Breena motioned to my legs, and I crossed them to hide the raw patches of skin on my calves.
“I had to try,” I said between gritted teeth, embarrassment flooding me. Clearly, I cared so little about her and her pelt that I couldn’t even stay on land to help her. Her needs were never going to come before the needs of my family, and if my body had accepted the sea, I would be gone, back in the belly of the deep.
“Then I guess you understand why I had to try to find my pelt in that man’s home. Because though there’s a risk I could get hurt, the thought of not trying is so much worse.” Breena made her point, and I hated that she had one in the first place.
“Okay.” I spoke slowly, lowering the half-eaten sandwich into my lap. I’d begun talking before I had my mind sorted and took a long pause before resuming. “We’ll keep separating like this every day to double our chances of finding your pelt sooner. We both know how to take care of ourselves, and I trust you’ll do what you need to stay safe.”
“I will. And I’m quite resourceful, if you haven’t noticed.” Breena held up the remaining bites of her sandwich and wiggled her proud brows at me. A small chuckle slipped out of me, and I tried to suppress it with a cough.
Get it together, Sid.
“This sandwich is kind of dry,” I said, “What do you say about getting out of here and going for a drink? I’d like to understand this obsession these humans seem to have with rum.”
Swinging my legs off the side of the barstool, I eyed the glass bottles on the elongated wooden shelves across from me. The bottles had various labels stuck to them with varying lettering. My eyes trailed over the ones filled with amber liquid as I searched for the word ‘rum’.
“What can I get you ladies?” a woman chimed from behind the counter. She had short, spiky blonde hair and a piece of silver metal looped through her nose. I stared at the piece of jewelry as Breena answered the woman.
“We'll take two rums, thank you,” she said with a friendly smile. At what point did she decide she was going to be friendly to these people? She’d spent her whole life away from Barthoah, and here she was, with none of the fear or anger from this morning lingering in her voice.
“Two rums?” the woman asked with a chuckle, her eyes lingering a little too long on the selkie before her head swung to me. “Two shots coming right up. My name is Denivier, by the way. If you need anything, think twice about whether it’s worth my time before you ask.”
The woman’s bluntness was stark in comparison to my recent company. I smiled at her, appreciative of a woman who spoke her mind. As she itched her ear, I noticed the tip of it extended well past my own, past any human’s.
“Denivier…” I leaned in, eying up that ear of hers.
“Yes, I’m an elf.” She grabbed a bottle off the shelf behind her, sloshing amber liquid against the sides of the glass. She brought it back over to the bar, her blonde brow raised as she met my curious gaze. “You did just hear what I said about wasting my time, right?”
She set the thick glass bottom of the bottle down on the counter as she grabbed two tiny glasses with her other hand. She poured the rum to the very top of each glass before placing them on the wooden countertop Breena and I leaned against.
“When I thought Barthoah was a village of humans, yeah, it felt worth it to ask,” I shot back.
“Why did you think that? I haven’t heard of an all-human village in this entire realm,” she chuckled, her annoyance shifting to amusement. Breena and I shot each other a glance.
“Where are you both from? Either you were born yesterday, you live underground, or you haven’t spent much time on land.”
“I suppose one of those assumptions is accurate,” I grunted. Glancing at the tiny cup in front of me, my head cocked to the side.
Why was it that the teacups here were far larger than the rum glasses?
“You do look a little pasty.” That comment of hers pulled a laugh from Breena, who thoroughly enjoyed the woman’s insult.
I tossed her a piercing glance and said, “Don’t make me steal your voice again.”
Breena rolled her eyes and didn’t rush to end her laughter.
“Let me guess. You’re from the sea, but you’re not sun kissed enough to be a mermaid. And those cold eyes…” She trailed off. “I haven’t seen eyes like that in a long time. Those are the eyes of a siren.”
“And you?” she said to Breena, not giving me time to respond. “You have the eyes of a doe. You’re cute, non-threatening. Your shoulders are darker than the rest of your skin, signifying you like to bathe in the sun. You’re a selkie. A beautiful one, at that.”
Breena dipped her chin, and I swore I saw her flutter her long lashes at the elf.
Was she flirting with her?
“Great. Now that we have done the completely improper thing of guessing what kind of fae we all are, can the two of you take your damn shots and let me tend to other customers? There’s a fairy who needs a refill on her mead. Incomprehensible, right?”
I sighed and shooed the sassy woman away. She took my hand gesture as her release and sauntered over to the fairy at the end of the bar with a parted mouth. I could have gone as far as saying it was a smile.
Breena reached across the counter and pulled the two pours of rum toward us, giving one to me and taking the other one for herself.
