Chapter Six
Tipsy Muffins Can’t Dance
Good news? Drinking certainly took the edge off. Halfway through the first glass, my muscles started to unwind, and it felt like a warm, cozy blanket draped over my body. But then I met a hard gaze from the head of the table, destroying those happy little warm tingles.
Onyx’s red eyes raked over me as he drank from his goblet.
I took a big gulp of ale, then dove in for another bite of stew, pretending not to notice. I even laughed when the knights across from me did, despite being completely oblivious as to what we were all laughing about.
Everything just felt so awkward. Onyx hadn’t thrown me off the balcony last night when confronting me about the Hallowed Saint thing—yay—but he still watched me like I had a trick up my sleeve.
Like he was waiting for me to jump up and fling fireballs at them or poison them with the meal I made with my grubby little magical fingers.
Or maybe I was just paranoid.
The spies spoke of the current situation with Nocturne and how, before dinner, they had traveled to the barrier again with the scouts.
“The three mercenaries were still lying in wait,” Reign said, and his gaze briefly moved to me before flitting away. “The one called Stryder sensed us.”
“He told us to give them the boy,” Draven added, his accent thick with a slight gruff. “Promised they wouldn’t hurt him and that they’d leave once he was in their possession.”
The ale soured in my gut.
“Hurt him? No.” Rowan snorted without humor. If looks could kill, his topaz eyes would’ve set the entire dark wood on fire. “They just want to haul Evan to Haran and let that bastard king have his way with him.”
Silence hung over the table, the only sound being a soft pop of the logs in the fire.
“Evan is under my protection,” Onyx said, speaking for the first time since sitting with us at the table. The sound of his voice had my heart rate accelerating. “Nocturne can stay out there for years and never be any closer to reaching him.”
Maddox regarded the demon lord with a heavy brow. Then gave a subtle nod.
“Do you two still plan to return to Bremloc soon?” Duke asked the spies.
“Aye,” Reign answered. “Tomorrow evening.”
Baden wiped at his mouth and focused on the spies. “How will you get past the mercenaries? If they’re out there waiting, it’ll be a bloodbath the moment you step foot beyond the barrier.”
“Fortunately, there’s another way in and out of my realm,” Onyx said, smoothing his thumb over his goblet. “A backdoor of sorts. It will bypass the mercenaries and allow the spies to leave undetected.”
“Really?” Briar adjusted his glasses. “A secret path?”
Onyx nodded. “Only a select few in my realm know how to unveil it. Titus is one of them. He will escort them back to Bremloc.”
“Titus?” I frowned, unfamiliar with the name.
“The captain of the scouts,” Reign told me. “He’s small but feisty.”
“But not nearly as feisty as you.” Rowan cracked a smile my way, kicking one leg up on the end of the table. Back to his snarky self.
“Secret path or not, things can always get messy.” Duke cracked his knuckles. “If you need us to join you beyond the barrier for a fight, just say the word. I’ve been itching to face off with those Nocturne bastards again.”
“Aye,” Baden chimed in, a hard set to his brow. “You may be spies of the Secret Order, but you’ve become our brothers as well. And we protect our own.”
“Protect the boy instead,” Draven said, his thick accent adding a deeper sense of severity to the words. “He needs it far more than either of us.”
A flutter passed over my heartstrings. The cranky spy could pretend not to care for me, but the truth was clear in that moment. As his words registered, however, a new wave of nerves rippled through me.
I reached for my goblet and took another drink. The ale was bitter but not too bad. The subtle sweetness made it bearable. And it got better with every drink.
The stew and thick slabs of bread sopped up the alcohol at first, but after I finished eating, I… well, kept drinking. There was only so much anxiety a muffin could handle. As conversation continued around the table, I drained my goblet, then poured another glass.
“The thorn prince is gulping that ale like it’s air,” Duke said in a boisterous voice, slapping Baden’s shoulder before motioning to me. “Look at ’im.”
“Huh?” I hiccupped as I reached for the bottle to pour another glass.
“Perhaps you’ve had enough, love,” Briar gently said, resting his hand over the rim of my goblet and preventing me from refilling it.
“But I’m not even—” Hiccup “—feeling it yet.”
Briar glanced at Maddox, who sat to my left.
I turned to look at Maddox too. The moment I met his gaze, warm flutters exploded inside my belly.
“You’re really hot, you know that?” I poked his stubbled jaw.
“Sharp like glass. And your eyes are like the ocean.” I frowned and hiccupped again.
“Deep and mysterious like the ocean too. So hard to know what you’re thinking. Why are you so stubborn all the time?”
