“I’m guessing there’s no way to find out exactly where they are or to get in touch with them?”
“I’m sorry, but no. They’re likely being monitored twenty-four-seven as it is, but now that you’re gone? Their location will be one of the first places he locks down.”
“That makes sense,” I said quietly.
They’re alive. That’s all that matters.
“But,” she continued, her tone hesitant. “Once Victor is gone, Accalia can easily bring them—and you—back out of hiding.”
It was so hard to reconcile the concept that my freedom, ultimately, would come once Victor died.
Once he was gone, there was no reason for anyone to be looking for me, and the only people who really knew what I was to him were Accalia, who had helped me escape, and his guards, who I doubted cared enough about him to find me and kill me in revenge.
Socially, coming out of a five-year absence, especially after the deaths of my boyfriend and my best friend, would be difficult. But Conan had been willing enough to accept my excuse of heart complications, so maybe the rest of my friends would, too.
“Thank you, Morgana. Really. Just knowing they’re alive is everything.”
“Of course. I’ll check in tomorrow. And don’t let those old alphas run you ragged, okay?”
We hung up, and I wiped the tracks of tears from my cheeks as I stood up and stuck the phone back in the nightstand drawer. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror on the way out, spooked for a second, as I still unaccustomed to the glamour, and then headed back to the bar.
* * *
It was only the beginning of spring, but Selene’s Howl was much further south than Cindralis or Noctis, and the nights were pleasantly warm.
After years of having nothing to wear but skimpy lingerie and negligees, though, showing skin—even skin glamoured to hide my scars—made me uncomfortable, so I was still covered head-to-toe in clothing.
I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand after I finished slicing all the limes for the tequila that I knew Marcus was going to order. He’d been gone yesterday on a job, but had told me before he’d left that he’d be back tonight, and to be ready for him.
I backed up through the swinging doors holding the sheet, and nearly dropped them when the scent of star anise invaded my senses.
It alighted every cell in my body, making me tingle all over. A sensation I hadn’t felt in years.
But this was stronger than before. More powerful. More impactful.
I panicked, wondering if somehow Victor had found a way to change his scent and become the mate I needed him to be, to drag me back when I biologically couldn’t say no.
When I looked up, though, it wasn’t Victor walking through the front door, but an alpha demon.
Tall, broad-shouldered, in his early thirties, if I had to guess, with jet-black hair that fell into his eyes and horns that curled back from his temples in smooth, dangerous arcs. His golden gaze locked onto me the instant he crossed the threshold and flared wide, pupils swallowing the light.
My heart slammed so hard in my chest it hurt, heat pooling low in my belly, my magic stirring like it had been waiting for him. His scent hit me again—smoke and spice and something darkly sweet beneath it—and I had to grip the edge of the counter to keep myself steady.
It… it couldn’t be.
This demon…
He was my mate. My real mate.