Chapter 26
KNOLAN
From the outside, the Hex & Hearth looked like a pub that had been there for generations and would still be there for generations to come. The sign above the door swayed with the wind, and the windows glowed amber from within. All in all, it was quite inviting.
I felt the magic the moment my hand touched the carved wooden door handle.
It wasn’t magic in the loud, deliberate way.
Not a ward exactly, or a compulsion, though it had qualities of both.
It was more like the feeling of a room that had been listening for a very long time and knew your name before you introduced yourself.
It didn’t push me away. It didn’t draw me forward.
It simply recognized I was there and allowed me to decide whether or not I wanted to go in.
Charlotte went still for a half second beside me, and then she stepped across the threshold.
Inside the stone walls were warmed by a fire blazing in the largest hearth I’d ever seen along the back wall.
Briefly, I wondered if it was ever put out or if it was kept continuously burning.
I glanced around and noted that the tables didn’t quite match, but the bar itself was polished to a high shine.
All in all, the atmosphere was very welcoming and very otherworldly.
I noted immediately that there were no humans in the pub.
All of the patrons were various species from the supernatural world.
Having come from a completely different magical realm myself and portal traveled to still others, I’m fairly well versed in the different supernatural species that inhabit the human realm.
While I didn’t stare, I did take the opportunity to gaze around at the various customers.
At the bar, a young woman with silver-white hair nursed something green and read from a book that seemed to read her back.
Two male goblins sat in a corner booth having an animated conversation.
A group near the window held themselves with the unnatural stillness of those who were not required to breathe and had all the time in the world.
Vampire. Many other species were scattered throughout.
Charlotte moved through the room without flinching, which told me she was no stranger to other supernatural species.
There was no server, only the bar, and behind it, a man with his dark hair pulled back and sleeves rolled up.
A silver ring on one hand caught the firelight.
It was beautiful, yet as soon as I looked away, I could no longer remember what he or the ring looked like.
He stared at us, his dark eyes steady and assessing.
He must have been fine with whatever he saw because he caught Charlotte’s eye and nodded toward a table near the hearth. The direction wasn’t a suggestion.
We sat and a woman appeared from the direction of a back hallway.
She wore a tailored dark jacket over a simple blouse with a long skirt.
She moved with purpose and I knew from looking at her that she did nothing without a reason.
Even her jewelry served a purpose. Nothing was simply decorative.
She didn’t cross the room so much as the room reconfigured slightly around her passage.
She stopped near our table and regarded us with the patience of someone who had seen every possible version of this reality and had decided which one she wanted to focus on.
“Welcome to the Hex & Hearth,” she said. “I’m Elara.”
“Knolan,” I said. “And Charlotte.”
She looked at me, then at Charlotte, and her lips twitched into something that was almost a smile. “You won’t need to order,” she said. “Enjoy your evening.” And then she was gone.
Charlotte watched the space where Elara had been.
“Um, did we just get kicked out?” she asked.
“I’m not entirely sure.” I looked around, trying to figure out what we should do now.
Suddenly, the bartender set our drinks down in front of us without appearing to cross the room.
In front of me sat something dark and rich, the color of good whiskey with a quality of red at the depth of it, in a heavy crystal glass with a single large ice sphere.
I’d had it before at a pub similar to this in Oregon. Devil’s Temptation they called it.
In front of Charlotte was a margarita glass with the rim salted, a sparkling pale blush colored liquid inside. It smelled like salt and citrus with warm notes of clove and cinnamon.
I looked at the bartender who delivered them.
“I know what mine is. What’s hers?” I asked.
“The one she needs,” he said and moved away.
“Well, that wasn’t creepy or anything,” she said.
Charlotte picked up her glass and looked at the liquid inside.
“What the hell?” she said, then took a tentative sip and went totally still. Then she took another sip and blinked back tears.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, it’s just, I don’t know. I just got this feeling like everything was going to be okay. Everything I’ve been—” She didn’t get the chance to finish what she was saying. A woman with long green hair and lightly tinted pink skin stopped and gasped.
“Oh, my word, you got a Mystic Margarita. I got one of those once. It was exactly what I needed,” she said before gliding away.
“Well, that answers that question,” I said.
Charlotte motioned to my glass. “What’s yours?”
“It’s a Devil’s Temptation. It reminds me that there’s always a place I belong,” I told her.
We lapsed into silence, taking in the atmosphere around us. I could tell by her change of subject that she didn’t want to pick up the thread of our previous conversation and I found myself scrambling for a new topic.
“So,” Charlotte finally said, setting her glass down. “This place.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “This place.”