Rowan coughed from across the table.
“Bless you,” I told him. “Wait. Did you sneeze or cough?”
Lake put his face in his hands, and his shoulders shook.
“All right, milord.” Callum, who sat on the other side of Maddox, stood from his chair and came over to kneel beside mine. “Time for bed.”
“Nuh uh.” I shook my head. Then wobbled in place before righting my balance. Clumsy even when sitting in a chair. “Don’t wanna go to sleep. Not tired.” I put both arms up above my head. “The night’s still young, bitches!”
“How many glasses did he have?” Reign asked. He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest.
“Five,” Draven answered from his stance against the wall.
Part way through dinner, he had left the table to stand there instead, taking his bowl with him.
He’d done the same thing back at the Tower too when I’d made them breakfast. “I’d say that’s five too many. The boy has a low tolerance for ale.”
“You have a low—” Hiccup “—tolerance for ale.” I rested my cheek on my palm, elbow on the table, and inspected him. And then I sneezed.
Lake’s rough laugh had me looking across the table at him. Grinning, I stuck out my hand and moved it through the air in a petting motion.
“What… what are you doing?” Lake asked, his eyes following the movement of my hand.
“Petting your cute, fluffy ears,” I said, grin widening. “You’re too far away though, so I’m pretend petting them.”
Lake’s lips parted but no words came out. He looked puzzled. The two of us stared at each other in silence. Rowan coughed again.
Onyx reclined in his seat and regarded me. As he took a drink of wine, watching me over the rim of his goblet, my throat felt suddenly dry.
“I’m thirsty.” I eyed my empty cup.
“Then drink water,” Maddox said without missing a beat.
I scrunched up my face. “Gross. I don’t want that.”
“Oh, little treasure.” Rowan hung his head and laughed. “I’ve seen many sides of you, but this might be my favorite.”
“Don’t encourage him, snake,” Callum spouted off, still kneeling beside my chair. “He’s much too small and the ale is potent—”
“Hey, who you callin’ small?” I asked, then showed him my arm, pulling up the sleeve of my tunic before flexing. “Look at these guns.”
“Are we supposed to see something when he does that?” Duke asked, glancing around the table.
Quincy laughed so hard he started choking.
A flutter of red caught my attention. Onyx stood from his chair and stepped over to the window, peering out as he drank from his goblet.
Dressed in a deep red outfit with a black inner robe and an ornamental sash-like belt, he was both regal and beautiful.
Fitted black trousers were tucked into knee-high leather boots.
Had he always had such long, sexy legs? It was like my drunken state opened up a new path of enlightenment. If his body was a temple, I wanted to fall to my knees and worship every delicious inch.
“Hey, you,” I called out, hand still propping up my cheek. “Demon lord.”
Onyx’s red eyes flickered to me.
The intensity of his stare stirred feelings in my chest, reopening the wound on my battered heart from the night he’d taken me to his bed, then tossed me out right after. Because he didn’t want emotional attachments despite our fated bond.
He didn’t want me.
“You’re a butthead, you know that?” I mumbled.
The room got suddenly quiet. So much so that all I could hear were the subtle pops of the burning logs in the fireplace. All gazes around the table flickered toward the lord of the castle.
“I beg your pardon?” Onyx responded, clearly taken aback.
Then, because I was definitely not in my right mind, I got even sassier. “Buttheads say what?”
“What?”
“Exactly.” I pointed at him and threw in a set of finger guns. “A good lookin’ one though. Smokin’ hot like these guns. Pew, pew, my lord.”
Maddox scrubbed his hands over his face, while Briar looked mortified. Callum, who was still kneeling beside my chair, shook so hard with a barely suppressed laugh that he almost fell over.
Onyx’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps you should heed your knight’s advice and go to bed. You’ve clearly had too much to drink.”
“Too much? Never.” Once again, I stared longingly at my goblet. Then lifted a hand and gently poked it. “Being around you makes me nervous. And sad. So, so sad. Like, my heart literally hurts. Why are you so mean?”
The damn ale had given me more than liquid courage. It had also removed my filter—not that I’d had much of one to begin with.
“And another thing!” I pointed at him. “Last night, you accused me of poisoning my food with love juice. That was really rude, you know. It hurt my feelings.”
“Love juice?” Quincy looked at Duke.
The burly redheaded knight shrugged. “Beats me.”
“Hush, you.” I flicked my fingers at them, then focused again on Onyx. “Back to you, mister demon lord. Do you still think I poison my food? Huh?”
Onyx held my gaze. “I ate the meal you prepared tonight, did I not? Would I have indulged if I feared it to be poison?”